The Shinobi and the Scientist…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Naruto or Mass Effect so don't bother asking me…

( ): Thoughts

(Bold) : Kurama's voice in Naruto's head...

"Bold" : Kurama's voice in the real world...

…

In Therum…

Liara T'Soni could not help but be worried greatly by the current state she was in, she had gone to this world to study some Prothean ruins and had done some good work, as good as one can get being by herself, when the Geth appeared. She knew they were the Geth the very second they deployed their troops and she quickly tried to find some measure of safety while still trying to answer the burning question in her young Asari mind.

(Why are the Geth HERE?!)

No one had seen the Geth in over three hundred years, not since they revolted against their creators the Quarians and sent them into exile and resulting in the Quarian race being trapped in the Migrant Fleet. Many people shunned the Quarians for their actions and that had lasted for over three hundred years, though Liara was not one of them. She did not have anything against the Quarian people and had at times asked her mother why was it that even after so long, their people were still not being given some measure of aid, despite what happened to them. Benezia told her that it was not an easy thing to do because of so strong a law that was violated, willingly or not, so it was to be expected that many would look down on the Quarians. She too felt that the status of the Quarians was unjust and that the Council had gone too far in placing them in this situation, but with the majority against them, it would have to be on the Quarians to change things and how they were all viewed by the people around them.

Not an easy fight to be honest.

Yet here the Geth were and now it seemed that they were looking for her. She knew that for she was the only person who was on the dig site and they had come t the dig site with great speed and purpose. Yet that did not answer the question on why they had come after her of all people. She was a simple Asari Scientist looking for answers to the Prothean disappearance, and while she was indeed the daughter of one of the most recognized Asari political figures, she felt that the Geth would not be interested in the politics of organic beings.

(So why?)

She also had another concern to deal with, and that was how to get herself out of her current predicament. When she came here to hide, she had accidentally activated something that she guessed was a security system in the ruins. She had no idea that she did that due to her shock and fear and now here she was, suspended in the air by something that resembled Biotics. Had her situation not been very dire, she would have shown great eagerness to study this device, even if technology was not exactly her specialty. Now she had to find a way out from this trap before the Geth found her in this vulnerable state, she did receive Huntress training from her mother Benezia but she knew that it would mean nothing if her abilities might bring the whole mountain on top of her.

Her train of thought however was soon cut short when a large glowing sphere of energy apeared near her, she managed to look in that direction and was awed by the sight. She could tell that it was not created with Biotics since the glow of blue was not present in the sphere, and she did not see anyone or anything generating the sphere. She looked on to try and figure out what was going on but got a surprise when the energy began to move to the floor and as it faded inward, there was a figure there. The figure looked to be human and as the blue energy began to fade away, she finally got to see that the figure was indeed human, but was different. She had not met many humans in her young life as a Maiden due to her occupation as an archaeologist and her innate shyness towards other people of any race, but she did know enough about humans to know that this young man was different.

He wore some form of armor that was unlike any suit of armor worn by anyone, looking almost ancient, and his weapons were definitely not the modern kind, his clothing also was unlike what she had thought humans would wear, black and orange, along with some form of coat that she did not recognize. The young man also appeared to have spiky blonde hair, a tanned skin tone and amazingly enough, there seemed to be three scar like streaks on his cheek that resembled...whisker marks of a sort. He also looked to be nice on the eyes but Liara was not concerned with that, it was not only the fact of his unexpected arrival, but the fact that he was wounded AND healing right in front of her.

(That is impossible...no one with the exception of Krogan can heal injuries like that!)

Liara's thoughts were accurate as she saw his flesh actually begin to heal and his wounds began to knit themselves back together right before her eyes. Such a feat with medical aid would be impossible, yet here it was before her. She watched intently as the wounds healed and she could see from the state of his clothes and the wounds he had, that the young man had been in a fight, though some of the wounds looked to be the work of bladed weapons. Her examination of the human continued even as she was now aware that he was waking up before her.

…

She was not the only one gaping either…

Naruto could not help but feel his body beginning to heal from the effects of that last strike between his high powered Rasengan and Sasuke's enhanced Chidori. Normally he did not bother with that as he knew that it was a good thing, but the sheer scale of power in that battle convinced him that he would not survive it. He was ready of course for death if it came to that, but it seemed that he had been saved by his resident and the others as well. He was still in no shape to speak to Kurama and the others about his current situation and thus focused on healing himself. The energy of his chakra and that of Kurama's own chakra certainly helped him heal. But as he finally recovered enough vitality to open his eyes, he was caught off guard when he saw that instead of what he expected to see in the afterlife, he was looking at a roof of sorts...one made of metal.

(Ow...man that hurt...can't believe I am still alive.)

The pain that came from opening his eyes made him close to them a bit more to get used to the light, once he felt that his eyes were now fully adjusted to the light. In that moment a voice he knew all too well spoke to him...Kurama

(You all right Naruto?)

(Yeah...but damn, I though we were goners for sure.)

(We nearly were...crazy move you and that former partner of yours pulled. Still we managed to save your butt at the cost of a LOT of chakra, me and the others are going to be really beat when this is all over.)

(I know...so any idea where the heck we are?)

(Not a bloody clue to be honest...one thing is for sure though, we're not in the afterlife but not in the Elemental Nations either.)

(You want to run that by me again?)

(We are not in the Elemental Nations Naruto...this entire's world's leylines of energy feels completely...wrong to me.)

(Okay...anything else?)

(We're not alone here either...take a look over to your left.)

Naruto did just that...and what he saw next proverbially took him by the nuts as he gaped.

"What the?"

The blonde Shinobi could not help but gape at the sight before him and he had good reason as he saw a figure floating in a sphere of pure energy. The fact that he was in what appeared to be a cave was ignored as he was trying to figure out just who or WHAT the being was before him. There in a sphere of flowing blue energy was a human like figure that was wearing a very strange set of clothing. It seemed to be white with green and some lines of black, but it was not the clothing that got the Hokage's attention, but the woman herself, or was she a woman?

The figure was definitely that of a human woman, only the skin tone was different, the only skin tone he had seen that looked blue was on that freaky former Mist Seven Swordsman Kisame. Not only was her skin tone not human but she had no hair whatsoever, only strange flesh like tendrils where the hair usually was. That did not mean that she was the least bit ugly though, she was actually rather attractive and if the skin tone was human and she had hair, she would have attracted any man or even woman's attention. Her eyes, deep blue from what he could see, similar to his own and his father's were filled with a combination of emotions. The first was surprise, no doubt seeing him appear like this before her would be the reason, second was curiosity, for the very same reason as the first, third was fear, something he disliked a great deal but accepted since his arrival was unexpected and no doubt she would see him as a danger.

He managed to get up and spoke to her.

"Hello? Can you...understand me?"

The woman or whatever she was looked at him with confusion and then to his surprise spoke to him in a language that he could understand.

"Yes, I can understand, please, can you help me?"

Naruto got over the shock of knowing that this strange female like being could understand him and speak his own language just as they met and moved closer to her. As soon as he was close enough he moved to touch the field, that made the strange woman like being speak out in a tone that was enough to tell the blonde that it was a warning.

"Wait! Do not touch that! That is a Prothean Security Field and it might harm you if you touch it!"

Naruto quickly recoiled his hand but something about that this woman said caught his attention. The name Prothean itself, which had little to no meaning to the blonde as he had NEVER heard of anyone or anything going by the name Prothean before.

"Huh? What's a Prothean?! For that matter, what the heck are you?! I mean sure you are very good looking and all that plus I really don't want to sound offensive, but I have no idea what you are!"

Liara looked the blonde with surprise, hearing that he had no idea who the Protheans were was confusing enough, but not knowing what she was only made her surprise even greater. Everyone in the galaxy from the Citadel, Systems Alliance, and even the Terminus Systems knew the Protheans and namely the Asari, so why was this young human acting as if he never met them before? However now was not the time to ask questions as she knew that it would not be long before the Geth would find a way to get at them.

"I'm sorry, but we don't have time! The Geth are coming here once they find a way through the barriers!"

"Geth?! What the heck are you getting at?! I have never heard of these Geth before and why are they...hold it, they are after you?"

"Yes! Please help me...I understand that you have no idea what is going on but I need your help."

Naruto still had no idea what was going on but the sheer desperation in the blue woman like being's face was genuine and while he was not all that sure what was going on, he decided to help out.

"Okay, just how am I supposed to free you?"

The conversation could have gone on a bit more when another voice came into play.

"Hold it right there!"

Despite his injured state, Naruto quickly grabbed two of his kunai that thankfully were still in the pouch and readied himself for a fight. He turned and saw to his surprise a human in armor he did not recognize, and carrying some sort of box like thing in both hands. And this person in armor was not alone either. The next figure apparently was female though the armor was white and pink, odd design even for him. The other one though was definitely different, higher than a human and had a hump on the back. he had no idea what was going on and he was still healing but he decided to get down to the end of the matter and find out who they were.

"Who the heck are you?"

The man looked at him through his helmet and then lowered the strange device and spoke.

"My name is Commander Bradley Shepard, of the Systems Alliance and Council Spectre, who are you and what are you doing there with Dr. T'Soni?"

Naruto looked at the man and despite his state decided to use his Senjutsu chakra even if he was still unsure of their intent. He shielded most of his face and soon he felt the chakra flow into him and he felt Shepard and his team. So far their chakra was...wait a minute, their chakra was very weak, nearly non-existent! How the devil are they still alive with that level of chakra? He searched again and noted that there was some other form of energy in the massive lizard like being and also in the blue skinned woman near him. He then summoned a tiny fragment of Kurama's chakra and soon felt that while Shepard was wary of him, he did not have a dark taint on him and the same could be said for his two companions. He decided to calm down and answer the man.

"My name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze and I have no damned idea how I got here. But I am not a danger to you or to this Dr. T'Soni you are referring to...wait, you're not referring to her are you?"

Naruto asked as he pointed at the Asari and he could see that the others nodded though even if they were wearing helmets, it was obvious to the blonde that they were confused as to why he acted as he had no idea what she was.

The one known as Shepard nodded and replied.

"Yes, we came for her."

Liara looked at the human and spoke once more.

"You came looking for me? Why?"

"You're mother, Matriarch Benezia is working for Saren and the Geth. He and his Geth recently attacked one of our colonies, Eden Prime and we recovered evidence that that shows that she is working with Saren. What do you know of this and who's side are you on?"

Naruto turned and while he was not too sure about what was going on, it was clear that what the man was talking about was not the least bit likable to the blue skinned female. Her face took the look of shock, dismay, anger, and some other emotions that Naruto felt were too human to be faked.

"What are you talking about?! I am on no one's side! I have not spoken to my mother in years so I have no idea why she is with Saren!"

This confused the hell out of the blonde ninja but his gut was telling him that the blue skinned female was telling the truth, not to mention the fact that even if he was still not sure what to make of her, he could tell that this...T'Soni was genuinely dsitressed by her mother's association with this...Saren. He knew that logically he should stay out of this and find out what was going on, where he was, and what was his next course of action, but right now he had to do something else as he spoke to the group before him.

"Look, I have no bloody clue what is going on here! So can someone just tell me how to free her from whatever this thing is and we all can get some answers?!"

That shout had the effect Naruto was hoping for and that was to shut up everyone and allow some breathing room for all involved, however, the leader of the new bunch was calm enough to reply.

"Look, I don't know how you got there, but right now is not the time to be losing your head. We're here to find Dr. T'Soni but we're not here to hurt her either. There's Geth moving about, all in league with Saren and they are after her and right now we need to get to her before they do. Let us find a way to get in there and get her and you out. Then you can get your answers, deal?"

Naruto sensed that the man named Shepard was not yanking him by the nose and he knew he had no other choice at this point. So he nodded to Shepard and spoke once more.

"Okay."

It was not long before the group left and Naruto decided to go back and try to see what was the field that was holding the alien woman hostage. he looked at her a bit as well, admitting that despite the initial surprise of her human yet non human appearance, the alien woman was still very attractive and would have really gotten a lot of attention on herself had she been seen in Konoha. The question being if the attention was on the good side or the bad side of the equation. His train of thought however was broken when the whole place shuddered and before that he heard strange noises just past that massive glowing wall earlier. He was very tense and turned to the alien woman.

"Tell me again how to free you."

"There...on that console, I'll guide you."

Naruto soon moved towards a weird looking panel, which then activated and now had lights and symbols that he could not make heads or tails of but he quickly looked at the woman who then pointed to a symbol. He mentally prepared himself for anything that might happen and press it, all the while watching the still imprisoned alien woman. The field around her soon disappeared and she nearly fell, had it not been for his super human speed as he quickly caught her bridal style. She looked at him in shock and he could understand why, even if he was not using his full speed, he was a very fast person now than what he was so many years ago. She also began to have a deeper shade of blue on her face, confusing him for a moment until he recalled just how he was holding her. He gave her a warm smile and her face turned deep blue once again. He then placed her down and she looked at him with curiosity, but any other line of conversation was cut as the three he saw earlier come in.

The leader, Shepard soon spoke to him.

"Looks like we don't have to worry about freeing Dr. T'Soni, thanks for freeing her. But right now we need to leave since there is no telling if and when the Geth will come back in force."

The shaking of the place stopped any response from the two and the alien woman spoke with worry.

"That was heavy seismic activity, too much to be normal magma or tectonic displacement, what is going on?"

The female in armor spoke.

'Simple we had to use a mining laser to get to your side, extreme but we were out of options. So right now, if we don't get out of here, this ruin is abut to be filled with a LOT of lava."

After a moment or two, they all headed to something that reminded him of the elevators he had seen in Kumo at one time when he made a diplomatic call to A, and soon they were off as more trembling and shaking occured. Naruto watched as the man tapped the side of his helmet and began to talk to...someone. It was like that of the old wireless radios that the ninja used on occasion, so he was sure that he was calling for help. Something about the...Nor...what? Naruto shook his head and turned around to find out more from the people but then decided to cut off the idea for two reasons. The first was that he sensed that the tremors were getting stronger and this place could collapse and become a volcano. The other reason was that they were NOT alone anymore!

...

"What the heck?!"

The others turned and saw what was it that Naruto saw, there were several strange looking beings that had only ONE massive glowing eye and carrying some very strange looking devices to the blonde's eye, They also happened to be colored like a bunch of marble statues and had some form of language that sounded more equal to stuttering and screeching. Two appeared to be deep red and there was another one of those lizard like beings, though wearing far different armor than the one who was with Shepard. Naruto glared at them and then sensed something odd, REALLY odd as the strange beings with the one eye had NO chakra in them, yet somehow were able to move around and act like living things. The only things he felt came close to these were the puppets made in Suna. But they usually needed a puppeteer to command them unless one referred to the former Akatsuki member Sasori.

Naruto's study of the new arrivals was cut short when he sensed a great deal of ark emotions being directed at Liara herself and the conversation that followed more than made sense for the dark emotions. Naruto quickly reacted by grabbing Liara as the fight erupted. The blonde watched the fight progress as the three fought with the strange machine like beings and that one that looked like the other one accompanying Shepard. Naruto spotted one of the machines about to attack and his danger senses kicked in as he quickly took out his kunai, channeled some of his chakra into the weapon and fired it at the weapon. The Geth spotted the weapon but did not react, no doubt thinking that the projectile would be ineffective. But it did not take into account that Naruto's strength and speed had improved beyond what it was before, and the chakra he used made the weapon fly at higher speeds have a more powerful cutting force.

The weapon pierced the Geth's rifle and caused the weapon to actually explode and then Naruto attacked the Geth, using his chakra to enhance his strength even further to make up for the fact that this foe was stronger than most. The move worked as his fist connected to the chest of the Geth and actually caused it's chest plating to buckle and bend. Naruto heard the thing make a sound that he hoped was the equivalent of pain. He lashed out with a powerful kick to the side of the head and then took out his sword and coated it with his chakra and slashed the same area. The weakened chest plate armor gave way and soon the machine fell into two neatly cut halves. Naruto turned around and quickly moved to engage the next foe, but not before taking an insurance policy.

This proved to be a very good move as the massive alien working with the machines turned it's attention to him. The creature roared at him and then aimed a weapon at him! He then charged at the alien being who seemed to sneer in a blood thirsty fashion and got ready to fire, never mind the fact that the others who apparently killed it's followers were now aiming at it.

...

The Krogan Battle Master was very maused at the fact that this blonde stripling of a human was coming at him, but that soon changed to surprise to him and no doubt the others when the blonde, being hit by his weapon's slugs actually vanished...to reveal one of his own Geth!

"What the hell?!"

That was followed by him turning around to see TWO Blondes coming at him with a MASSIVE sphere of pure energy! He barely had enough time to react as the sphere buried itself deep into his chest armor, his Kinetic Barriers not being able to block it as the child spoke once more.

"EAT THIS! ODAMA RASENGAN!"

The other Humans, the massive being like the one with those lifeless things, and the blue skinned alien were stunned as the sphere smashed with such force that a shockwave of air came at them and actually made some of the metal plates in the chamber buckle hard and fast. Naruto could not pour a lot of his chakra into the attack due to his still healing state, his exhausted state, his chakra was not that stable yet, and most of all he knew that if he unleashed his full power, he might bring the already collapsing chamber down faster. Even then, the blow of the sphere of chakra literally sent the Krogan flying backwards with amazing speed and slamming HARD into the hall and as he landed on the ground a massive shard of metal with razor sharp edges fell down and stabbed the Alien through the ruined armor it had on pinning it to the ground in a now expanding pool of blood.

As the young man managed to stand up while panting, the Spectre walked over to him and kept his hand on his pistol as he spoke.

"Hold it right there, who are you?"

Naruto turned and looked at the dark haired man once more, still trying to figure out just who this one was and what sort of armor was he wearing. It was fairly obvious to the blonde that it was unlike any armor he had seen before in his life, in fact he could be that a lot of armorers back home would have spent a fortune to get a look at it. It was obviously heavy armor just from the way the plates looked and how the guy moved as well. But the shaking of the place convinced the man to give it up and he spoke to the blonde once more.

"We'll continue this later! Now move!"

Naruto did not waste time even though some of his still re-opened wounds were still healing and causing him pain. The woman who was also wearing armor looked at him along with the massive reptile in red armor but they too were on the move with him and the young woman who he now knew as Liara T'Soni, a name that he had never heard of before. The entire area was falling apart and he decided that they needed to move fast so he channeled some of his chakra into his hands. He moved closer to the four with him and poured the formula of his father's signature Jutsu known as the Flying Thunder God Technique. Once the formula was on them, he quickly took out one of the special kunai and he was spotted by the armored woman who shouted.

'What the hell are you doing?!"

Naruto did not say anything as he looked for a good spot to toss the kunai despite the noise, dirt clouds, rocks, and boulders falling down. He was soon given a respite despite the situation around him as he spotted a heavy gangway and tossed the kunai. He quickly focused his chakra into the formula and felt his chakra activate and he heard the gasps of the others. The five member group vanished as a large boulder fell behind them and now they were at least halfway up the floors. The others were stunned briefly and looked at him as he was still using the hand seals and they saw the glowing writing on their armor and clothing. They however were convinced to keep moving as the place was still falling apart. They were further convinced as they felt the increasing heat that indicated that the lava underneath them was coming.

However as they moved on a massive boulder was coming down to destroy the catwalk and they knew that they did not have the firepower to destroy it without risking the place collapsing further on top of them. Liara herself felt that her using her Biotics was time consuming and also too late. However, they got a surprise yet again as the blonde stranger with the strange powers did some weird hand gestures and placed his hand on his mouth in the position of blowing a balloon and shooting out a phrase.

"FUUTON! TAMA ISHUU!"

The group spotted a swarm of glowing spheres that had pure air trailing them suddenly appear in front of the man's mouth and fire out like a cannon ball and smash into the falling debris, actually tearing it apart and showering them with smaller and less lethal rocks. They were stunned at this but did not waste time talking as they soon rushed out as the volcano the ruins were over was releasing more lava. As they all rushed out they turned to see the Asari they came to save now carrying the blonde youth who apparently passed out. Liara looked at them and spoke in haste while trying her best to support the young teen.

"Please you have to help him!"

Shepard looked at the young man and nodded as he and he other human soldier began to lift Naruto and take him to their ship. There was going to be one hell of a debriefing, that much he could bet all his credits on.

...

Later in the Normandy...

Commander Bradley Shepard was currently looking over the young man who they had found alongside Liara earlier, who had done...something to the Krogan who had tried to attack Liara when he and the others were tied down by the Geth. It was nothing like Boitics as there seemed to be no glow on him at all that highlighted the use of Biotics. And there was the fact that Brad had never seen anyone use Biotics used in that fashion before. Sure there were those who used Biotics in hand to hand combat, but not like what the guy did since there was none of the blue field of Biotics. His clothing was definitely not from anywhere, even more so since it had orange and black as colors. He also carried weapons that were...well, archaic by any standard. A pair of Swords, one a Japanese sword, and the same could be said for the other one though this was more along the lines of a cane sword, a variety of knives namely the ones that looked like they were made for both throwing and close combat with a set being with two outward blades. There were also high quality needles

The REAL shock was the way the young man was actually healing in real time. The sheer amount of injuries he had would have put any other young man his age in hospital ICU for at least a few months. Even more so when he had tangled with the Krogan, created actual living copies of himself and unleash a technique that did not look or fee like Biotics. And as they were about to escape as the ruins fell around them, he managed to somehow...TELEPORT them to the middle floor and somehow unleash a massive sphere of AIR after doing some strange hand motions to destroy a large boulder and reduce it into smaller fragment while sending them to the side before they could have destroyed the last walkway out.

They soon got out and he eventually succumbed to his own apparent injuries and exhaustion, which was the reason he was now in the Normandy's Medical Bay. He and Ash had to carry him while Wrex and Liara followed and soon he was able to get the boy resting. The others in the ground team were surprised when they brought the young man with them and he told them to wait while he got word from Chakwas. He turned to Chakwas and spoke to the doctor.

"How is he Doc?"

"Well, I can tell you that he is healing remarkably, at first I thought this was the effects of Medi-gel but apparently he has a higher than normal healing ability that most humans."

"Gene therapy?"

"No Commander, I detected no signs of gene therapy in his body though I did pick up strange amounts of energy in him, several in fact that defy most bio-energy readings I have taken, and no, they don't correspond to Biotics either. And despite his injuries, he happens to be in remarkable shape and vitality, I still have no idea who he is since his DNA profile has not matched up with the Alliance database. Though I did pick up apart from the energy something interesting in his genetics as well as his physiology ."

"Oh?"

"Yes, the young man has a very robust cellular regeneration structure as well as having a very strong level of endurance as well as vitality and stamina. I can say that he would make a very capable soldier had he been part of the military. His body also appears to be remarkably healthy, so despite his young look, he appears to be in the bloom of health, perhaps a bit too much so. Though from what I have seen of his build I suspect that he may be part of a military force himself. He also seems to be human like you and me though with some changes on his DNA patterns."

"What sort of changes?"

"To start with, there seems to be a slightly higher amount of DNA pairs in the strands and instead of being dangerous, they appear to be in perfect order. Most humans have at times irregular gene pairs which term to recessive genes, this young man or whatever he is, does not have any recessive traits in him. And it's not just genes either that makes him stand out Commander as I said before, it's his physical form. His muscle tone is at a very high level, far more so than most, in fact though he might look slim and more along the lines of a martial artist, which he apparently is, his muscle tissue is three times as dense as that of a regular person."

"I also looked at his bones through the scans and while he does have the same number of bones as any regular person they are very dense and thus much harder to break than regular bones. I would say that you need at least twice or three times the strength needed to snap regular human bone to snap this one's bones. His organs while all the same as a human's are a lot more robust as well and is more durable and functional than that of a regular human. I also ran scans for possible Biotic nodes in his nervous system, but he has none whatsoever, yet there appears to be some sort of secondary circulatory system in him or an analogy of one similar to the blood circulation system. This one however is filled with the same energy that seems to come from all of his body cells, even his brain cells emit it. I also found a massive secondary amount of energy in him that nearly threw my scanners on the fritz. I can't really be sure, but if he IS human, which I doubt he is at this point despite his human looks, then he was given a LOT of mutations."

"Mutations? Are they artificial and possibly dangerous?"

"No, they appear to be natural in nature so it is safe to say that he does not have any mutations in him. So far, my best estimation is that all of these traits are naturally present due to evolution on whatever world this young man lived on. And so far, the changes seem to be highly beneficial to him. Wherever he came from Commander or whatever he is, I doubt I or anyone in the Alliance have ever seen anything like this."

Shepard nodded at that and spoke to Chakwas.

"He said something about being a Ninja."

"Ninja? As in the ancient Japanese assassins we all heard about at some point in our lives? He might not look the type since he wears orange with black, and the things ninjas are reported to be able to do are usually with the work of traps, hidden devices, illusions, explosives, disguises, and the like. And the fact that he happens to be blonde haired, blue eyed, and having no Asiatic features means he is not of Japanese ancestry."

"Yet he spoke a variant of Japanese which is quite different but pretty close to the language back home Doc. Any chance on when he is going to wake up?"

"He should be up and about, his remarkable healing abilities will help a lot and...scratch that, apparently he is already awake."

Brad saw that Chakwas was right as the blonde opened his eyes and squinted at the lights before him. The young man looked to him and when his eyes adjusted, he spoke in Japanese.

"Uh...hi."

...

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Okay, figured I could post this one again and this time this story will have chapters, more dialogue, more actions and also more interactions and the like. Now to be clear on this matter, the story is still in the same direction and the pairing is still the same thing. Naruto and Liara, no harem (I know…kind of weird coming from me but there so don't bother me about it.), and I plan to keep it that way.

You read the aborted one shot already so you know how it will go for now but this is the prologue and the coming chapters will be given a lot of overhauling so let's leave it at that for now.

Oh…and after this one, I plan to post a new story…same theme, different lady, and Ice Queen moniker, and attitude aside, she is one of my favorite female game characters.

…

Trailer…

Lazarus Cell Station…

Miranda was ready to leave with Shepard and Jacob when several surviving mechs that had come in unexpectedly shot at them, they turned around to fight them, but then they all saw a blur of movement and a flash of yellow before the mechs stopped working and soon all their heads fell down, followed by their bodies which were in pieces to reveal a blonde man wearing black and orange trimmed hardsuit armor. The Armor was very high end and not the kind any rag tag merc would use…no, this was the kind favored by elite special forces units and commandos of high end PMCs. What really got the attention was the fact he wore a strange forehead protector with a leaf like symbol on it, carried a sword of all things, several pouches on his thighs, a bandoleer of sorts on the armor, an assault rifle as well as a pair of SMGs, and a sniper rifle on the back.

(Think of the armor being a copy of that of the N7 but schemed to have the colors Naruto favors.)

Jacob spoke seriously along with Commander Vincent Shepard who aimed his own gun at the new arrival.

"Who the hell are you?!"

Miranda however was shocked at the sight and moved forward before Jacob could say anything, she spoke to him.

"Naruto?"

Naruto looked at Miranda briefly with a look of confusion before he recognized her and sheathed his specially crafted monomolecular sword and spoke with a smile of utter recognition.

"Miri-chan! Is that really you?! Didn't think I'd run into you after all these years! And I have to say…you look stunning!"

Miranda had no idea how to react…of all the people she had thought to meet at some point in life after leaving her father with Orianna, Naruto was the last person she expected to see…even more so when the last time they had been together was when she finally made contact with the Illusive Man of Cerberus and when he promised to lead anyone else her father had sent after her on a merry chase. He had disappeared off the grid for nearly a decade and she had thought that he was gone…one of the few friends that she really had in this galaxy with the marked exception of Niket. Not to mention he was…more than a friend in a sense…

But now…now she was facing the same man who helped her escape and help her make a normal life for her sister. She tried to make up some words to say to Naruto until Vincent spoke.

"I take it that you and him are acquainted?"

Miranda recovered a bit and replied nervously…a first in Jacob's book.

"Yes…we are, a long time ago. What are you doing here Naruto?"

Naruto smiled briefly and replied.

"I was asked to look for Commander Shepard by his old mentor…and it seems I found him, didn't expect to meet you here though. And before you ask, I was just sent to find him, if he was alive, then bring him back to the Alliance to get him up to speed on some things, if not, then make sure his remains are brought back for proper burial. Imagine my surprise to find out he was held by the Blue Suns, then by the Broker, and then Cerberus, that REALLY got my attention so I decided to kick down a few doors of people who I managed to find out were supporters of Cerberus and I also decided to see if you had ANY idea on what the hell would Cerberus want with Shepard's body. If I did not see him for myself right now and I can tell he is indeed alive and not some figment of my imagination, I would have thought I had lost it."

Vincent was surprised by that and spoke.

"Anderson sent you?"

"Yep, so you're Commander Shepard huh? He was right in the looks department at least, good to know that they actually brought you back from the realm of the dead. But this puts us in a mess, you see, like you I had some run ins with Cerberus Commander, none of them were anything pleasant."

The two agents tensed up a bit but Naruto quickly sheathed his sword and replied.

"But since he's alive I can go and report to Anderson that his protégé is still in the land of the living, plus since Miri-chan is here with you guys I guess I can lay off with my beef with Cerberus for now since I know Miri-chan does not trust anyone easily unless they are trustworthy enough. But that does not mean I'm going to let Shepard out of my sight either. I'm going to radio Anderson that I found his protégé after all, and knowing him, he might ask me to help Shepard out. But don't think I am going to let my issues with Cerberus be forgotten like that off the bat."

The three looked at one another briefly and Miranda then looked at Naruto who was waiting patiently for their response. The reunion with the blonde who had done a lot to save her and Orianna had been the last thing on her mind. Miranda however knew that they were out of time and replied.

"Naruto…I know you have issues with Cerberus but…"

Naruto snorted a bit and replied.

"Issues doesn't even BEGIN to cover it Miri-chan. But I am a Shinobi of my word, as long as I know that there's someone I can consider trustworthy in their ranks, I will not be too harsh. And it should be obvious it's you I trust out of this nest of vipers. But I have my job to do and when it's over then I can go my way."

Miranda knew of Naruto's talents first hand to be sure and knew that she was taking a risk in what she would do next, but she decided it was a chance she had to take.

"Wait…I know you don't want to work for Cerberus but if you are here to help Shepard, then can you work WITH us? I promise to make sure that you are well compensated…"

Naruto glared at that and replied.

"Miri-chan, if I recall it right we had this talk a LONG time ago and you know how that turned out."

"I KNOW that, but if you are here and you know what is going on, then at the very least give it a chance. Cerberus is not always how we are portrayed by the Alliance and the Citadel. We're not saints but we have our reasons."

"Right…but I doubt that your boss is going to let what I used to do to your ops for the past few years slide like that Miri-chan. What's to stop him from sending yet another goon squad after me once I join you anyway?"

"Then let me speak to him about it, I'll vouch for you."

THAT floored Jacob as this was the FIRST time in his life he heard Miranda vouch for ANYONE who did not meet the needs of Cerberus, let alone someone who had one hell of a negative track record with Cerberus. Vincent was in the same mindset, sure the guy was impressive and all that, but for Miranda, the Ice Queen of Cerberus to willingly bring this guy in even with his obvious bad blood with Cerberus spoke volumes.

Both men also were confused and intrigued by the fact that there seemed to be some history between them.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that.

"You're taking an awfully big risk there Miri-chan."

"I know, but you know me as well."

The blonde smiled sadly a bit at that and replied.

"Yeah, I do, all right, I'll join you…but I am NOT working for Cerberus. And no...no money is needed this time, think of it as my way of catching up with you on old times , let's go."

Jacob could not help himself but give a comment via lip movements to Miranda who had no problem seeing that.

"Did he just call you Miri-chan MORE than once?"

Miranda sighed and did the same thing.

"It's…a long story."

…

There…now with that out of the way…let's get down to the rest of the hard case chapters to come.