Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto Or Halo

Earth
97,444 BCE,

How? How could I have ever advocated for their extermination?

First-Light-Weaves-Living-Song, or as she was mostly called now, the Librarian watched as the third generation of humanity began to rebuild after their biological devolution. This was the second time humanity had been altered. The first by her makers, the Precursors. She didn't know why her creators had altered humanity; no one did. There were no records of it in the Domain — only the final results. Humanity had been made weaker. Not just de-evolved, but their entire genome had been modified.

"And yet they rose once more the ashes. Strong enough to fight not only an enemy we cannot defeat, but protect themselves against our retaliation." She thought. Once, she had seen humanity as nothing but savages. An unstoppable force that wished to consume all in its path. Now she knew the truth. Humanity was not the galaxy's enemy. The creatures her husband and his warriors looked down upon were its salvation.

She could not undo her predecessor's work. It was impossible. Whatever strength that the ancient humans once held was now gone. Forever. But she could still help.
One day the galaxy would need humanity, and it was up to her to make sure that they were ready. Her work would be slow as she had to tread carefully to keep her work away from the attention of the Council and Master Builder, but the fruits of her labor would be bountiful.

Inside of humanity, she placed a Geas in their genome. One that held the requisites needed to access Forerunner technology.

One day, she told the primitive species that she watched over. One day you will finally inherit the Mantle.

00

"Wake up, cadet!"

Naruto rolled over in his cot and went back to sleep. He was aware of the second presence in his room, and that the voice shouting thought it had some form of power over him.

A shock jolted him-from head to toe. He cursed in surprise and sprung off his cot. He shook the disorientation of being half asleep away and lunged for the body in his room.

"Back up, cadet!"

A man in a camouflage uniform stood in front of Naruto. He held a silver baton in one hand; he flicked it toward Naruto, and it sparked.

Naruto stopped. He didn't back away. He wasn't afraid of anything. He did, however, have respect for the man holding the baton, and he didn't want to harm his adopted father.

"Outside, cadet," General Black announced. "Double time...march!"

Naruto stormed past his guardian, and the general tapped him between his shoulder blades with the baton.

Lighting surged across Naruto's chest. He jerked forward and sprinted out of the barracks.

The sun hadn't risen yet, and the grass was wet with dew. There were guards holding station at the doors of the barracks, but no one else was up and outside. Behind him, Naruto heard a metallic crackle.

General Black barked, "Jumping jacks! Count off to one hundred, cadet! Go!"

Naruto started jumping immediately. He had been through this before, and hesitating would only earn him another hit from the baton. His arms didn't ache anymore, and neither did his stomach or legs.

"Ninety-eight-99-100." Black paused. Long enough for Naruto to draw a deep breath of the morning air. "Sit-ups!"

Naruto threw himself to the ground.

"Count them off, cadet," Black said. "Ready...one...two...three..."

After sit-ups, deep squats followed. Then knee bends. And finally, leg lifts.

Sweat trickled down Naruto's back. He wasn't tired. His body felt alive. General black handed him a bottle of water. Naruto grabbed at it and drank in sips.

The sun was up now. It was hot. He glanced around at the other cadets finally milling about the school. Their uniforms crisp and clean.

"A good start, cadet," Black told him. "Now, we run. Let's go!"

The general got behind him and sparked his baton, herding Naruto along. They jogged down a dirt path away from the school, past more barracks. The run wasn't long-they ran alongside the river, over a bridge, and then back to school, circling it twice.

Naruto was used to the path. He had been running it for years. If needed, he was almost positive he could run it blindfolded. It was a good run. Fun, even now that he didn't feel the ache in his muscles, and hunger in his gut. Those feelings had vanished years ago.

They ran into the courtyard stopping in front of the statue of Corbulo. Waiting for them was a woman. She wore an officer's uniform adorned with medals, but Naruto's eyes were drawn to the scar on her face.

Colonel Kennedy Mehaffey's scar was a stable legend around the school. No one knew how she got it, and with her reputation for leaving active duty without a scratch, the stories had grown every year.

"Good run?" she asked. She turned to Naruto. "Shower cadet, your team is waiting for you."

Naruto double-timed it into the school. The sun was up, and the halls were filled with cadets and staff. He glanced around at the other cadets finally milling about the school. Their uniforms crisp and clean, unlike his sweat-soaked shirt and pants.

In the Zuma locker room, his squad was already showered and changing into their cryo-suits. He stripped off his sleep shirt and pants and stepped into the showers washing with lukewarm soapy water and rinsing in an icy cold spray.

He ran back to his designated locker, got into underwear, socks, and then pulled on his cryo-suit.

"Who are we up against?" He asked.

"Hastati squad." Cadet Newton said as she glanced at him. "Early morning with the General?"

"I'll enjoy the day he's too old to move," Naruto joked.

"Cadet's!" their senior squad leader announced. "To the cryo-bay, move!"

00

When he woke, Naruto had been prepared for the sounds and feeling of puking. Not just his, but his squadmates. Leaving cryo wasn't easy for anyone, and everyone had to regurgitate and swallow the Bronchial surfactant.

What he didn't expect was to wake up in bed, an osmotic IV in his arm, and nearby monitors displaying his vital signs, blood composition, and brain-oxygen saturation levels.
I'm in a hospital. He concluded and looked around. There was no call button, and the walls were flat with no obvious door. There was also a camera mounted in the corner of the ceiling. Naruto felt the familiar yet still foreign subsonic thrum around him, and he tensed. He was on a spaceship.

He had gone into cryo at Corbulo Academy. Why was he on a spaceship? He didn't bother wondering about how. That was obvious. Someone had kidnapped him from the Academy while he was in cryo. He lowered the bed's railing and swung his legs over the edge.

Pain lanced up from his toes to his head. Everything, even the tips of his ears ached. He checked in the mirror for injuries and then ran his hand over the blonde stubble on his head. No external injuries were visible, but he knew he was hurt. Just sitting up was a struggle.

What the hell happened to me?

The wall slid apart, and a balding man entered. Curiously he wore a Navy uniform, pinned with the three stars of a Vice Admiral. His dark eyes fixed upon Naruto.

"Sir!" Naruto started to stand and salute despite the pain he was feeling.

"At ease, soldier," the Vice Admiral said.

Naruto halted his motion. He opened his mouth to correct the Vice Admiral's error but fell silent. He was still a cadet, and the admiral had to know that. The wording had to have been deliberate.

The Colonel's continued stare made Naruto uneasy. In fact, several things contributed to his unease. He was on a UNSC ship and receiving medical care. But why had he been taken from Corbulo? How had he been injured? Why was a Vice-admiral interested in him?

He needed answers.

"I am Vice Admiral Michael Stanforth. I work with the Office of Naval Intelligence." the Colonel said. He then did a strange thing. He held out his hand to shake.

Naruto took Stanforth's hand and gingerly squeezed it. Stanforth. He knew that name. Colonel Mehaffey had wanted all her cadets to know the names and ranks of the high ranking officers in the UNSC. The men and women they would one day serve under if they graduated.

Now I'm really nervous. Naruto thought as he released the Vice Admiral's hand. He didn't believe all the stories about ONI, but he also didn't believe for a second that the Office of Naval Intelligence wasn't involved in shady shit. All intelligence agencies were.

He wasn't surprised to see a Vice Admiral working for them. They often recruited civilians, officers from other branches of the military, or anyone they needed to get their job done. Or so the rumor said.

"If you are well enough, get dressed." the Vice Admiral nodded to the night table on which was a neatly folded uniform.

Naruto stood up, removed the osmotic IV patch attached to his arm, and started to dress.

"What is your name?" Stanforth asked.

"Naruto, sir."

"Your family name?"

Naruto knew that the Vice-Admiral knew his name. What he didn't know was why the Vice-Admiral was asking if he already knew? What was the point? Still, he was a cadet, and Stanforth was a Vice-Admiral. Even if he wasn't in the military just yet, Naruto was wary. ONI had never shied away from throwing their weight around against civilians who they didn't have any jurisdiction over...if the rumors were true that is.

"Uzumaki, sir. Naruto Uzumaki, sir."

Naruto buttoned his shirt. The uniform wasn't the standard Corbulo Academy uniform and was missing the academy's insignia. Instead, it bore the single gold bar of an Ensign. And two combat ribbons for Operation TREBUCHET.

"This is Operation: TREBUCHET." Stanforth pointed at the wall opposite of the bed.

A holographic screen was projected in the middle of the room.

Naruto frowned as news reports, after-action reports, pictures, and videos of fighting in the outer colonies cycled through the screen. Why was the Vice-Admiral showing him this? He already knew that the Insurrection was getting out of hand. He was training to fight them.

"You're different, son. But you already know that." Stanforth said.

"I do, sir." Naruto nodded.

ONI would have access to his school files, so he was sure the Vice-Admiral had seen his record. This explained why he had been kidnapped. ONI was interested in how he had broken every record set by the cadets who had come before him. General Black had always encouraged him to perform at his best even when the other cadets started calling him a freak or a monster because of his unnatural strength.

"Have you ever wondered why? Questioned what made you different? What made you better?" the Vice Admiral asked.

Of course, I have. Naruto thought. That one question had been a constant source of tension between him and General Black. He was beyond grateful that the General had taken him in, and he always tried to do his best to make his legal guardian proud, but he could never hold his tongue when it came to how different he was. No matter how many times the General told him to let it go. Told him that he had been blessed 'superior genes.'

Naruto could never let it go. How could he?

"Daniel used to tell me how much hell you raised, trying to figure out why." Stanforth chuckled. "Now that you're in the fold, you won't have to wonder anymore."

The Vice-admiral waved his hand, and the screen changed again. This time it was a single report. Detailing the ineffectiveness of Operation TREBUCHET. Naruto agreed with what was written. No matter how many Inserrecuntist the Operators managed to kill, the mounting civilian casualties drove more and more colonists away from the UNSC.

"You agree with this assessment?"

Naruto nodded. "Yes, sir."

"So do I," Stanforth sighed. "We need to do better. We 'need' better."

"And you think that is me, sir?" Naruto asked.

He hadn't even seen real combat — only training exercises. Yeah, his squad won all of them, but that wasn't the same as actually completing real missions.

"I know it's you."

The screen changed again. Naruto stared at a picture of himself that was taken when he first officially began his education at Corbulo. Next to his picture was yet another report. Something called the ORION project.

Under the name was a list of augmentations — higher-than-average intelligence. Increased speed. Enhanced vision. Immunity to most illnesses. Decreased amount of time required for sleep. Enhanced hearing. Increased lung capacity. Superior muscle density that increased strength. A heightened sense of balance. Accelerated cellular regeneration. Faster-than-normal reflexes.

Everything General Black and Lieutenant Hughes, the doctor at Corbulo, said he had.

"Sir?" He asked. He didn't know what he was looking at. "I've never been in surgery, sir."

"No, you haven't, but your parents? They were both a part of ORION," the Vice Admiral said. "Biochemically enhanced super soldiers. Your father, candidate-047, was enhanced, and when he had relations with your mother, who was also enhanced, you were born. Imagine the doctor's surprise when not only the father's strength but the mother's strength as well was passed onto their son."

So the General didn't lie. Naruto frowned. The root of his strength was in his good genes. It wasn't the entire truth, though, either. Not that Naruto blamed his surrogate father. Daniel Black was a General in the UNSC. There were a lot that of things that a General couldn't tell a small child.

"When ONI realized the potential in you, Daniel volunteered to raise you. Train you. And when you joined the UNSC, you would have been transferred to ONI. However, we can't wait another two years, son." Stanforth eyes hardened. "We need your strength now."

"I'll do whatever you need me to, sir," Naruto vowed.

He had been raised to join the UNSC. Being a soldier was always his future. The only thing that had changed for him was that the future was arriving earlier than he expected.

"Humanity needs you on a ship to Harvest as soon as possible. You will be a part of a small anti-insurgency unit tasked with countering the Inserrecunists involved in the disappearance of multiple DCS-class freighters leaving the planet." the Vice Admiral explained. "Don't underestimate the importance of this mission, son. Harvest might be small and out of the way, but that little planet provides food for six worlds. If the Inserrecunists manages to cut off supply from it, even for a short period, thousands will starve."

"I understand, sir."

Naruto himself hadn't ever been so hungry that it hurt, so he couldn't understand fully what that was like. However, he knew that starvation one of the worst ways to die. There were hundreds of documentaries detailing the food shortages on Earth before space travel was available. All of them were hard to watch.

Six worlds and all their inhabitants facing that same problem was a chilling thought.

"Good, then let's not waste any more time," Stanforth said. "On Harvest, you will be under the command of Lieutenant Commander Jilan al-Cygni. For the duration of this mission, you are twenty years old. Most will chalk your youthful looks up to cryo, so you shouldn't get too many questions. But understand, son. No one can know your actual age."

"I understand, sir." Naruto snapped to salute.

Vice Admiral Stanforth mimicked the move and turned on heel, marching out of the room.

A/N: Not a lot of information is given about the ORION project enhancements. The only hard fact about them I can find is that they made the ORION candidates stronger than regular humans but not as strong as any of the Spartans. I'll be referring to Sgt. Johnson's feat in the games and books to estimate Naruto's future strength.