Got to say that this chapter was not easy. It fought me tooth and nail and was boring the first ten times i tried to write it but finally i finished it. Unfortunately its mostly just talking. I had wanted to do some action scenes but it was getting way too long so hopefully next chapter. However its usually the first three chapters that will set up the foundation for the rest of the story so i actually have to make them talk and talk about all kinds of things. Also take note that English is not my Native language, and i got about 72 Native languages that come before it so forgive any grammatical errors. That and if the chapter seems a little rushed at the end, it was. Elections, internet problems, my drivers license, getting A Visa for South Africa and applying for University have stripped me of a lot of my time. But i will persevere. Please enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or Halo, I and millions of others wish we did though? So don't sue me

On with the story!

Chapter 2: The Not-Spartan Being

"Jinchuuriki?! Its what I am! The epitome of the power of human sacrifice! You would do well not to antagonize me."

—Naruto Uzumaki to ONI operative.

High above Halo in the dark bowels of the damaged Covenant war ship the Truth and Reconciliation, the Minor Prophet of Stewardship hovered in his anti-gravity belt fuming. The humans had the nerve to land their retarded piece of redundant trash they called a space vessel on the Holy Ring of their Lords and desecrate it in a million different ways. Every single breath the vile species took of Halo's crisp air defiled its atmosphere and every unholy footstep they left fouled its holy ground. Worst of all they hadn't landed on it in numbers of ten or a hundred but had landed at the very least a thousand strong, even if scattered across the vast surface of the ring-world like rodents. They were continually contaminating it each second their presence remained.

Worse than that an Ossoona or the Eye of the Prophet. One Isna 'Nosolee had been sending them vital intel captured by his modified combat harness as he stealthily made his way through the ship. Much of the information he had been relaying back to the prophets had been used to estimate enemies positions, numbers, strength and tactics throughout the ship ensuring that despite being in enemy territory the Covenants warriors quickly overwhelmed their enemy.

'Nosolee had even amazingly made it into the ships bridge area and secretly begun transmitting a wealth of data for the prophets and Covenant commanders to begin analyzing. Unfortunately most of it was not as important as say the location of Earth, humanity's mythical homeworld or star charts to other human worlds, weaponry schematics and force deployment. In fact the only thing that the Prophet of Stewardship could see as worth a great amount was the human AI on the ship and the vessels commander who was referred to as Captain Keez.

The Covenant had ever since the early days of the war been denied access to any of these things due to humanities admittedly justified paranoia and the fact that no High Ranking UNSC personnel where ever caught for interrogation since the Covenant didn't take prisoners. The Humans zealously destroyed all relevant data to protect it from the Covenant and the Covenant's warriors own zest to extinguish all human life forms ensured that their would be no interrogations.

Operatives like the Ossoona's were honestly a new approach by the Covenant in their war with humanity. An attempt by covenant at adaptation to human tactics if you will. Humanity for all their inferiority where amazingly adept at intel gathering and exploiting that intel to its fullest, to level out the playing field in the long war. It honestly made no sense that one filthy primitive race should be capable of fighting against the Covenant, a conglomeration of eight different races of varying castes and hierarchical orders almost to a stand still. Especially when that race had inferior technology and numbers. The Ossoona's where instituted to help make things as they should be. To provide the Prophets and by extension the rest of the Covenant with vast amounts of information that could be used to their advantage to crush humanity once and for all. 27 years was far too long a war against primitive beasts.

If operative Isna 'Nosolee could provide them with the AI or at least its location then they'd be able to dissect it and uncover its many secrets. Hopefully even the location of Earth itself. If humanity had reason to destroy or at the very least hide its AI's from the Covenant since the Early days of the war then their was no doubt it had to be a damn good reason.

Unfortunately it seemed that the ships commander had handed the AI over into the protective custody of one of those Demons he had been hearing about lately. That and Nosolee had been forced to follow the ships captain into a cramped escape pod when this Keez decided to abandon ship. He had stopped transmitting visual and audio signal after that but had activated a tracking signal that the Covenant had tracked to the surface of Halo before it mysteriously disappeared. Stewardship didn't know what happened but he, his fellow Prophets and the other Covenant ship masters had come to agree that the Ossoona was most likely dead.

However it was easy enough to predict the escape pods trajectory as it was unable to fly for long in atmosphere and fortunately they where the only human forces in that area. With a sigh he touched a glowing panel of light and said in a raspy but oddly charismatic voice as it lit up into a holographic projection to show an Elite general in the area as he said. "General."

"Exalted one." The general replied with a bow. Minor prophet or not, respect was to be given to the San'Shyuum. Though theoretically of equal to caste with the Sangheili, everybody knew that the Sangheili where treated as a lower caste than the serpentine San'Shyuum. Prophets led and Elites followed or charged into battle head first as was often the case.

"It has come to our attention that the leader of the human forces has landed in the area neighboring your current location. Find him and bring him back to us alive." Stewardship ordered.

The Elite in golden armor blinked and flared his mandibles in surprise at the request. The Covenant didn't take human prisoners, it went against everything they'd been doing for the last twenty seven years. "Alive?"

Sighing and somewhat understanding the Elites confusion the prophet decided to elaborate. "Yes. We wish to have him interrogated for any valuable information he may hold. I want a dedicated large force of Banshee's to patrol the area from the sky's as well as to keep any other human air crafts from attempting a rescue while ground troops scour the land for him. Once his identity is confirmed, kill any other humans in his party."

"I see. Consider it done your Exalted one." The Elite replied before the signal cut and the holographic interface powered down to send the room once more into a darker setting. Stewardship sighed tiredly as he began to wait for results and for the blundering idiot of a Supreme Commander that should have been here to ensure this very thing didn't happen to begin with. It was going to be a long day.

VvV

Something wasn't right. That much was clear from the moment they began traversing the hills that had become something of a hellish landscape in the past few hours. It wasn't so much the bad things that where happening to him and his party but rather that nothing truly made sense anymore. Corporal Wilkins and his two marine accomplices had gone on ahead to recon the area ahead and figure out what the hell was wrong with the damn Elites. The Elites where either going in circles or just about any other direction than the one the humans currently lay in and it baffled him. But that was nothing compared to what was going on directly above them.

True to its nickname, the Banshee was loud and often heard long before an actual glimpse of the aerial attack vehicle was caught. And right now with at least a hundred Banshee's shrieking bloody murder, it was hard to even hear anything above your own voice in the ruckus of reverberating sounds bouncing off the various hills. The alien pilots had them on their sensors—Captain Keyes was sure of that—however they kept flying in circles like a swarm of angry bee's and it honestly frightened him.

In the 27 years of warfare with the Covenant, the one advantage the UNSC had over the Covenant was that while numerically and technologically inferior to the Covenant, they had superior tactics due to the Covenant's inflexibility with strategies and it closed the gap between the two factions martial prowess. So a change in covenant tactics spelled disaster for the UNSC, after all that's how they where caught off guard at Reach, resulting in Humanities Fortress World's fall. And this clearly was not their standard MO. Call him paranoid.

Captain Keyes did not enjoy not understanding the enemy he was fighting as it made them unpredictable and an unpredictable enemy was always a dangerous enemy. It also didn't help that they had faced three perfect opportunities to be captured but each time Corporal Wilkins and his Marines had managed to find a hole in the Covenant's net and lead the naval personnel to safety. A hole that shouldn't have been their cause any Commander with a modicum of common sense would have sealed it off long before they even got near it. Which led him to assume that they may be walking into a trap however Wilkins had reported over encrypted Squad-Freq 07 that their was nothing in way of ambushes. Also the Banshee's above them that should have been able to spot them from above whenever they traversed into the open did absolutely 'nothing' whenever they stepped out in the open. 'But for how much longer?' Keyes wondered. They were not safe so they had to keep moving but the continuous scrambling through the rocks, the lack of sleep, and the constant danger not only left them exhausted but levied a toll on morale as well.

Crewman Abiad, Ensign Lovell, and Lieutenant Hikowa were still in fairly good shape, as were Crewman Wang and Singh, but Ensign Dowski had started to crack. He didn't blame her though, they where just the remnant of the command crew and a few marines from bridge security that had managed get into the same KTV17 bumblebee lifepod versus roughly a hundred banshee's and lord knows how many enemy patrol units searching for them. The fact that they hadn't been caught when clearly they should have was even more reason to worry about something bad happening. So it was understandable that she was cracking under pressure but now wasn't the time for that and he was pleased that the others were yet to show any signs of cracking. Dowski had started with a little self-concerned whining and it was quickly growing into a stream of nonstop complaints and threatened to escalate into something worse if he didn't do something about it. And that would be unacceptable.

The humans were gathered in a dry grotto. Jagged rocks projected over their heads to provide some protection from the Banshee's above. Wang knelt next to the thin, dirt-choked stream that gushed through the rocky passageway as he splashed water on his face while Singh was busy filling the command party's canteens. Dowski however sat on a rock and glowered, she looked miserable as she and everyone else endured the ongoing cacophony above until it suddenly lessened and significantly so. To the point that they could hear each other clearly once more and as a result made everything seem even more creepy. Looking up Keyes noticed that the Banshee's had ascended further up into the atmosphere as well as a couple miles away from their current position, towards the arbitrary East he thought.

However he was pulled away from his observation when the voice of his junior officer accusingly made its way to his ears. "They know where we are." Clearly she wasn't paying any heed to the sky and even if it was true it wasn't his fault as their commanding officer.

With a frustrated sigh Keyes corrected her. " 'They know where we are, sir.' "

Blinking at the rebuke she tried again. "Okay, they know where we are, Sir. So why continue to run? They'll catch us in the end."

'Did she kill a couple million brain cells on the trip off the Autumn or something?' He honestly wondered, paying no heed to the hopelessness in her voice. Sure they where in an utterly bizarre situation but they couldn't ignore the fact that the Covenant hadn't come remotely close to capturing them either. If anything they seemed to be getting further away from them. 'It might be a trap in the end but so long as they where not captives their was no point in surrendering'. He didn't voice this instead he dryly replied "Maybe," Pausing as he dabbed ointment onto a burst blister, "and maybe not. I've been in contact with both Cortana and Wellsley. They're both busy at the moment, but they'll send help as soon as they can. In the meantime, we're tying up as many of their resources as we possible can, avoiding capture and kill some of the bastards when we can."

"For what?" Dowski demanded. "So you can make Admiral? I submit that we've done all we could reasonably be expected to do, but the longer we delay the harsher the Covenant will be. This is probably their version of psychological warfare or something as they got air superiority and we are definitely surrounded. It makes sense to surrender now."

She honestly believed her own words and Lieutenant Aki Hikowa wished she had a camera to capture her face at the moment. That or a shovel to pummel it in, sadly she had neither. "And you are an idiot ," Aki coldly put in, her eyes blazing with uncharacteristic cold fury. "First of all, the Captain rates the honorific 'sir.' You will render that honorific or I will plant my foot in your ass. Secondly, use your brain, assuming that you have one. The Covenant doesn't take prisoners, everyone knows that, so surrender equals death."

"Oh, yeah?" Dowski said defiantly. "Well, why haven't they already killed us then? They could strafe us with plasma cannons, fire some kind of guided explosive munition into the rocks, or drop bombs on our position, but they haven't. Explain that."

"That would be my doing." Came a voice unlike any of those associated with the Kilo Tango Victor 17 Bumblebee lifepod's former occupants before anyone could reply to Ensign Dowski's question. Hundreds of words could be wasted on how unique the voice sounded but in the end it came down to the fact that it sounded synthetically distorted. Everyone spun around to the direction of the voice and where just in time to see a soft blue light that shimmered and rippled much like Covenant active camouflage before fading into nothingness to reveal. 'A spartan! No he's different.' They all simultaneously thought.

He stood at just under 7 feet tall and his armor was less like Mjolnir and more like a form fitting thick under-suit with armor plating attached to it or to be more precise floating a centimeter above it. It was in no way ugly just different from anything they had ever seen before. Completely black and dark gray, with a few glowing purple lines traversing the armor's under suit. The helmet and visor was a black and dark gray mix and styled to resemble a snarling fox or wolf with purple eery glowing visors in the eye slots. (See Forerunner armor and their animal themes for comparison).

The floating armor plating seemed compacted and both angular as well as curvacious as it perfectly matched the form of the armored figures body and yet had a more angular design to it at certain points than Spartan Mjolnir armor systems. Also certain pieces seemed to just float behind him as if gravity didn't exist, though no one knew what they did. Another thing to note was that the chest plate, arm-guards, shoulder plating, thigh plates, shin plates and helmet had thicker armor than the other parts. Not bulky just slightly thicker and with more dark gray angular patterns.

All of this was interesting but a certain few things caught everyone attention, first the body structure was bipedal and ridiculously humanoid. Far more humanoid than anything they had ever seen, seeing as it had five fingers on each hand and its general structure was the same as a Spartans. Second if it could use active camouflage and remain completely hidden until it chose to reveal itself, it also meant that its stealth tech was at least on par if not superior to that of the Covenant and that whoever was in the suit was skilled at using it. Third was the fact that the armored being could have snuck away without them ever knowing it was their to begin with but chose to reveal itself so it probably didn't feel threatened by them or it meant them no harm. Captain Keyes prayed it was the latter as the armored being in front of them looked both beautiful and menacing. He had no doubt about one thing though, the armored being in front of him was not a part of the UNSC.

VvV

Naruto had been watching the Reclaimers for the past few minutes trying to pick an appropriate moment to reveal himself. They weren't a threat to him but it would be a pain later down the road if they got trigger happy and he was forced to fight them. Cause he really didn't want to hurt any of them and set a bad first impression especially since Arya was convinced that this Captain Keyes was the leader of the Reclaimers on the Ring. Arya was also conveniently not available at the moment, her excuse being that she was data mining Covenant archives for more information on the strange alien faction called the Covenant. He didn't care though, it was his duty to talk to the Reclaimers and offer them his aid, hopefully in return for some company until he was able to return home. He was bored and tired of being lonely.

He could probably steal one of the Covenants ships and leave the ring but this wasn't his galaxy and so he had no idea where the hell he was in relation to the Triangulum spiral and more specifically where his home planet was exactly. Then their was the fact that the Covenant's technology was far inferior to both the Forerunners and Precursors technology so getting back to the Triangulum Spiral would be nigh impossible with one of their ships due to their inferior slip space capabilities. At best it would take a damn long time to get to the Triangulum Spiral and then he'd have to figure out which part of the smaller irregular spiral galaxy his home planet was located in once he finally got their. That galaxy was a freaking long way away from the Milky Way from what Kaguya had told him and journeying there on a ship built by aliens he was completely unfamiliar with was both suicidal and an absolute last resort in his opinion. No he'd rather wait here until they picked him up or he at least acquired a Forerunner vessel before he did something so stupid.

He'd also need Arya to pilot said Forerunner vessel. She was almost the equivalent of a Metarch level Forerunner Ancilla and thus should be able to do it. Her presence here also went a long way in helping make his life easier in this galaxy. She had after all been the one to do most of the negotiations with 343 Guilty Spark as the monitor was rather wary of Naruto.

She'd originally been designed to help him in his Hokage duties and keep him out of trouble should he ever get lost as had become more and more frequent over the last fifty years. But even for her this was a completely new situation that they where in. And that was saying something considering how many time they'd found themselves on nearby planets after Naruto had attempted to use the space-time ability Kaguya was famed for. Yomotsu Hirasaka.

Unlike the legendary precursor princess who had the right doujutsu and the right body to perform the technique he only had the right body so he had found himself often teleporting to strange places unless it was in visual range. It was the whole reason he had to wear his tactical skin in the first place, to increase his chances of surviving in unfavorable environments. He only had a little bit of his ancestors precursor genetics in him that allowed them to live in uninhabitable environments for long periods of time. His ability to use the technique though severely limited was also why he had developed a seal to increase his chances of teleporting somewhere more...desirable. He hadn't expect that to be a completely different galaxy though.

Arya had been a boon in such circumstance. Often interfacing with dormant Precursor tech they found to send a message home for help. After which Kaguya would often personally pick him up and then scold him for his recklessness once they where home. And now that they where here he knew that with what information she had gathered during her stay here about Forerunners she could help turn the tide of the war in the Reclaimers favor and help him set up relations between the two species of humanity which was another reason to help the Reclaimers. But really his number one reason for approaching them was that for the last year he had been terribly bored and needed something to do. A century peace had done little to temper his hyperactive nature.

Of course the fact that his best bet of actually getting home was ironically to stick with the Reclaimers for the moment had a lot of influence on the decision. He would help them out until he either figured something out that got him home or the Inheritors Ascendancy came here and picked him up...once they found him. They would eventually do so as Naruto Uzumaki was pretty much a National treasure or World treasure in this case he supposed and Kaguya would grow restless if he was missing for far too long. Nevertheless it would all still take a while.

Arya was currently in Halo's sensor suites with Sparks permission of course, busy hacking the various information network for any information about anything that would be useful to them. Sighing Naruto thought. 'I really need to check on Arya, she's been gone for a while and I don't even want to know what she and Guilty Spark are getting up to. But first.'

Having heard enough of the conversation between Dowski and the command crew thanks to translation software in his suit and finding much amusement in the fact they where frightened by the effects of Dazzler on the Covenants air and ground patrol forces, he rose from his position in the shadows. He had to rely on his translator for the moment as he only spoke Elemental so direct communication without his armor wasn't possible or he wouldn't have been waring it. He honestly didn't like wearing his armor as it sealed away a lot of his abilities in doing so but he would endure it for the sake of communication. In fact he had a plan to rectify the language barrier soon enough but he first needed to get the Reclaimers trust.

Releasing his suits Invisibility Cloak which he had been using in place of the Transparency technique now that he was in armor so as not to waste chakra, Naruto cut into the Reclaimers conversation saying. "That would be my doing!"

Everyone stopped what they where doing and turned to face him as he became fully visible. Naruto had to suppress a chuckle at their expression as their eyes widened in shock at the sight of him. Finally composing himself their leader, Captain Jacob Keyes asked him. "Who are you?"

Tilting his head slightly to the left as the menacing fox eyes of his visor briefly glowed brighter he replied in his synthetically distorted voice. "Naruto Uzumaki nice to meet you!" He smirked beneath the fox visage as he noted a shiver running down all their spines as they heard his voice. The armor was meant to be both beautiful and to an extent intimidating but it wouldn't do to be too intimidating. "Sorry about the translator distorting my voice."

"Translator? You don't speak English?" Asked Dowski if he remembered the grumpy woman's name correctly.

"I'll say No. Assuming that by English you mean whatever language you are speaking currently." Naruto immediately responded pinning her in place with his gaze and taking slight satisfaction in seeing her shiver. She had been giving her captain agony a few moment ago and so she deserved it.

"Ah...yeah." She finished awkwardly having been intimidated into silence. Their would be no more stupid questions from her...hopefully. Subtle amounts of killing intent could be a hell of a boon in situations like this. Subtle being the key word, he needed them to know he was dangerous as a show of strength but not to drive them away from him in fear.

"I speak elemental." He clarified. "Now I got a couple questions for you guys and would appreciate it if you gave me some straight answers. The other faction that landed on this ring-world. . . . this so called Covenant tried to shoot me on sight when I tried to ask questions. I trust you can be more accommodating. In return I will answer a few of your own questions and safely escort you to the main bulk of your forces gathered several hundred kilometers that way." Naruto finished pointing over his shoulder in the direction where his clones had reported a large amassing of nearly three hundred Reclaimer soldiers and climbing.

Captain Keyes hearing this stepped forward and said. "Fair enough Mr Uzumaki, however I don't feel safe here with all these Banshee's and patrols around us. Also there are things that I won't be able to answer due to being classified UNSC Military secrets."

"That is to be expected of a high ranking military man," Naruto said in amused tone that some how bypassed any distortions before added on seriously. "However I'll expect the same courtesy should you ask of anything I consider classified military secrets. As for our present environment, i could lead you to a more secure location if you wish."

Mulling it over for a second, Keyes nodded and said. "I'd appreciate that however before I can trust you with myself and my party to not lead us into a trap I need you to do one more thing?"

Though no one could see Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked. "And what would that be? Should it be in my power and acceptable I will acquiesce your request." His tone simply reeking of curiosity this time despite the distortions.

"We would consider it a great amount of trust on your part if you showed us your face." Said without missing a beat before adding. "It would greatly allow for my people to relax a little. We are all very much on edge."

"Ah...sure." Naruto managed to say nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders and making the hovering armor plating above them mimic the motion perfectly. "I'll even do you one better. Just don't shoot me." He finished.

Raising his hands Naruto gave his suit a mental command to retract the armor and under-suit around his gloves so that he could free his hands. The armor around his hands immediately dismantled itself and the pieces quickly slid over each other and retracted into the rest of armor followed by under-suit which retracted with a bizarre speed and fluidity that was just unnatural and looked organic, revealing. Very human hands.

But it was what he did next that shocked everyone. Going through half a dozen hand-seals at blurry speeds he finally settled in a ram seal whispered. "Fuin." Their was an explosion of smoke surrounding him before that caught the Reclaimers of guard and had those who were armed point their weapons at him waiting for the smoke to clear. The following revelation would simply be astonishing.

VvV

Everyone in the UNSC party were honestly at a loss of words for the moment. This Naruto Uzumaki appeared so human looking that it was not even funny and handsome too, though that last thought was more of a personal opinion belonging to non other than Lieutenant Aki Hikowa.

Adorning head was a mess of ridiculously golden blond hair that looked like it was blessed by some ancient sun deity, the tips of which ended in blood red inch long highlights and appeared to be spikier than a porcupine, but he still managed to make it work somehow. His cerulean blue eyes where like twin oceans that Aki felt she could get lost in if she let herself. They where vibrant, energetic and deep, quite possibly even glowing if she didn't know any better. They held experience, unquestionable intelligence, great wisdom, intense pain, unyielding resolve and unnatural kindness and at the moment where rather friendly looking.

Further taking in the details of his facial features Aki noted that his face while not the most chiseled and angular was still fairly youthful and yet mature enough to give him an appearance of being around his early to mid twenty's. In fact aside from his hair and general demeanor in which he carried himself, the only unnatural thing about him seemed to be the whisker like marks on his cheeks and slightly longer than normal canines she noted when he barked in mirthful laughter at their shocked faces.

He was also no longer in armor but dressed in black military grade cargo trousers with a dark purple almost black long sleeved top to cover his torso. He also wore fingerless gloves, a black headband with a metal plate of some kind on it, weird sandals that looked somewhat like someone took combat boots and cut of the toe areas but made far more stylish and streamlined, a small utility pouch behind his back and some kind of holster on right leg. Nevertheless he made the odd look work for him and she couldn't help but blush a little at the exotic looking man's appearance, thankfully her bangs hid it from most. The fact that he looked undeniably human helped shed him in a desirable light but something within her told her that Naruto Uzumaki wasn't exactly human or at least not a normal human. Then came the most shocking thing to all of them but non more so than her.

[You should see your faces! Oh god my sides ache!] Aki froze, wondering. 'Is he speaking Japanese?' It was incredibly thick and somewhat strange sounding but their was no question about whether or not she understood what he was saying. It was her mother tongue after all.

Shaking off her shock the Pillar of Autumn's First Officer immediately responded to the statement. [I thought you said you spoke Elemental. You never indicated you spoke Japanese Uzumaki-san]

She did not miss how he was the one to in turn freeze where he stood, clearly shocked out of his wits. And his reply was most certainly an indicator of this. [Holy shit! You speak Elemental! And what in the name of the Log is Japanese?]

Aki was thrown for a loop by that. How would he not know what Japanese was when he was speaking it. Throw in how human he looked and his oriental name and features and it was easy to see why she was confused. But then she had a nagging feeling deep within her that was warning her about the blond in front of them, screaming at her that he was not a normal human. In her mind various little tid bits about him from her brief observation began to highlight and organize themselves, lighting up like red flags and suddenly she found herself groaning in realization as the pieces began falling into place. 'Ugh, I am such an idiot, I should have figured that something was odd with him when he introduced himself and gave me a name. Naruto Uzumaki is about as obvious as it got.'

She had to forcefully resist the urge to facepalm as she thought everything through once more. Despite his blond hair and blue eyes, his face had very strong oriental features which should have made things pretty obvious to her that something was off. However she realized now that because of how familiar he appeared and the stress of the war, she was treating him as someone who was familiar, in other words a human from an Asian family/colony or Earth, instead of as what he actually was... something else. Her instincts had been yelling at her the whole time that something about Naruto was off and now she was just beginning to understand.

On the surface he appeared human but looking at him again from a different perspective his differences all seemed to pop up at once. The most obvious to note where his slightly elongated canines and whisker marks which normal humans simply did not have. Then their was the fact that he didn't believe he was speaking Japanese, instead believing it to be something called Elemental, the language itself was the same but incredibly different at the same time. Another outstanding feature she took into account about Naruto Uzumaki was his hyper-advanced armor which looked even more advanced than the Master Chiefs and she knew that Spartan armor cost almost as much as battle group. Naruto also lacked any form of a neural lace which would have confirmed him to be with UNSC and was a requirement of all UNSC military personnel. Naruto had all but claimed to be from outside of the UNSC's sphere influence when you read in between the lines of what he had said earlier she didn't know whether it was true or not. However he didn't feel or act like an Innie so that was good. Naruto had also implied as to having knowledge of this ring-world which wasn't built by the Covenant and sure as hell wasn't built by Humanity. And even his strange phrase about a Log where all just a few of the many red flags he was raising and rubbing in her face.

Looking at him told her that Naruto was an attractive human of Asian descent that she wouldn't mind dating once they got out of this mess. However instinct told her that he wasn't human or at least not a normal human, it told her that he was something more and incredibly dangerous. She trusted her instincts, as any good soldier would. All these thoughts flashed through her super sharp mind in seconds before Aki responded. [Japanese is the tongue I am currently speaking to you in although I am beginning to believe that your thicker and older variation is your tongue, Elemental as you call it.]

[It would seem so] Naruto merely shrugged. His voice sounded really nice and more human now that it wasn't being synthetically distorted and creeping them out with every word.

Captain Keyes however coughed into his hand loudly bringing her attention to his still stunned face as he asked. "You understand him Lieutenant?" Well it was more of a statement.

Tilting her hand in a So So motion Aki replied. "To some extent Sir. His language is like some super old, thick as molasses variation of Japanese. Its comparable to someone who spoke the old Jamaican English suddenly finding himself in a chat with a very traditional Scotsman with a deep accent. I know what he saying, its just takes a bit to process really and almost sounds like another language."

Captain Keyes hummed in acknowledgment and thought before saying. "Ask him if he's human?"

Smiling at the fact that it seemed that she wasn't the only one having doubts about whether he was human or not Aki whispered. "You noticed too Sir?"

He didn't nod at least not physically but his eyes just as well conveyed his answer. "Yeah! He isn't from UNSC or Insurrectionist space, I am at least sure of that?" He whispered back.

Bracing herself for the awkwardness of asking the question she asked. [My captain wants to know if you are human Uzumaki-san?] Her eyes, ears and other senses where completely convinced that he was some kind of human but something within her kept insisting that he was something more so she kept an eye out.

With a look of amusement he merely replied. [Enough of that miss_.] He suddenly paused in hopes of getting her name. He had already given his but no one had really introduced themselves and he already knew who Keyes was before he even met the man thanks to Arya.

Catching on the Lieutenant quickly began. [Hikowa Aki. My apologies it was rude of me to withhold my name after you gave your own. I am Captain Keyes' second in command. But you still haven't answered my question Uzumaki-san?]

Sighing Naruto said. [As I was saying Aki-san, enough of that. Uzumaki-san and even Naruto-san is too formal and makes me feel way too freaking old for my taste. Call me Naruto or Naruto-kun at the least. And I am not bothered that you withheld your name from a complete strange in the least, in fact considering the circumstance you seem to be in, I'd consider your caution as being smart. As for whether I am human or not, I suppose the answer to that would be yes. However I am not the same branch of humanity as you Reclaimers.]

Turning back to Captain Keyes and the others she translated into English. "He says he is Sir but at the same time claims be different from us. He called us Reclaimers Sir?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Captain Keyes asked but more to himself than to his subordinate as he knew she had no idea either and thus wouldn't reply.

Aki however asked. [What do you mean by Reclaimers?]

Seeing that it would take too much time explaining that and the many other things about them Naruto raised his hand and said. [All answers will be given in good time and in a far safer location. I can't keep distracting the Covenant Banshee's as you call them and their ground troops forever you know. Besides I am not the right person to be telling you about your heritage!]

"He says he will tell us more when we are all somewhere safe and that he can't keep distracting the Covenant's forces forever. He also added that he wasn't exactly the right person to explain to us about our heritage, whatever the heck that means." Aki translated for the Bridge party plus.

"Can you ask-" Keyes began but was cut off.

[If Captain Jacob Keyes wants to ask me more questions then it would be better if I learnt your language Aki-san otherwise you will be pretty much reduced to our messenger. Also everyone will be able to chip into the conversation] Naruto interrupted with a chuckle of amusement before further adding. [Of course you are gonna have to first ask him to politely order his three men on the hill 700 meters behind me to stop aiming that long distance kinetic projectile weapon at my head. I've been perfectly civil with you so far, there is no need for hostilities.]

The way Naruto spoke was alarming in itself. He didn't seem or sound the least bit concerned about it nor did he show any reaction that indicated that he knew he was being targeted by a sniper team that was most like one of Corporal Wilkins boys. It frightened her and yet made her heart flutter strangely. "Sir it seems he has a way of learning English and wants to use it so that you wouldn't have to rely on me to be the messenger between him and us and everyone would understand what he is saying. Also sir he added and I quote 'Of course you are gonna have to first ask him to politely order his three men on the hill 700 meters behind me to stop aiming that long distance kinetic projectile weapon at my head. I've been perfectly civil with you so far, there is no need for hostilities'."

VvV

Captain Keyes was a practical man and while all in all the strange Spartan-like being in front him appeared civil and his offers beneficial, it didn't hurt to take extra precautions. That's why Wilkin's and his men where on a hill about roughly seven hundred meters away with a sniper riffle aimed at the back of this beings head. If he was dumb enough to take off his helmet then the chances of a kill shot should it be needed rose exponentially. However should he be trusting enough to do so Captain Keyes would refrain from giving the order to have the man shot where he stood (a sign of trust on his part even if the man would never know of it). At least he would hold off the order in the mean time until he gave him a reason to shoot him. Or so he thought things would be.

First he had been shocked to high heaven that the mans armor had disappeared in a puff of smoke to lord knows were and that the man seemed so ridiculously human, despite the nagging feeling he had within him that this man was something...more. Then things got even more bizarre when Hikowa found she could understand him as his own language was some twisted form of Japanese, her analogy also helped explain how twisted...well somewhat. Then it got more confusing when he claimed to be human but not the same as them and called them Reclaimers. Going on to say that their was someone better suited to tell them of their heritage, whatever that was. Then he lets it slip that he knows he is being targeted and politely requested that Jacob would order his men to stand down.

Truthfully it left Captain Keyes rather confused and pissed off but Lieutenant Hikowa was looking at him with eyes that seemed to be somewhere between shocked and pleading. "You've gotta be kidding me. How long did he know?" It came out in an exasperated mutter.

"He didn't say but sir I think it would be best to do as he asks. He is being strangely courteous to us and he didn't just take off his helmet as a sign of trust, he took off all of his armor. It might be a risk and the most insane Covenant trap in the end that we've ever heard of in the history of the war but I really think we should trust him Sir?" She finished with a strange look that strangely looked like it suited a cute six year old girl asking her daddy to take her out for some ice cream. That or a really cute puppy. It strangely reminded him of Miranda too.

'That look should be made Illegal all across UNSC space'. He quickly thought before relenting with a sigh and saying. "Fine." Accessing his CNI transponder he sent a quick priority 1 message burst over encrypted freq 7 to the Marines. Their Neural Laces and the comm equipment should easily pick it up.

VvV

Corporal Jeff Wilkins and his boys Juarez Rios and Orin Mathuka pressed themselves flat in between the jagged rocks of the nearby hill. Their position was not the best as their backs where left open to attack by the enemy but motion sensors, laser trip wires and Rios with his M5C assault riffle secured the back as best as they could while a small camouflage tarp, ghillie suits and the jutting rocks rising from each side of them like the fingers of a giant provided their sides and overhead with a measure of cover. The tarp was big enough to cover all three of them and mimicked the pattern of the terrain so that the Banshee's above should they take a look would be somewhat fooled. Their Ghillie suit like armor helped camouflage them even more. While nowhere close to the level of photo-reactive panels that ONI was using let alone Covenant active camouflage, it was still enough that Banshee's or foot patrols would have to come real close to be able to tell the difference..

Orin Mathuka a Tanzanian born Marine was frozen on one knee, hefting his massive SRS 99C-S2 AM sniper riffle and holding it perfectly still against his shoulder with practiced ease in careful aim at the stranger that stood before the Captain and command party. The ground before him was uneven and their was large freaking rock in the way that made it impossible for him to take the shot on his belly. Other than that this was the only place he could take the shot from and so he had to take it kneeling risk slightly diminished accuracy. He was fairly strong and had firm hands so he knew he wouldn't miss and risk friendly fire if he took the shot. He only wished the Captain would hurry up and make his mind about whether to shoot him or not. Holding this position was getting tiring.

While not 1000 meters away, 700 meters was still pretty tricky to take a shot from. Snipers had to make all kinds calculation to do so accurately and factor in all kinds of things from muzzle velocity, wind direction, wind speed, the bullets arc as it flew through the air and rotation of the Earth or in this case Ring-world. That last one threw them off a bit, especially Corporal Wilkins who was acting as his spotter and double checking all calculations Orin made. It would have been far easier if they had left with all the equipment required for an effective sniper team as the computers would have helped with all necessary calculations but they'd been in a rush when they left the Autumn.

Due to this every single minute the Captain waited meant they had to constantly recalculate just in case he gave the order to fire then and their. It also didn't help that they didn't like the strangers antics when he suddenly started laughing in front of the Captain. However at least the man had gotten the Spartan-like being to take off his armor...somehow —they still weren't sure on the details of how he did it— lining him up for a clean shot. The fact that he was apparently human didn't matter to them, if the Captain ordered them to shoot him then he'd have to have had a perfectly good reason to give the order.

Fortunately the ordered came over the comm systems to gather their gear and hump back to where the others where and report in. It seemed the man wasn't deemed a threat by the Captain or at the very least the Captain didn't want them to shoot him. The three marines shrugged as Orin said. "Thank goodness. That was getting tiring and difficult." One of the odd things about Orin was the fact that despite his very African surname and his relation to some high ranking official of the East African Protectorate he did not act or sound African at all. In fact the only languages he spoke where English and Korean, with a little bit Spanish on top thanks to Rios' efforts. He was something of a black sheep in his family but he'd proven himself to be a badass marine.

"I agree. Also shooting a fellow human even if he isn't affiliated with the UNSC doesn't feel right. Plenty of Covenant trying to kill us no need to give them a helping hand. You think he's an Innie?" Rios chipped in with perfectly accent-less English. His Spanish was even better and he was skilled enough to get away with a bit of Norwegian which he learnt on his homeworld of Bounty in the Iota Libra system. Sadly the Covenant had hit that particular outer colony while he was in Boot and if scuttlebutt had it right then it was this same damn Fleet of Particular Justice that did it.

"Maybe he is, maybe not. I'd follow the Captains orders regardless of whether he is human or not but that's mostly because he is a good man with a sound mind. Someone I can respect and he'd definitely have a good reason for ordering the shot. But I am thankful he didn't. Not against a fellow human." Orin calmly finished feeling something akin to relief at not having to shoot an apparent human.

Corporal Wilkins who was gathering his gear merely smiled at his boys. They gone through boot together and had survived all kinds of hell to get this far despite how young they all were. The Covenant war was hell for all those involved and some like himself and Rios having been born on Alluvion and Bounty respectively had witnessed their homeworlds turned to glass by the very fleet orbiting the ring world above. "I agree with you both but that doesn't change the Captains orders, lets pack up and move out double time. Captain looks like he's about to have an aneurysm."

"Yes Sir." The African and the Hispanic man from Bounty replied before gathering their things.

VvV

Meanwhile Naruto who had been informed by a clone that he was no longer being targeted turned to Captain Keyes and said. [Please tell your Captain that I thank him for his consideration Aki-san.]

"He says thank you for calling of Wilkins."

Keyes merely nodded and said. "I am just glad he hasn't taken offense at my actions. Thank him for his civility despite everything. With all that's happened we are on edge."

[My captain thanks you for being so understanding and not taking offense that we pointed our weapons at you.]

[Of course not. A good leader takes precautions and places the lives of his followers above his own. If ordering those men to point their kinetic projectile weapon at me to ensure that should things go sour he could eliminate me before I killed all of you is the best way to do it then so be it. I can't take offense at that, in fact I admire it. He is a good leader and I can see it in your eyes that you all respect him. Well maybe except for that foolish woman over there. However that's not to say that I enjoy having your weapons turned on me.]

Aki blinked at his words before smiling as Keyes asked. "What did he say?"

"Basically he said that he doesn't mind and that you are a good leader. Though he keeps calling our guns kinetic projectile weaponry. He's also taken note of Ensign Dowski's...behavior." She finished lamely searching for word to use to appropriately describe Dowski's distasteful behavior.

Before Keyes could inquire more, Naruto said. [Aki-san!]

[Eh?] The surprised Lieutenant responded a little surprised by his tone of voice.

Ignoring this Naruto continued. [To break the language barrier between us, I will require your help. It will only take a few seconds and I promise no harm will come to you.]

Comprehending what he was saying she replied. [Sure...um let me just let my Captain know alright?]

[Of course] Naruto finished with a nod. He'd expected her to say something like that.

"Sir he is asking for my assistance to tear down the language barrier between us as he put it. He says it will only take a few seconds and that I will not be harmed." Finished translating Naruto's words.

"I guess you can help him. It will be more beneficial to us in the long run." Keyes replied with a shrug.

Turning back to Naruto who looked rather expectant she said. [I am ready what do you need me to do?]

Naruto grinned before promptly replying. [Bump fists with me]

Aki couldn't help but blink in surprise and confusion at the odd request, thus asked. [Excuse me?]

Naruto's grin widened, knowing exactly how weird this must sound to her. He only hoped she would agree as stretch out his fist towards her. [I am serious. I know it probably sounds completely ridiculous but this is the best way I know how to do this as I am not a Yamanaka. Just press your fist against mine and close your eyes. You will understand as soon as you do it.]

'How the hell was a fist bump supposed to tear down their language barrier, not to mention how embarrassing our look in front of Captain Keyes. Why did it have to be me?' Aki mentally moaned.[Fine.] She relented and did as he asked. Pressing her fist against his and closing her eyes in concentration while ignoring the strange looks the others in the UNSC party where giving her and any feelings of embarrassment. It took her a few seconds before she could get any sense of what was going on but then she felt it. A powerful presence filled with so much life seemed to latch onto her soul, surrounding her, flowing through her and consuming her all at the same time. It wasn't painful, on the contrary it was elating and left her feeling more alive than she had ever felt before. But this was all for a second before everything went dark for a moment and then her vision returned slowly. Wherever she was now however was completely different from where she had been before.

VvV

Shared Mindscape...

Naruto and Aki where immediately transported to a sort of shared mindscape. Its details were mostly fashioned after Naruto's mind because Aki's mindscape was slightly under developed or to be more specific exactly half of it was Naruto's well developed and detailed mindscape and the other half was her simpler mind with a bit of design input from Naruto. But then she didn't have the luxury of having to enter into her own conscious to speak to bijuu and chakra imprints of various long dead relatives on a semi regular basis.

Her half seemed pretty tame compared to Naruto's and would have been even tamer had Naruto not helped her mind develop it in the few picoseconds before her consciousness appeared in it. It appeared almost exactly the same as the place he had met with his mother and fathers chakra imprints, as well as talked Obito out of his stupidity a hundred years ago. Only instead of being a golden-creamy color her mindscape had was blue with her seemingly standing in the air with both the sky and floor appearing to be as transparent as air and distant. A couple of glowing white orbs where soaring all around her like shooting stars from place to place. Naruto smiled at it as brought back some of his fonder memories of the past however he still vastly preferred his own well developed mindscape.

Over a century of life had allowed him to add in all kinds of details that he wished for, to make it even more beautiful. The first thing one took note of when they looked at his mindscape was the humongous mountain floating low above the Earth. It had nine faces on it, one of which was Naruto's own and two that looked incredibly similar to him. A few low clouds covered and revealed the faces from time to time as they flew past. Despite the mountains enormous size it didn't cast a very dark shadow on the surface beneath it cause Naruto willed his mindscape to be mostly illuminated.

beneath the floating mountain was a far bigger lake full of blue crystal clear water so pure their was no residue in it whatsoever. The lake was so much wider than the circumference of the whole mountain that despite the Mountains size it only took up a small chunk in the center of the lake and so most of the lake was actually in the sun's light which hung high above in the sky. The Northern edge of the lake had a life size replica of Konoha as it was during the Shinobi Era without Hokage Mountain as said mountain was currently floating in the air only oversized three fold. Now where the mountain should have been the village instead had a large dock along the massive lake.

Towards the Southern part of the lake, their was an island, a massive island. And on it was massive tree that while not quite the same as the Shinjuu in appearance was just as big and tall. It also had a large variety of fruits hanging from it and under it lay the sleeping forms of the nine bijuu completely unconscious.

Surrounding the lake where numerous grassy plains, a couple of rivers flowing in and out of the lake, Forests, deserts, volcanic and ice wastelands, a tropical jungles and just about any other kind climate one could expect in the elemental nations. All of which where divided in ways that while not even in terms of the sizes of the divisions, were clearly not natural.

For example the Volcanic lava filled wasteland was right next to the Frozen wasteland that only seemed to composed of ice and the border between the two environments was both like a straight line and an impenetrable wall as neither environment seemed to be able to get into the others territory. It was the same with all the other environments too. Their was also Birds and small animals that populated the mindscape making all kinds of sounds found in nature, even as fish swam in the lake. Non of them real but merely reflection of various creatures and environments that Naruto had encountered in his life and taken fifty painstaking years to recreate here with absolute and almost painful detail to ensure it was as close natural as anything artificial would ever come to replicating the real world and truly reflecting nature. He was sage and Konoha ninja after all.

Aki who had upon appearing and giving her mindscape a once over before gawking at Naruto's side asked. "What is this place? It looks amazing."

"This is a reflection of our inner worlds I suppose. My people call it a mindscape, I suppose you'd call it our subconscious or mind." Naruto replied. She took note of the fact that unlike before where his accent seemed thicker than molasses, his words were crystal clear to her now and oddly soothing.

Filing this away she asked the next question to come to the forefront of her mind. "Why is it split in half with such extreme differences?"

"Well this half is my mind and that half is yours." Naruto cheerfully replied. Perhaps too cheerfully.

Aki suddenly felt depressed at how plain her mind looked in comparison to Naruto's. "Agh, my mindscape looks pathetic compared to yours." A wave of depression seemed to emanated from her being and Naruto hoped that it wouldn't be something weird like with Hashirama and his mood swings. The mindscape tended to reflect a lot about a person's inner being and enhanced those feelings in here and he did not want to have to deal with something like that or worse, he hoped it wasn't that time of the month for her.

Shaking of that scary thought Naruto smiling kindly said. "Don't get so down about. I spent fifty years developing this and every time I come here I still have something to add."

"I guess you are right? Wait! Did you say fifty years?!" She yelled making him wonder if maybe he was right about her. He hoped to the log he was wrong.

Unlike her though, he had a century of experience under his belt of using his mindscape and so could easily hide his thoughts and emotions from her even in his mindscape rather than letting them fly all over the place, so he merely said. "Ah...you've finally caught on. Yes I did."

"But that's impossible. You barely look like you're in your mid twenty's." She nearly screamed.

It was true, Naruto was pretty damn good looking and pretty close to immortal. Between the bijuu, his heritage from Asura and the Uzumaki clan, Kaguya and the Shinju's gift and the new technology that the Inheritor Ascendency had began to develop he was pretty damn hard to kill and so long as he wasn't killed he wouldn't age. He thanked the long he wasn't the only one with an indefinite lifespan, he didn't want to be the only immortal. Naruto merely replied. "Life's been good to me and my people I suppose. Non of us have really aged in the last century or so."

"What do you mean?" Aki asked with a lot of curiosity and confusion in her voice.

"Its a long story which goes back many thousands of years and even in here I don't think I should bore you with it at the moment however the gist of it is that a century ago our entire population became semi immortal. We stopped aging and in some cases people had their youth restored to a degree and now we all have indefinite lifespans. This in no way means we can't be killed, we very much can but so long as we are alive we will just keep living unless we die for some reason or another." It was a short summary of what had happened at the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War. One that gave away non of the details of the many complicated events that shaped his History and turned him into the man he was today. Honestly Naruto almost missed his old naïve, idiotic self but he had too much on his plate now to ever be that guy again.

Aki couldn't believe it, but at the same time felt she had no choice. His words all true, she could literally feel it in this place. Details where held back of course but he spoke the truth nevertheless. It also indicated he was quite possibly a century old. She didn't know how to feel about that though so filed it away for later and just muttered. "Wow. That's just wow...a lot to take in."

Naruto nonchalantly shrugged and merely replied. "Whatever." Before turning around to look at the Bijuu on the Island he'd taken to calling. Six Paths Island, in honor of the Father of Shinobi himself and the creator of the bijuu. But if one took a closer look at the corners of his lips they would have noted a sympathetic smile and some amusement.

"Why are we here though and wont people notice and get worried if we enter our mindscape as you called it?" She asked curiously. It had been bugging her since they arrived even if she only now addressed the concern.

Naruto merely chuckled and responded. "Time in here is significantly sped up compared to outside and so it would almost seem as if time slowed down to a ridiculous pace outside, maybe even stopped. In here everything moves as at the speed of thought. By the time they notice I should very well be able to understand your language."

"So what am I supposed to sit down and teach you English in here. Cause that might take a while even though time flows differently in here." She wasn't stupid or ignorant and he had yet to show her viable means by which they'd speed up the lesson.

"Not precisely. In this place we can share memories and other things of importance like so." With a flick of his hands Naruto showed her a memory of himself at Ichiraku Ramen when he was sixteen. He was chatting with Ayame and Teuchi in a friendly manner about minor things of little importance but that was exactly why he chose that specific memory so as to give her no important information. She quickly absorbed all the information about it and recalled the conversation and even a little about Naruto's feelings at the time as if it where her who was actually their. Then it just suddenly cut mid conversation. Looking at Naruto for answers he smiled and said. "I did that on purpose to illustrate that if I don't want you to see something I can prevent you from seeing it as its my memory. Now I want you to share with me your memories of the English language that you and the rest of your people where speaking of earlier and only those memories. If there is something within them you don't want me to see or classified information you can block me out."

"But how am I suppose to bring up these memories?" She asked.

"I will guide you Aki-chan. In the seconds before you appeared here I helped your mind manifest your half of this Mindscape in the form that it is now due to you being unfamiliar with this. Its based of a simplistic template my parents used to leave me an important message a century ago and was pretty simple to reconstruct even in a mind completely new to this. I made one alteration though. The floating spheres of light flying around like shooting stars represent your memories, think which one you wish to show me and it will come to you. Then let me touch it and I will absorb the information in seconds much like you did with my memory. Anything you don't want me to see you can block out and I won't be able to see." Naruto quickly explained.

But she was still somewhat suspicious, she'd been on edge ever since Reach and their journey down the Ring-World's surface hadn't helped. Her emotions in this place also seemed to have a bit of a mind of their own so she asked. "How do I know you are telling the truth?"

"Aki, I will be honest and tell you this. If I want to rip any classified information out of your head, I'd have done it without you even knowing what I'd done and even had you known their isn't a thing in the world you can do to stop me if I desired to something like that." The way he said 'Something like that' Made it sound like the thought disgusted him. "However I walked you through this step by step, have been polite and informed you of my every action all to gain a measure of your trust. Whether you do so or not is up to you but its all I ask Aki-chan." Naruto said kindly and with painful honesty.

She felt incredibly guilty for doubting him and his mindscape just seemed to amplify everything. "My sincerest apologies Naruto-kun. Its just that this war has been hard on us and you are a stranger, no matter how human you appear and so we have to take so many precautions."

"Its fine, I take no offense. You are smart woman with a lot common sense and I am fairly sure that if things had been reversed I would feel the same way at the very least. However you still need to decided whether to trust that I will only look at your memories revolving around learning the English language or to withhold them from me. The choice is yours as these are your memories and I wont fault you for trying to keep them from stranger. Besides we could always just sit down and you teach me English letter by letter and word by word." Naruto finished with a charming turning mischievous smile.

"You sneaky bastard, you are trying to manipulate me aren't?" Aki roared though their was no venom in her words, in fact she was quite happy. Happier than she had been a while.

Naruto playfully replied. "Well I am the greatest ninja on my homeworld so that isn't too much of stretch."

She paused at that, adding it to the many things she was compiling about Naruto Uzumaki and asked. "Wait for real?"

"Yeah." Naruto merely replied.

Shaking her head Aki merely grumbled. "It seems there is a lot I am gonna need to learn about you?"

"Of course but not all at once. Even with this method of learning through memory sharing, too much and you will either put yourself in a coma or end up dead. Especially since your brain is so new to this." Naruto said with serious undertone before giving her a memory to absorb that proved he was a ninja while she passed him her early memories about learning the English language.

VvV

Real World...

Not even three seconds passed before Naruto pulled his fist away from Hikowa's and said in perfectly accent-less English. "Done. Thanks Aki."

Keyes was stunned at how fast he had learnt the language and Wang in his surprise yelled. "Already?"

"Of cours!" Naruto loudly boasted. "You are speaking to the Second Commander in Chief of the Allied Shinobi Forces, re-designated Ascendency Shinobi forces. And right now my main interest is getting you safely back to your home world of Earth or at the very least back into UNSC territory."

"Aki?" Keyes asked turning to his second command.

"Its true Sir. He wants to help and if we are going to have any chance of get off this ring we are going to need his help badly." She finished getting raised eyebrows from everyone and a suspicious glare from Dowski. She didn't care though after what she had seen however limited it was, she knew that Naruto was just as dangerous, if not more so than any Spartan.

VvV

0345 Hours, Inheritor Ascendency Home World/Elemental Nations, Triangulum Spiral.

In a secret training field covered by no less than three hundred fuinjutsu barriers utilizing nature energy itself to sustain themselves a group of some of the most powerful and dangerous beings on the planet were meeting. The meeting was not only top secret and above many many peoples clearance levels but one that had any of the other inhabitants of the world known about would have caused mass heart failures and people to piss themselves all across the planet. This was because Otsutsuki Kaguya, the chakra goddess herself was chairing the meeting and on either side of her she was surrounding by two of the most dangerous tyrants the Elemental Nations had ever known.

On her left with an arrogant sneer, cold blue eyes and shaggy pure white hair stood Otsutsuki Toneri, one of the last of the now almost extinct clan and descendant of Otsutsuki Hamura. And on her right with a look of complete indifference, a spiky black mane, onyx eyes stood the recently revived Uchiha Madara.

Both of them were getting glares from the other party. Glares that held no small amount of hatred for them but where Toneri sneered back, Madara ignored them completely in favor of keenly observing how much the man he had fought a hundred and twenty three years prior had grown. One Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke likewise observed his ancestor with a guarded expression. A hundred and twenty three years had done little to make him forget how freakishly powerful Madara was or that he had almost killed him in the Fourth Shinobi World War. Due to the emergence of Kaguya through his reincarnated body they had not finished their fight against him and now it seemed she had decided to revive him though in a far less powerful state. He could probably kill him on his own at this point, though Madara's power was still nothing to sneeze at and he still had his Rinnegan. Despite being weaker than Toneri in terms of pure power Sasuke was not deceived Madara was the real threat between the two and would be the first to go should they try anything.

Behind Sasuke stood Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina both revived alongside Uchiha Itachi, Uzumaki Nagato, Konan. Then their was Naruto's wives as he had gone under C.R.A which included Terumi Mei, Uzuki Yuugao, Uzumaki Karin and Hanabi Hyuuga and his two most powerful children, Boruto and Himawari. Sasuke's wife Sakura as he had refused to undergo C.R.A once Itachi was revived (Revenge against his brother who was forced to undergo it to revive the Uchiha clan) and his daughter Sarada who was married to Naruto's idiotic son Boruto. They pretty much represented the revived Uzumaki and Uchiha clan's strongest members and the oldest generation of the clan. Alongside them stood the Godaime Hokage Senju Tsunade, Orochimaru Kato Shizune, the Rokudaime Hokage Hatake Kakashi, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino and Sai, the Fourth Raikage Ay, Killer Bee, the Fifth Raikage Darui, the Fourth Tsuchikage Kurotsuchi, Fifth Kazekage Sabaku no Gaara and his siblings, Sixth Mizukage Chojuro and Suigetsu. All of who had been summoned as some of the most influential people in the world or people who just knew Naruto really well. All of them hated Toneri and Madara with a passion and had it not been for Kaguya would have attacked them on the spot.

In fact if looks could kill Hanabi would have turned the pale haired bastard into a smoldering pile ashes right then and there. Sadly she wasn't so fortunate. Kaguya deciding to begin to the meeting before someone decided to take a swipe at her two associates said in a no nonsense tone. "Naruto's been missing for nearly twenty three years. A year if he ended up where I think he has. Its time we bring him home, how far has the Uzumaki clan progressed with the sealing array Minato."

"I don't know what my son was high on when he came up with that seal but even after all these years I only have a crude understanding of it and that was with the help of the whole clan and your own input. The reverse engineered copy will work but only crudely and will take far more chakra than any of us can safely supply. Plus its a one way ticket, to wherever Naruto was dropped off. He would need to use the bijuu's chakra to send someone back here, that is if he even can."

"Minato!" Kushina yelled alarmed at what her beloved husband had just implied. Her infamous temper began showing itself as her hair rose and began waving of its own accord as if it had become a multitude snakes.

Turning to her Minato quickly explained before she decided to get going. "I am just trying to be realistic here Kushina? Its been twenty three years and even without the original copy he should be able to recreate it, tweak and come back home by now. Or at least have sent something back, the longest he has ever been missing is two years and this is 11 times longer than that. We have to face the reality that something may have happened to him."

Slightly placated she said. "I know but we can't give up hope on Naruto. I can't give up on my son?"

"Of course not and I am not saying that we should. However somethings prevented him from contacting us back and so we have to be prepared for anything. If he's alive and well we will bring him and be reunited as family and if regrettably he is...well will just have to revive him here wont we. Finding his body is our priority or at least a piece of it." Everyone was silent as he finished. Morbid thoughts filling their heads, it had been too long since Naruto had disappeared.

Kaguya sensing all this decided to comfort them a little. She was not by any stretch of the word someone who was their friend aside from Naruto of course and Sasuke to a limited degree but for the last century she had positioned herself as their guardian and protector the Inheritor Ascendency. Helping them in their struggles every now and then and guiding them when called upon. She wasn't worshiped and the benevolent rabbit goddess as she had been in the past but the Inheritor Ascendency appreciated and respected her for her wisdom and power and some the kids these days even looked at her in admiration something she hadn't had in thousands of years. "The reason Naruto hasn't contacted home might be very different from what you are assuming. I've scoured this entire galaxy for him, scanners would have picked up his body even if it was corpse had he been her and he is not. Which means he is somewhere else, likely in another galaxy. The seal he created was powerful and ingenious and thanks to the amount of chakra it took he quite possibly made it to another galaxy."

"Is that even possible." Boruto yelled in disbelieve. It was freaking hard living in the Shadow of his father, especially when his father could pull stunts like this.

"Yes. Precursors where also capable manipulating time and space on galactic level using our technology. In fact one of the reasons why I think he hasn't contact home has to do with this. Long ago time dilation field was placed over this entire galaxy altering the speed at which time passes in here from out their. It was meant to allow the Precursors to make preparations for war and strengthen ourselves long before Forerunners got here but they never followed and we didn't turn it off. The more time we had to prepare the stronger we would be in the end was what drove us to keep it on and in the end we forgot about it. For us it may be twenty three years but if my calculations are correct then it probably was little more than year for Naruto, especially if he is in another galaxy. In which case he may very well still be exhausted from his journey there and thus he hasn't tried to send anything back to us to tell us he is alive."

"So you are saying he may still be weakened from his Journey, Well that ain't good, he is the strongest guy I know and only second to you in how much chakra he possesses if he doesn't have the chakra to let us know he is home then it must costly." Sasuke finally chipped in. He loosened up tremendously over the last century and grown a sense of humor and more lackadaisical attitude now that he had a family again.

"Sasuke is right. Kaguya-sama you are probably the only one who could use the reverse engineered seal that takes even more chakra to send a few people through to him without getting drained. Plus you will recover a lot faster than even Naruto, back by all nine bijuu." Finished Himawari. The poor girl so wanted to see her father again.

"I suppose that's true in which case we should decide who would be part of the Rescue squad." Shikamaru finally spoke up. He was after all the greatest strategist in the world and had only grown better and more experienced over the century gaining a legendary reputation. He would use every single brain cell in his head to formulate the plan to bring back Naruto. Of that their was no doubt.

TBC