A Leaf Among the Stars

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto as he belongs to Kishimoto. I don't own Mass Effect as that is property of the cool people of Bioware who are geniuses when it comes to making games (I.E. see Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Baldur's Gate and of course Mass Effect 1 & 2, 3 is great visually but the story and ending had me wondering if they had Ferengi as their marketing team. Oh and of course Dragon Age franchise). I don't own the ship either.

I'm not making a profit from this.

AN: Kitsune Effect became this. I reused the beginning because I liked it and since its mine I can get away with it. File all complaints in the trash I don't want to hear them. Leaf version 1 was removed to make room for this.

Chapter 1

Ibonihs Prime, Alliance Experimental Colony

The world was in ruins. The experimental colony that had been set up on the world that was similar to Earth had been consumed by war, and self-destructed in ways that those who made it originally never dreamed of.

The Alliance ship landed on what had once been fertile forestland, but was now blackened and cracked dirt.

As the boarding ramp lowered and the hiss of air pressure equalizing announced the metal hatch opening.

Earth Alliance Marines rushed down, their weapons drawn. "What the fuck happened here?" One marine asked looking around.

"Stow it." The commander barked looking around.

"But sir, last reports were there was a colony here. Nearly a million people." The same marine said again.

The marine whose face was hidden by the darkened visor of his helmet of EVA light armor suit shook his head.

"Fan out. The beacon is coming from what used to be the village's center."

"Aye sir." Several voice echoed and the marines fanned out using gutted remains of what used to be buildings.

Two more figures exited the dropship. One was human wearing a dark blue EVA suit. The other was a Turian. Avian in nature a resembling a raptor from earth's past. The Turian pulled off his helmet and took a breath of air.

"The air is stale." He noted with disdain. "When did you say that the beacon activated?"

The human removed his own helmet. "At least two years ago." He shook his head. "This colony was set up long before the discovery of the Prothean data cache they used cryogenic freezing chambers and made the slow journey from Earth to here in stasis. Most of the original settlers are dead as it's been nearly two hundred years since…"

"Excuse me Admiral, did you say two centuries this colony has been running?" The Turian asked, his mandibles flaring in surprise.

The now identified Admiral shrugged. "It was the old Earth's decision, as a way to try and save a population from civil war. Japan had been gearing up for a hostile takeover corporation wise. I don't know the full details; as a lot of the data was lost before the First Contact War when Japan was nearly wiped out due to a shift in some of the plates beneath the surface that resulted in most of the continent of Japan being under water. It also included several other countries."

The Turian had studied the history of Earth and had to admit the humans were a hardy people. Shaking his head he looked ahead. "Do you expect any survivors?"

The Admiral shrugged. "Hard to say. I…"

"SIR!"

The call came over his omni-tools communicator. "Admiral Bashir here; report!" He ordered.

"Sir, we found a suspension pod. You better come and see this."

"On our way commander." The Admiral looked at the Turian. "Well that answers one question."

The Turian gave a chuckle. "Out of hundreds more, that have piled up in its wake."

The Admiral gave him a dirty look and moved to where the call had come from followed by another squad of marines.

XX

"What have we got commander?" The Admiral asked as they approached the burned out and gutted tower.

"A suspension capsule in the basement." The commander said. "I have first squad in there now. Its amazing how secure it is down there like a vault."

The Admiral nodded, while the Turian gazed around. "Even with the level of destruction this must have been an interesting colony."

"Sir, the logs." A marine said carrying a crate.

"Hmm…Five different leaders for this village alone." The Admiral said tracing the markings. "What happened here?" He whispered.

"Commander bring the capsule to the shuttle. We're going to open it aboard the Utah where Chief Medical Officer Chase can determine the health of whomever is in there but I'm going to go over the logs to see what happened before that person is awakened."

The marine nodded and went to give orders to his squad. "Prepare cargo for transport."

The Turian watched this with a practiced eye. He watched as the humans brought up a cylinder coffin like devise. He couldn't see inside as there was ash covering the glass on the outside and what looked like frost on the inside. His curiosity would wait, he was a Specter after all and Nihilus had learned from the best.

XX

CVS Utah, Med-Bay

"Doctor Chase, we will wait until I have determined who is in there by reading the logs. For all we know there might be the one who killed everyone." The Admiral said when the ships CMO wanted to open the suspension capsule immediately.

The Admiral retreated to his quarters and started to go over the logs. He hated the old way as they were hand written and it took him time.

"Admiral Bashir?" The voice came over the ship intercom several hours later.

He rubbed his eyes and looked up. "What is it Lieutenant?"

"Getting a transmission from the Citadel, you wanted to be informed of Anderson's results."

Admiral Bashir listened to the report and sighed. "So he's not going to be our first Specter, damn!" he shook his head. "Thank you Lieutenant." He clicked off the intercom and rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. It had been the Alliance's second attempt to get now Captain Anderson in as a SPECTRE and like the first it was denied. At least this time Saren wasn't involved. He thought as he remembered reading the report Anderson filed after he was denied joining the ranks the first time.

Bashir read the reports from Konoha one of the five major villages and was amazed how fast the colonists spread out and how low tech they'd kept the colony.

He shook his head at the fighting but wasn't surprised. What upset him at the lengths at which Doctor Uchiha had gone to attain control using various methods to increase his lifespan thru various means and how the Senju brothers had stopped his attempted mutiny and some of his experiments that had mutated the use of biotics.

What concerned him were the native inhabitants that were beings of pure energy. They were listed as Demons and the leaders as well as others tried to contain and control them.

It backfired spectacularly. Bashir thought as he read the attack on the entity they named Kyuubi.

What they did with biotics and implants is astounding. The data on that I'll send back to earth for certain.

The intercom sounded "Sir, we're ready to leave orbit." The pilots voice informed him.

"Copy that. Best speed to the nearest relay." Bashir ordered.

"Yes sir. ETA to the Citadel sixteen hours." The pilot said and Bashir went back to reading the Ibonihs reports and the reports of the Third Hokage after he'd returned to office and what he'd done to protect the Kyuubi and its container.

Bashir shook his head by the time he read the reports by Tsunade Senju's term in office. I think it was a mistake to chemically wipe out the people's memories and Tsunade seemed to agree. Bashir thought as he got to the part where the Akatsuki group began a war that united the planet in civil war.

His door chime sounded and he looked up to see who was entering. "Nihilus?"

The Turian stood in the doorway. "Have you finished reading the reports?"

The Admiral sighed and leaned back. "They chemically wiped the minds of the entire colony. The only ones that knew they were a colony were the Kage's and their successors." He shook his head. Then looked at the Turian. "What are you doing here?"

Nihilus gave the Turian equivalent of a grin. "I thought you might want to know that Doctor Chase has opened the pod and moved its occupant to a bed in the medical bay."

The Turian had been studying humans for sometime now, but it was one of the few times he'd gotten to witness the use of profanity in such a way he knew he'd have to remember some of them and look up the meanings later as the Admiral was past him and heading towards the medical bay.

XX

CVS Utah, Medical Bay

His first conscious sensation was someone yelling and that the lights were far too bright.

With a groan he put a hand to his head as the voice that had been shouting stopped and he found two figures around him that he didn't know.

Both wore uniforms. One was an olive skinned man with short black hair his sideburns were gray. The other was a woman with blond hair and was obviously a doctor of some kind. They spoke to him but he scrunched his brow trying to understand them.

The woman made a sound and grabbing what looked like a syringe jabbed him in his shoulder.

She said something to the other man.

"What's your name?" The man demanded again.

"Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze." The blond answered.

"The translator microbes are active, I'm shocked that they were passed down in so many generations." The woman doctor said as she grabbed another syringe. She held it up at Naruto's wary brow. "This is an immunization shot."

"Granny gave me a shot last year." Naruto said.

"Your doctor?" the man asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Not many people would help me." he looked uncomfortable and the admiral could understand why.

"Doctor, would you give me and Mr. Namikaze some privacy." Bashir asked. The woman gave him a look then one to Naruto. "I'll be back." And as she left the blond gave a mental shudder as it reminded him of Tsunade when she got a certain way about his medical care. The man spoke getting his attention.

"I'm Admiral Bashir of the Earth Alliance military." He started. "Do you know about earth?"

Naruto shrugged. "A bit. Grandma Tsunade was teaching me to be Hokage when the war happened." Naruto's blue eyes locked onto the Admiral's dark gaze.

"You are the Kyuubi's jailor." The admiral stated and Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"I've read the reports. Impressive work with your biotic abilities."

"My what?" Naruto asked.

"Looks like we're going to have to play catch up. I'll have Doctor Chase start you on your education. Believe it or not Mr. Namikaze you are important to the Alliance in more ways than you know."

Naruto looked at the man and he sighed knowing he was going to have to work hard and keep his secrets carefully.

XX

Dr. Chase gave Naruto several files to read and as the blond spent his time in the Med-Bay learning all he could, the doctor took time to study him and give him a full physical. It was after she got the results she went to see the admiral.

"You wanted something?" Admiral Bashir asked.

"I just finished the full medical on Naruto." Dr. Chase began.

"Ah." Bashir said sitting back in his chair.

"What do you mean ah? His whole system has been rewired. There are anti-bodies and back up systems that aren't in a normal human. And there are three different…"

"Doctor, I know about Mr. Namikaze." He slid the files over his desk towards her. "Tsunade Senju who was the Fifth Hokage of Konoha left detailed reports about Naruto as well as documenting her thoughts on the whole colony. Before her death Naruto exhibited abilities not seen in a Biotic and that's with the implants."

The doctor was reading the report. "My Japanese is rusty…but according to this he was bonded with a being of pure energy not even an hour after his birth."

"Correct. Its' given him heightened senses, accelerated healing and enhanced reflexes. It wasn't until its forced removal that Tsunade realized that Naruto was unique amongst them and when the war was nearly at its end she sealed him away and activated the nuke that had been buried under Konoha before its founding."

The doctor gasped. "The war had consumed the whole surface." Admiral Bashir said as he looked at the files in the doctors' hand. "Tsunade knew Naruto needed to survive. In her last entries she reported how she tricked him and sealed him in the container."

He looked at the doctor. "The entity is gone, we have an altered human who could possibly be an asset."

"What are you going to do?" The Doctor asked.

"I'm going to hide him somewhere safe and let him get caught up. When the time is right I'll introduce him to the Admiralty and propose he be our chance at the council as well as the Specters."

Neither the doctor nor the Admiral; were aware of the Turian listening in. He slipped away and eyed the seventeen year old in the med-bay via a monitor. This one human requires watching. Nihilus thought. He made a note to keep an eye on Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze.

XX

Citadel, Earth Embassy

Admiral Bashir looked at Udina with disdain. "I think you misunderstood me." He growled. "Namikaze is going to be learning history and how to get by in the galaxy."

"We have a chance here. From these reports he could be the first in a line of super soldiers." Udina tapped the data pad on his desk. "Get him into the military academy and they'll train him."

Bashir growled. "Listen to me Udina. He's a citizen of Earth. He has the same rights as any other citizen and he's just learned all he knew is gone. Everyone he knew is dead. I spoke with him and he has no interest in joining the military."

"As a citizen it is his duty!" Udina said raising his voice.

Bashir was about to tear into the ambassador when his omni-tool chirped.

"Bashir, go ahead."

"Sir, this is Luc. Namikaze has disappeared." The voice of the Utah's marine commander said.

"What do you mean disappeared?" Bashir growled staring at his omni-tool, praying this was a lie or a bad joke.

"Dr. Chase went in to take him lunch, and the room was empty. I have Reynolds going over the cameras, but Peterson who was at the door swears that except for the Doc, no one since you have been in to see him and the door never opened."

Bashir looked up and saw Udina was listening. "Search the ship top to bottom. Also check to see if he stowed away on one of the shuttles. I'll be with Ambassador Udina." He said and signed off and saw Udina looking at him, and he didn't like the look in the man's eyes.

"I'll alert some of our people." He held up the digital photo Bashir had taken of Naruto. "If he's here, we'll find him. And Admiral, he is a resource for the greater good of Earth and all of mankind, he must be brought under control now."

Bashir silent wished Naruto the best and hoped the young man managed to escape. It would be two years before Naruto was spotted by anyone in Earth Alliance.

XX

AN: My muse looked at the original Leaf and while writing chapter 14 screamed and threw a fit. Was not pretty. Deleted it and decided to restart from the beginning, changing in chapter 2. Might have had to do with the numerous people whining about shoving Naruto into the Mary sue of ME1. So as I am redoing it, things will change. I was having more fun with Naruto & Aria and the Naruto/Tali was giving me an ulcer trying to work it out. Someone took offense that I compared Tali to Hinata. Anyway, Leaf take 2 is going on. Hopefully after chapter 2 y'all be nicer. The story, the path and the ship and crew are being changed.