Special thanks to my friend, Beta Reader, and Soundboard, Midnight Lost.

A/N: My apologies for my long absence. For those who aren't aware, I had a very bad fall which resulted in my crushing my finger and breaking a part of my hand which required two surgeries and a lot of physical therapy. It took a long time, but I'm finally back in business! For any who are interested, please check out my Pa tre on page. Thank you all for your patience and understanding.

Chapter One: Pilot.

Naruto groaned, his head throbbing and pounding like hell, his vision blurry as he raised a hand to his forehead. "What in the hell happened?" He asked himself as everything seemed to be a blur as he tried to piece together what had occurred. Was he at his apartment or at the Academy? Well, he supposed that part didn't matter. He wasn't in Konoha anymore.

He recalled that something appeared over the skies of Konoha, something really big. He remembered the sounds of people screaming… were there explosions? He could swear that there were explosions too. His village came under attack and then… something grabbed him, some kind of giant tentacle?

That's right… it was a tentacle, attached to some sort of strange flying ship. Kami, he felt so disoriented since it zapped him and teleported him into this weird container or pod thing… and then he remembered seeing some sort of alien creature. It had a squid-like head and burning orange eyes that radiated malice and contempt… Did it slip him something? He could swear that thing did something to him, but he couldn't for the life of him remember what.

"I hope that they didn't effing probe me." He muttered to himself, though fortunately he didn't feel anything peculiar in his posterior region, all of his pain and discomfort came from his head. Had he been drugged perhaps? Was that why everything was all jumbled up?

He rubbed his eyes to clear them up, his vision quickly adjusting as he found himself in what he assumed to be some sort of alien laboratory. There were other pods nearby, some of them empty, a few of them were occupied, though the individuals that were within the pods showed no signs of movement and the whiskered teen couldn't tell from here if they were dead or simply unconscious.

He was jostled violently in his pod as he heard what sounded like an explosion… followed by a large part of a nearby wall being torn open by something really big. He didn't see what the creature was, only that it was very large and had claws. He quickly realized that the ship he was on was under attack, and he needed to escape… and FAST.

He attempted to use the Substitution technique to replace himself with a nearby object… but nothing happened. Had the squid-headed creature done something to block off his Chakra? If so… he was screwed. Really and royally screwed. Without much in the way of options, he began to push against the hatch on his pod with all of his might, but given the cramped space, he couldn't find any leverage.

He heard more explosions nearby which made him gulp. If the ship crashed while he was trapped like this, he might not survive the collision. He had to get out of here and find a way to bail out before it was too late. His ears perked up as he heard the sounds of heavy footfalls approaching as a distinctly female voice shouted "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

He heard a door open as a woman burst into the lab. She was a tall creature with an athletic and muscular, but still feminine frame with heavy scarring. The whiskered teen noted that she had a demon-like visage with crimson skin, and a pair of horns, though one of them was broken. She carried a large battle-axe in her hands as she seemed to be desperately looking for an exit.

In spite of her demonic appearance, the whiskered teen knew that this might be his only hope for escape as he called out "Oi! A little help please?!" At the sound of his voice, the red skinned woman turned in his direction as he hoped that this lady was a potential ally and not some type of bloodthirsty demon, especially given the number of scars that were visible on her body.

She quickly turned towards him upon hearing his voice, her eyes wide with surprise, and then quickly shifted to concern "Fuck me… they got you too, huh? Fucking Mind Flayers, taking a kid." The woman cursed as she quickly leapt towards the blonde's pod and spoke to him "Sit tight, I'll get you out of there. Cover your eyes!"

The Jinchuuriki quickly obeyed, thanking his lucky stars that this woman was selflessly assisting him without question. He clapped his hands over his eyes to protect them from being damaged by broken glass. He felt a flash of heat and then heard a loud bellowing war cry as the demon woman's battle-axe slammed hard against the pod, causing a crunching and crackling noise.

He felt the heat intensify as the woman roared once again and then there was another crunch. After a few moments he heard the sounds of fabric tearing prompting him to peek between his fingers and see the horned woman trying to quickly remove a shirt from a nearby body, said body's neck being at an odd angle, suggesting that it might have been broken at some point during the attack.

Thanks to her efforts, she managed to break open a large enough hole in his pod for him to crawl out of. She then came over and placed the shirt into the hole so as to protect him from the broken glass so that he may safely climb out. He nodded in thanks as he lifted himself out and escaped from his pod. It was then he noticed the intense heat that was radiating off the horned woman… not very surprising from a demon.

"You okay there, soldier? I'm Karlach. Nice to meet you. Gods, I am happy to see a friendly face that isn't trying to eat my brains." The now identified Karlach spoke as she hefted her axe over her shoulder.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Much obliged. My head feels like it's in a damned vice, but I'm still alive and kicking. Those weird squid-heads must have done something to me. First, I was kidnapped by freaking aliens, then I'm rescued by a demon… wonders never cease today. Either this is some kind of weird fevered dream, or this is happening." The blonde muttered as he shook his head a few times in an attempt to clear away the fog that still lingered in his mind.

"Oh, this is real. It's really real. No joke, trooper. Also, small correction, I'm a Tiefling. Not a demon, though I can understand the mix-up." Karlach responded, her words making the whiskered teen raise an eyebrow as he gave her a puzzled look.

"The hell is a Tiefling?" He asked in clear confusion, making the Horned woman tilt her head a bit.

"You never seen a Tiefling before?" She asked him, finding his reaction to be a little strange.

"I've never even heard of a Tiefling." He replied back in blunt honesty, his statement making Karlach wonder where he might be from if he had never heard of Tieflings. Their conversation was interrupted by the sounds of another nearby explosion, reminding them that the ship they were on was under attack.

"Shit. We can hash out the small stuff later. Listen up, soldier. You stick close to me, yeah? I'll keep you safe. I promise. I'll protect you." Karlach swore to him as she looked him square in the eyes, showing that she meant what she said and was going to follow through on her promise.

"Thank you Karlach. You lead, I'll follow and watch your back." He spoke and gave a thumbs-up to her. The Tiefling nodded in thanks and gestured for him to follow her as they ran down a nearby corridor to find a way off the ship as quickly as possible. Hopefully they could find an exit, an escape pod, or anything really to help aid their survival.

"Keep close… just not too close. Wouldn't want to burn something off of you." Karlach warned him as she beat a fist against her chest for emphasis, making the Uzumaki take notice that there was something glowing in her chest, whatever it was that was in there was most likely responsible for the unnatural heat that radiated from her.

He wondered if this was common amongst Tieflings or if Karlach was a special case. He chose to bite back his questions for now in favor of finding a means to escape what was likely a crumbling ship. "Time to go!" He yelped out as another explosion went off, prompting the two to make a mad dash down a long corridor with all haste.

Neither of them really knew where they were going, but both of them knew that sitting still would be a very bad idea. As they ran, something impacted hard against the wall, knocking them both off their feet as the hull was torn open revealing a crimson dragon as its talons tore into the metal walls.

The scaled beast inhaled deeply as a distinct glow emanated from the back of its throat, signaling that it was preparing to breathe fire upon them. It then roared angrily as it looked back outside, its attention caught by something else before it took off and chased after it. "Dragons… there are dragons now… Dragons…" Naruto muttered to himself as he originally believed that dragons were little more than myth and fairy tales… oh how wrong he was, especially since he was but a second or two from being roasted alive by one.

"Too close!" He yelped out and took a brief note of the wreckage, the corridor now impassable due to the destruction the Dragon left behind as debris and sharp and twisted pieces of metal now blocked the way.

"Through here!" Karlach called out as she pointed towards an open doorway, not having much choice they quickly ran through it to search for another way out. As they ran they found themselves in another lab of some sort, a body splayed out on a nearby table.

They turned and saw a path that led outside, where more crimson scaled dragons could be seen flying alongside the ship. Both the whiskered teen and red hot Tiefling exchanged looks with the latter muttering "Not a lot of cover out there."

"Yeah, but with the way those dragons are attacking, I don't think it'll really matter." Naruto pointed out since it was becoming increasingly obvious that they couldn't stay. Given the fact that those dragons were repeatedly throwing themselves at the ship and blasting fire, it was only a matter of time before the ship crashed and/or exploded.

Before they continued on, their attention was caught by a strange squelching and crunching noise, making them look around for the source until they saw a female figure standing on a nearby balcony. It was a woman with purple-black skin and silvery hair, her crimson eyes almost gleaming. It seemed that there was another potential survivor. A potential ally?

The silver haired woman seemed to be holding something… and then both the Uzumaki and Tiefling Barbarian realized that the unknown woman was holding a brain in her hands. They saw her jab her thumb into the breath with another sickening squelch that made the whiskered teen turn a little green as he wondered if this woman was some sort of psychopath… and then he saw her drop the brain to the floor as it sprouted limbs out of seemingly nowhere.

"The brain… the brain is alive… alive… brain… limbs." He muttered in shock and disbelief at what he was seeing. From the balcony, the woman heard him and looked down, spotting the two. She then jogged over to a platform and pushed a button, causing a lift to descend, bringing her down to the same floor as the two unlikely companions.

"More people. I am glad to see someone, two someones, that don't have tentacles." The woman stated in obvious relief. The Uzumaki glanced between the dark skinned woman, and the strange brain creature, noticing the former had ears like an elf, and the latter was skittering down a wall as it 'gazed' up at them… how was this thing able to see without any eyes? It didn't seem to have any difficulty navigating its surroundings.

"What in the name of Kami is that thing?" The Uzumaki asked while pointing at the strange creature. The Elf woman quickly answered him "An Intellect Devourer, a servant of Mind Flayers. It seems to think we are friendly though. It could be helpful."

"This is a strange day to say the least. Anyways, you up for a little team-up? Safety in numbers and all that good stuff." Karlach proposed with a grin, believing that the more fighters they had on their side, the better their chances of survival with the Jinchuuriki nodding in agreement even as he kept staring at the strange creature.

"If you'll have me, I'll be glad to join you. My name is… well… I think my name is Durge." The woman, now known as 'Durge' responded hesitantly, almost as if she were unsure of her own words.

"You think?" The whiskered teen questioned as both he and the Tiefling tilted their heads in confusion.

"Sorry. There's a lot of blanks in my mind right now. I don't know why." Was all Durge could say, making the whiskered teen hum thoughtfully since he too was having some troubles with his most recent memories. Whatever the squid-heads did to this woman must have been far worse than whatever they had done to him. He also wanted to ask about what she was considering the pointed ears suggested she must have been some sort of elf, but chose not to ask since they still needed to escape.

Before anyone could speak further, a new voice cut in that seemed to echo within the three survivor's minds 'We are called to the helm! At the helm we are needed!' the creature called out, its voice ringing loudly within their minds.

"The brain is talking! The brain is talking!" Naruto yelped out in surprise, his heart almost leaping out of his chest as he found himself once again questioning if this was reality or if it was a fevered dream. One part of him wanted to leap outside and cast himself into open air so as to try and shock himself back to the waking world… but another, much larger part of him knew that if he tried that and he didn't 'wake' then he would only succeed at falling to his doom.

"Right. Enough standing around and jabbering. If we can get to the helm, we could hijack the ship and steer it to safety." Karlach suggested, snapping the whiskered teen out of his stupor. That seemed like a rather simple but straightforward plan that was their best shot at survival.

"We should hurry. We've already wasted enough time as it is." Durge spoke in an urgent tone, prompting the trio to run outside with the creature following them closely like an obedient pet. Most fortunately, the dragons that were flying alongside the ship didn't seem to be paying them much mind as they ran along their new path. Then again, it probably didn't matter to them since their goal was to obviously bring down the whole ship.

The whiskered teen saw glints of silver on the crimson dragons path, it was hard to make out, but he could almost swear that there were people riding on those scaled menaces. Suddenly, a figure leapt over their heads and landed in front of them, revealing a woman with green skin and silver armor, pointing a blade in their direction, her eyes radiating an intense hatred and desire to kill.

"Abominations. This will be your end." The woman in silver armor declared… before anyone could reply or make the first move, they all lurched forward as their minds suddenly connected. Thoughts and memories intermingled for a few brief moments as they all saw themselves through the green skinned woman's eyes.

The unknown warrior smiled as she sheathed her blade, her previous hate melting evaporating in almost an instant as she spoke "Vlaakith blesses me this day. Together, we may yet survive." At her words, the group exchanged looks since this woman changed her tune rather quickly, but made no comment about it since she seemed like a capable fighter, and they were going to need every blade they could get.

"We're heading to the Helm to hijack the ship. Want to come with us?" Naruto stated, his words causing the woman in silver to gain a gleam of inspiration in her eyes.

"A sound plan, perhaps the only one. Though first we should deal with those imps." The silver warrior stated while gesturing towards a group of small winged creatures that seemed to be munching on a dead body. She then gestured towards the Intellect Devourer following the group and added "As for that thing, it will remain tame so long as it believes we are thralls. It may be useful"

"Right. We should hurry." Durge stated as she removed her staff from her back and gave it a twirl as flames appeared from her fingers. Karlach nodded in agreement as she then turned towards the young Uzumaki with a small frown.

"You best hang back a bit. Don't need you stepping under our feet. Shit's gonna get real dangerous from here on." The Tiefling warned him, her words making him grimace since he didn't like being side-lined, but he knew that it was out of concern for his safety. That aside, he currently didn't have access to his Chakra, or even a weapon that he could use to protect himself since he didn't have so much as a kunai or shuriken on hand.

'We will stay, stay and protect little friend!' The brain creature stated as it crawled over towards the whiskered teen. At least he would have some backup if the worst came to worst. Karlach smirked and readied her axe as she and the others descended upon the group of imps.

Durge hurled a fireball in the direction of one of the imps, incinerating it while the woman in silver armor fired off an arrow from a spare bow she kept as a backup weapon, the projectile hitting its mark as it pierced the skull of one of the demonic creatures. Karlach bellowed as she leapt forward in an impressive display of athleticism and almost cleaved the third imp in two with her axe. Suffice it to say, they made quick work of the little pests.

The Tiefling took notice of a certain object that fell to the floor from the imp that she had cut down and picked it up, smirking in satisfaction as she quickly rushed over to Naruto and spoke "Here ya go. I'll feel better knowing you've got something to fight with, should the need arise to defend yourself." She then presented a blade to him, a scimitar, which he accepted gratefully.

While he wasn't familiar with swordplay, he was thankful to have a weapon in his hand, and grateful at how Karlach was looking out for him. Despite her tall and fearsome frame, it was plain to see that she was a kind soul at the core. He accepted the weapon with a grateful nod as the group ascended to the next level to continue towards the helm.

They moved with all haste since none of them knew how much longer the ship would hold together. They entered what appeared to be yet another laboratory where a pair of bodies were laid out on slabs, their mouths agape and moving but their eyes were lifeless signaling that nobody was home. "Shit. They got turned into vegetables." The blonde muttered and cringed, glad that he hadn't been rendered a drooling mess.

"Forget about them. I'm certain they're beyond help." Durge muttered in a matter-of-fact tone, earning reluctant nods from both the Jinchuuriki and Tiefling. Whatever had been done to those poor bastards was most likely irreversible, that aside, there was nothing they could do for them anyway.

"Okay now, which way to the helm?" Naruto wondered aloud since there were two doorways nearby. Before the group could choose which one to try, their attention was caught by a thumping noise followed by a new female voice that called out "Hello?! Is someone out there?! I could use a little help!"

They looked in the direction of the noise and saw yet another pod, the occupant of this one was a woman with black hair and pointed ears and a scar across her face. "Leave her, we have precious little time as it is." The green skinned warrior spoke with a sneer, her words earning a disapproving look from the whiskered teen.

While the two bodies on the slabs were beyond help, this woman was still alive and well. "She could die if we leave her stuck in there. Karlach? Think you can do something? Can you smash her out like you did with me?" The Uzumaki asked as he turned towards the Barbarian Tiefling.

She cracked her knuckles and replied "I think I can pry this thing open. Give me a sec." She gripped the front hatch and began to pull with all of her strength, there was a low creaking noise as the hatch began to buckle from the pressure until finally she successfully managed to force open the pod, allowing the raven haired woman to jump out with a relieved sigh.

"Thank you, I thought that pod was going to be my coffin." The black haired woman spoke, brushing aside a lock of hair, the gesture making the Uzumaki notice that she had pointed ears. Was she an elf as well? He desperately wanted to ask her and Durge about their elven nature, but they had far more important priorities.

She then glanced at the silver warrior and glowered as she muttered scornfully "You keep dangerous company."

"Beggars can't be choosers since we're stuck aboard a hostile alien ship. We kinda need the assistance of 'Dangerous company'. You look like you can handle yourself. That's good. We're heading to the helm to hijack the ship." Naruto explained, prompting the scarred woman to nod in understanding.

"You make a fair point. I saw a Mind Flayer go through the door on the far side of this room. That might be where the helm is." She pointed towards the door in question, at least now they had a much better idea on where to go. Most of the group hurried on towards the indicated entrance, while the now recently freed woman turned back towards her pod and retrieved something from it, which the whiskered teen took notice of as he observed her since he wondered why she was hanging back for the moment.

The object she retrieved was a strange fist sized polyhedric item with strange runes carved into it. It looked kind of important. What was its significance? "What's that you got there?" The whiskered teen asked out of innocent curiosity.

In response, the blackette briefly glared at him before her features softened as she replied "That isn't your concern. We should hurry and catch up with the rest." She pointed out, her words making the Uzumaki shrink a bit and give an apologetic expression for prying into her business.

"You're right. Sorry. My name is Naruto Uzumaki." He spoke and introduced himself, prompting the scarred woman to nod as she curtly gave her own name "Shadowheart."

With that said, the duo ran after the rest of the group and rather swiftly caught up to everyone. The small brain creature quivering in excitement and glee as the whiskered teen returned to the fray. The blonde then saw a chaotic scene within what he assumed to be the Helm.

More of those squid-heads or Mind Flayers, whatever they were called, were locked in fierce combat with demonic entities. The creatures were noticeably taller than Karlach, fierce looking too, and also possessed wings on their backs.

One Mind Flayer was locked in a fierce battle with a demon that carried a flaming sword. Another Mind Flayer had its tentacles wrapped around a demon's head and bit into it with a sickening crunch. Upon releasing the now dead demon, the squid-head was mauled by a group of those imp creatures.

The surviving Mind Flayer blasted it's foe back with some sort of psionic energy and then turned towards the group, its 'voice' echoing in their minds as it spoke in a commanding tone "Thralls. You must connect the nerves of the transponder. We must escape immediately." It then gestured towards a strange brain-like object with various tentacles… wait… that was how they navigated? Why couldn't it be something more simple and practical like a steering wheel?

The green skinned Fighter turned towards her fellow survivors and spoke to them in a low enough tone that the Mind Flayer couldn't hear "Do it. We'll deal with the Ghaik after we escape." They looked about the area, while the Mind Flayer was dealing with the demon, there were more imps and some sort of hellhound bearing down on them.

"Cover me!" Naruto shouted as he leapt forward to try and take control of the transponder as quickly as possible. The rest of the group followed after him, Shadowheart summoned a Fireball and launched it at the hellhound, instantly incinerating it.

The warrior in silver let out a war cry, her blade ringing through the air as her sword cut an imp's head clean off in one smooth slice, blood spraying out in a fine mist from the gaping wound. Durge snapped her fingers, causing a frigid beam of blue-white energy to pierce through the air and strike at another imp, freezing it solid and then exploding into shards of pink-red ice.

The whiskered teen rushed towards the transponder with Karlach right on his heels, another group of demonic creatures charged them as they neared the device. The Tiefling bounded towards a pair of imps and let out a roar of pent up anger as she swung her axe, cutting open the imps bellies as their innards spilled out.

A hellhound attempted to pounce on the whiskered teen, in response, he slashed at the creature's throat, making hot blood spill over his face and chest as the beast fell atop of him lifelessly. "You okay?!" Karlach asked worriedly as she kicked the dead beast off of the Uzumaki who quickly leapt to his feet and used the sleeve of his jumpsuit to wipe the blood from his face, feeling a little grateful that no blood got into his mouth.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Watch my back." He answered as he approached the transponder, he briefly looked over his shoulder and saw the Mind Flayer was still locked in mortal combat with the demon leader. The alien creature was growing weaker as the fight continued on, bleeding profusely from various wounds as it tried to subdue its foe with psionic blasts. Time was running out.

Once the alien was slain, the demon would turn its attention towards the whiskered teen and his fellow survivors. Shaking his head, he approached the transponder, noting the writhing tentacles as he puzzled out to use it. "Hurry up!" The green skinned warrior shouted from afar, now drawing her bow as she began to fire arrows at the demon leader to weaken him and stall for time.

"I'm trying! This thing isn't user friendly!" Naruto shouted back as he tried to puzzle out how to use this strange technology. From behind him, the Intellect Devourer spoke directly into his mind "You must connect the nerves! Connect them!"

At this information, the whiskered teen grabbed a pair of tentacles and connected them together just as a dragon jammed its head inside the helm, the scaled beast angrily staring at him as it prepared to breathe fire upon him. There was a pulse of energy, prompting the dragon to retreat as it flew away as the ship teleported away.

Within the helm, the Uzumaki saw the previous landscape disappear and was replaced by some sort of vortex or tunnel of energy. The ship began to tilt upwards, causing everyone to start clinging to anything they could get their hands on to keep from falling. The blonde himself clung to the transponder as he reached for the tentacles once more to disconnect them. After some effort, he managed to grab one and snatch it away from the other.

The ship jolted, causing the Uzumaki to fall and land near an open window as he saw the ship was currently in freefall. He saw the smoking and burning hull of the ship, clouds, and a beach down below as they descended. "Crap! We're gonna crash!" The whiskered teen shouted to his fellow survivors to warn them of what was to come.

He then felt something hit the back of his head, knocking him out of the ship as he began to fall through empty space. He heard the sound of Karlach crying out as he fell and for a brief moment he saw her leaning out the window, no doubt having tried and failed to catch and rescue him. The whiskered teen could only yell and cry out as he wildly and uncontrollably spun about in the air.

As he fell, he caught brief flashes of the beach, coming closer and closer as he continued to fall. His life began to flash before his eyes as he thought about all the time he wasted on his silly pranks instead of training, and pining after a girl that didn't care for him or even spare a sideways glance, the many years that others looked down on him and never gave him a real chance. Kami, he wished that he could have showed all those asshole just how wrong they were about him if he simply had a fair chance… not that it matters now.

He braced himself for the coming impact and clenched his eyes shut… but it never came as he found himself jolted out of his fall, causing him to open his eyes and see that he was now suspended in midair by an unseen force. He quickly glanced around, but saw nobody around and was then dropped on the ground, letting him land on the soft sand with a thump.

Overwhelmed and exhausted from what had transpired, the Uzumaki found himself slipping into unconsciousness as darkness crept into his vision, though before he passed out he was able to acknowledge the fact that he had made it… he was alive and he hoped that the others made it too.

Later, the next morning.

The Jinchuuriki's eyes fluttered open as he found himself staring up at the sky, the smell of smoke and ash filling his nostrils as he slowly sat up and found himself looking at the burning, smoking, and broken husk that was the Mind Flayer ship. He frowned a bit, still clinging to the hope that this was some sort of dream, but in his gut, he knew this was all too real and vivid to be a simple dream. This was real.

He was now stranded, Kami knew where, with no idea how far away from Konoha he was or how to get back. Then again… he survived an alien abduction and a dragon attack, how many Shinobi in all of the villages could say the same? He chuckled a bit as he stood to his full height and brushed off his jumpsuit, a sharp pain erupted in his brain as he could swear he felt something digging around in his skull.

He shook his head to clear the cobwebs and massaged his temples to soothe the pain. He dismissed it as a migraine and decided to take a look around the crash site, hoping to find his fellow survivors alive and whole. Perhaps the beach sands helped soften the ship's impact, even if only a little which may have improved their odds.

His ears perked up as he heard the sounds of voices speaking, female voices, just over yonder past one of the massive tentacles connected to a broken section of the ship. He smirked as he climbed over some debris and saw the forms of Karlach, Durge and Shadowheart. The third woman was lying on the ground and seemed to be unconscious as the dark skinned elf shook the black haired woman awake.

He noticed the Tiefling had her arms crossed over her chest, a melancholy look on her face as Shadowheart regained consciousness after being jostled by the silver haired elf. "You're alive. I'm alive. How?" The scarred woman asked in disbelief, seemingly shocked by their apparent survival.

"Not all of us made it. Gods… I couldn't save him. I tried but… I wasn't fast enough." Karlach muttered grudgingly as she seemed to be beating herself up for the Uzumaki's apparent 'death'. It was a little strange, but not unwelcome how a total stranger had more compassion in her heart than most of the villagers back in Konoha. It was nice to see that someone cared.

"That Naruto boy… I am sorry. He seemed like a brave one." Shadowheart responded as she closed her eyes and seemed to mouth a quick prayer for him with the dark skinned Elf doing the same. It was at this point, the whiskered teen decided to approach them and make his presence and survival known.

"Thanks for that. I'm glad to know that you all made it." He spoke up as he walked towards the trio, who didn't seem to initially acknowledge his approach at first.

"I can still hear his voice." Karlach muttered somberly with a deep sigh with the other two women nodding along since they heard him as well… they then collectively tensed up and slowly turned in the direction of the voice, seeing the Uzumaki alive and well with the Tiefling Barbarian shouting out "HOLY SHIT! He's alive!"

"He's alive?" The half-elf cleric asked with her eyes widening.

"He's alive!" Durge called out while pointing towards the whiskered blonde and glancing wildly at the other two women.

"I am alive!" The Jinchuuriki yelled back as he gestured towards himself using a long sweeping motion with his arms. The red hot Tiefling seemed almost as if she wanted to jump on him and wrap him up in a bear hug, but was using every ounce of willpower and physical strength to hold herself back from doing so as she shouted "Ye gods! I am so glad to see you alive! I want to hug you so badly, but I can't and won't since I don't want to turn you into charcoal!"

"How did you survive?" The ebony skinned woman asked, her crimson eyes glinting with curiosity. Her question made the blonde rub the back of his head, humming thoughtfully as he wasn't sure how to put it into exact words.

"I'm not sure myself. I was falling… and then just before I hit the ground, something caught me. I was stuck in the air for a brief second, as if by magic, and then I passed out." He explained as best as he could, his words earning confused and curious expressions from the others who seemed just as perplexed as he was by the strange turn of events.

"Huh. That's different. A bit of divine intervention then?" Durge wondered aloud, which made Shadowheart cross her arms and adopt a thinking pose as she responded "The gods don't usually directly intervene in mortal affairs… but it isn't entirely impossible."

"Do any of you have any clue where we are? Also… aren't we missing two? The silver armored warrior woman and the brain thing?" The whiskered teen asked, hoping to get his bearings as quickly as possible while also wondering if anyone else had made it out alive.

"The creature referred to itself as 'Us'. Assuming that it and the Githyanki survived the crash as we did, they could be almost anywhere." Durge answered in regard to their missing companions.

Shadowheart then looked around and stated "I haven't the slightest idea where we are, though one thing is for certain. We must find supplies and find a healer as quickly as possible."

"Ooh! We could go to Baldur's Gate! You can find most anything within reason there! Chances are, we should be able to find someone that can help us. That aside… I have some unfinished business there." Karlach advised, though when she mentioned 'unfinished business' the Uzumaki could swear that he briefly saw a strong urge to kill flicker across her face.

"That sounds like a decent enough plan, I myself have business there." The scarred woman muttered as she fingered something in her pocket, likely that strange object she had earlier retrieved from her pod.

"Think we can find someone to take me back home to Konoha?" The Jinchuuriki asked, his question earning some odd looks from the others.

"Konoha? Never heard of a place like that. That's your home?" The Tiefling questioned, earning a nod from the Uzumaki.

"Before you can even think about going home, we have to deal with these little monsters in our heads first." Shadowheart pointed out, her words making the Uzumaki tilt his head in obvious confusion.

"Uhh. What're you talking about? What monsters?" He asked as he felt a chill go up his spine, a sense of dread filling him as he noticed the pained expressions the women were now giving him.

"There's no easy way to say this. We have all been infected by Mind Flayer tadpoles. If we do not get them removed from our brains, we shall transform into those creatures. Worse, our bodies, our minds, our very essence shall be burned out completely, all traces of our original identity, gone and replaced by a new Mind Flayer." The Half-Elf explained with a frown.

Cold realization dawned on the Jinchuuriki as he brought a finger to his temple, an itching sensation could be felt in his brain, making him realize that it was his own tadpole. He knew, somehow he knew that the squid-head had slipped him something. Now he knew what it was and what it would do to him. Even if he did find a way home, it was completely moot since he was essentially doomed if this tadpole was left untreated. Kami, his whole being wiped away upon being forcibly transformed into one of those monsters? That sounded like a fate worse than death.

From the sound of this Baldur's Gate place, it was probably a city. Had to be a big place if Karlach claimed a person can find anything there. At the very least, it gave him and the rest of the group a destination as they tried to find a means to remove the parasites. "Question, how long do we have until we transform?" The Uzumaki asked, wondering just how much time they had available until their grisly transformation and doom.

"I'm not an expert on Mind Flayers or their parasites, but I hear it is a matter of days. We must be swift." Shadowheart explained, making everyone grimace. They didn't have very long at all, and the clock was ticking down with each passing second.

"No time to waste then. We should probably have a quick look around the wreckage for anything we could use. Weapons, food, and so forth." The whiskered teen suggested, prompting the others to nod their heads in agreement. Better to spend a short while preparing themselves for what would likely be a long journey ahead than to leave straight away without any essentials.

The blonde then suggested that they split up to cover more ground to make their search more efficient and less time consuming, but was shot down by the others who suggested staying together in case there were any surviving Mind Flayers amid the wreckage. Nevertheless, they decided to perform a quick sweep of the beach and the wreck before moving on and finding the way to Baldur's Gate.

As they walked the beach, they came across the bodies of various civilians, possibly fishermen who died when the ship crashed. Some of the bodies still had their catches with them, and the odd bit of gold that they looted. While taking from the dead left a bitter taste in the whiskered teen's mouth, they needed to survive, and to do that they would need money and food to aid in said survival.

Now that he thought about it, if wherever he was still used gold coins as currency, then it was likely that the cash he had in his wallet would likely be useless. They continued to explore the wreckage and found a trio of Intellect Devourers that survived… though not for long as they were quickly burnt to a crisp by the combined magic of Durge and Shadowheart.

"So none of you ever heard of Konoha? Also… what's this thing?" Naruto asked as he lifted a bottle off of a dead Mind Flayer, noting the crimson liquid contents within. The Drow glanced at the bottle for a brief moment and gave a small smirk.

"That's a potion of healing. Keep that. It'll be useful. Also… no. I've never heard of your home. Then again, my head has been… well… Let's just say that my memory has been damaged." Durge responded with a sigh, feeling frustrated that she had no memories prior to the crash.

"I've been meaning to ask, you're a type of elf, right? What about you, Shadowheart?" The Uzumaki asked, earning nods from the two women. He glanced over to Durge who was looming over a dead body, her eyes having a faraway look as her fingers twitched, but she quickly broke out of whatever stupor she was in and turned to him.

She then cleared her throat and answered her ruby red eyes glinted as she brushed aside a bead of sweat on her black-purple skin "Yes. I am what is known as a Drow, sometimes called a Dark elf or deep-elf. My kind live in the underground realm, the Underdark. However, we are known to be devious creatures, prone to cruelty and treachery. As one may expect, many look upon my kind with distrust at best, and outright hostility at worst."

"I'm only Half-Elf."Shadowheart muttered distractedly, and left it at that without further elaboration. Though the whiskered teen got the gist, she was basically a hybrid of human and elf, he assumed.

"You seriously don't know about elves? Then again, you mentioned that you never heard of Tieflings either. Where's this Konoha place again? I've never heard of it either, but then again, I was stuck fighting in the hells of Avernus for ten years." Karlach stated as she hefted her axe.

"Elves, I have heard of… but back home they were believed to be nothing but myths, legends, and fairy tales." The whiskered teen replied honestly, causing the others to gain surprised looks on their faces.

"Myths? Fairy tales? You're joking. Elves are very real." Shadowheart stated, feeling almost insulted that anyone would infer that there was no such thing as Elves, though she didn't blame the Jinchuuriki since he was but a boy and was still very ignorant.

"That's just what is believed back home." He responded as he clasped his hands behind his head. Obviously that wasn't the case now.

"Where's your home again?" The Tiefling asked him as she scratched at the side of her head.

"On a continent known as the Shinobi Nations." He answered bluntly, the eyes of his companions filled with nothing but confusion. It wasn't just an unknown village that he came from, but a whole damn continent that none of them knew or could remember? Just where in the world did those Mind Flayers snatch him up from?

With none of them having any answers, they decided to drop the subject and move on. The whiskered teen then eyed Karlach's chest where the constant glow emanated from and asked her "Hey Karlach, I've been wondering… what's the deal with that constant heat around you and that glow in your chest Is that normal for a Tiefling, or just you?"

The others raised their eyebrows as they too wondered the same thing, noting the obvious heat coming off the red skinned Barbarian and the glow, but hadn't yet questioned it. The Tiefling gave an easy smile as she responded "I thought that might come up. When I was sold into Avernus and forcibly conscripted into the army of Zariel, my heart was removed and in its place, was put an infernal engine." She then gave her chest a few quick thumps with her fist for extra emphasis.

This made the whiskered teen's eyes widen. She had her heart taken out and replaced by a machine? He was surprised that the damn thing hadn't burnt her up from the inside out. "Uhh… is that safe? I'm amazed you haven't been roasted alive yet." He muttered almost in disbelief.

"Mmm. The damned thing has been burning even hotter since leaving the hells. Hopefully, if we're lucky, I can find someone to give it a tune up and get this heat under control. Don't worry, soldier. I'll give you a heads up in case I pop." She spoke in a joking tone, though that didn't exactly bring the Jinchuuriki any comfort.

"If you burn hot all the time, it must make things difficult for you to be intimate with others." He pointed out as the thought randomly crept through his mind.

"You have no fucking idea, soldier. Gods, I would give almost anything for a hug, a pat, ANYTHING! You've never met anyone as desperate for a hug as this one, right here." The pent up Tiefling openly admitted while waving her arms around in exasperation.

"Huh… that's kind of funny and weird. I know how it feels to be alone too. You were alone because you can't touch others… I was alone because nobody wanted to be around me." The whiskered teen stated aloud, his words catching the others off-guard.

"Come again? What about your mom and dad?" The Tiefling asked, feeling shocked at what he had just said, but she could easily tell that he too felt the crushing pain of loneliness just as well. She could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice, the pain of isolation, of being cut off from others.

"Never had any parents. It's just been me, my whole life." He answered, causing the trio of women to exchange uneasy glances, unsure of how to respond to that. What words of comfort could they share with an orphan? Not a single one of them knew what to say, but they all silently agreed that this boy needed to be looked after, cared for, and protected.

He was alone in a strange place after all, most likely he didn't know even the first thing about Faerun since he came from a place where elves weren't believed to be real for example, and thus would be ignorant of the many dangers of the realm.

As they continued combing the beach and the wreckage, trying to walk in a relatively straight line, they saw a man with white hair, looking warily into some nearby bushes, his pointed ears marking him as an elf. He glanced at the group and then returned his attention towards the bushes as he said "Look there, I've got one of those brain things cornered. Would you kindly assist me in killing it?"

Karlach gripped her axe, not intending to let any creatures belonging to the Mind Flayers to survive, not to mention if it got away, it could probably hurt someone. "Leave it to me, the rest of you hang back and make sure it doesn't scarper." The Tiefling spoke as she made her way towards the edge of the brush, the rest of the group following her instructions and spreading out to cover as much ground as possible should their quarry make a run for it.

As she pushed aside some of the brush, she noticed that the 'brain thing' that the silver haired man described was just a startled boar. Her ears then perked up as she heard a loud yelp of surprise followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground, prompting the Barbarian and other women to turn… and see that Naruto had his leg locked tight around the elven man's neck and his arm trapped in an arm lock with a knife in hand.

It would seem that this stranger tried and failed to take the whiskered teen hostage. "Scrappy little fellow, aren't you?" The stranger spoke out, causing the whiskered teen to tighten his legs around the man's neck.

"Give me a good reason why we shouldn't tear you apart." Naruto spoke, gesturing towards the form of the red hot Barbarian who was lumbering forward with her axe at the ready to cleave the stranger in half.

Before the man could answer, the worms in their heads began to wriggle as memories flashed before their eyes. When the episode ended, the Uzumaki shook his head to clear it then spoke in a surprised voice "Wait a second… you were on the ship too?"

"Yes. I saw you all aboard the ship. Just what did you all do to me?!" The silver haired man demanded, his crimson eyes flashing dangerously despite his current position. To his surprise, the whiskered teen released him from his grip and then quickly rolled away out of reach, allowing the newcomer to get back on his feet.

"Seems like there's some confusion here. We were all abducted too. You saw it! The worm in our heads connected us just now." The whiskered teen stated and clarified for the elven man to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Ah… so then we are all victims here. Many apologies for trying to take you hostage. I was under the impression that you were Mind Flayer thralls." The man spoke and gave a polite bow while pocketing the dagger. The others couldn't really blame him for erring on the side of caution given what they themselves had just survived. It was an honest mistake.

"Seeing as we're all infected, we could team up. Work together to find a cure for… this." The Jinchuuriki suggested while tapping at his skull with a lone finger.

"Safety in numbers, eh? I was planning to go this alone, but you all seem like capable people. Perhaps a partnership can indeed prove most beneficial. My name is Astarion, consider me at your service until such a time we are cured of our present affliction. I take it you have a plan of action?" The now identified Astarion questioned with a small smirk.

"We're planning to go to Baldur's Gate, we might be able to find someone to help us there." Durge stated as she crossed her arms beneath her bust.

"Baldur's Gate, you say? Yes, if we can't find assistance there, we may not find it anywhere. Also, I have some loose ends there that I intend to tie up." Astarion stated, his words carrying a sharp edge to them as he fingered his sheathed dagger. From the looks of him, he was prepared to slit a few throats. Hopefully those throats belonged to people that had it coming to them.

The Uzumaki could sense that there was definitely something dangerous about their newest companion… but he wasn't all bad. He then looked towards his new allies and thought quietly to himself about them.

Karlach had a kindness about her and an easy smile… but beneath it all, he sensed a deep fury and the pain of loneliness much like himself. Shadowheart was a woman of secrets and mystery, what was that strange object she carried? Durge had her entire history erased, who was she before the tadpole and the Mind Flayers… she seemed like a good person, but there was a certain darkness within her. Finally, Astarion, he seemed cautious but flippant, and it seemed that he carried a grudge against someone, but who and why?

These were strange times for him, even so… it seemed that he would be off on a grand adventure. He was far from home, a tadpole in his head threatening to turn him into one of the damned squid heads, and he didn't even have access to his Chakra. Just great. A fantastic start. The only thing he knew with certainty was this: This journey was only just beginning.

End chapter one.