This Chapter was corrected by my beta, Vandenbz. So thank him for the easier read.

Here is the next chapter of Shinobi, Aliens, and a Blonde Maelstrom.

This was actually a really boring chapter to write. I thought the end of the Feros arc would only take half the chapter, but it took over 10,000 words. Much of this is almost verbatim from the game, with only a few differences. So it was annoying to write.

The poll I put up about Tali is also closing. I was shocked by the landslide decision for Tali to stay in the harem for the timeline of Mass Effect 1. Like 90% voted to keep her in. It isn't certain since it is still my decision, but I'll at least try to get them to grow closer. I'll only delay it if I don't like how their relationship is developing.

The two teams formed up as they walked past the barricades for Zhu's Hope. Naruto and Kurotsuchi once again took the lead. They kept ready for any geth to arrive, but it seemed unnecessary. They passed through the small area before the elevator easily. Piling in, they waited as the elevator rose.

Shepard took this time to inform them, "For any of you that don't know, the ExoGeni headquarters is in another building. We'll be getting there by crossing the skyway, a connecting bridge between the skyscrapers. We'll be exposed on it though, so be prepared for the geth to try and stop us. They'll probably be bringing in the big guns."

The group nodded in understanding, and readied their guns as the elevator slowed to a stop. As the doors opened, they were welcomed with the sound of gunfire. Not seeing any enemies yet, they moved forward cautiously. They turned a corner to find another barricade with colonists hiding behind it as several geth advanced. The group quickly moved behind the barricade as well to assist. After that it was quick and easy. Six geth troopers might be capable of overwhelming three untrained colonists equipped with pistols, but they fell very short of being able to take out their group.

"Thanks. We appreciate the assist," one of the colonists muttered in relief while breathing deeply.

"No problem. We'll try to clear out any of the geth along the way to the ExoGeni headquarters though," Shepard told the colonists. She then signaled to the group to advance. They didn't have to go far. The barricade had been positioned right over the skyway entrance with a Mako sitting right before the closed entrance. Shepard ordered them, "Alright, everyone pile in. Kaidan, you drive. Garrus, take the cannon. I'll handle the turret."

As the back of the Mako opened and the rest piled in, Naruto and Kurotsuchi looked at each other before Naruto informed Shepard, "Hey, Shepard. Kurotsuchi and I will just run along. Since you three got the Mako handled, we'd just be sitting there. We'll provide some support from outside."

Shepard gave them a skeptical look, but no doubt remembered their abilities. So she just nodded with a sigh before reminding them as she walked into the Mako, "Okay, but be careful. As I said before, the geth will be hitting us with the big guns here. The stuff big enough to try and take the Mako down. Your personal shields won't much help you with those if you get hit." Naruto and Kurotsuchi nodded in understanding at the words.

The garage door opened a second later, but the group was surprised to see the enemy right there. A large four legged geth tank was there, a geth armature, and two rocket troopers were flanking it. The three geth managed to react quicker, and all three fired their weapons at the Mako. The pulse cannon hit first, and then the two rockets connected with the Mako's front.

Naruto skidded away as he was buffeted by the resulting explosion. His hands had already run through a sequence of hand seals by the time he stopped. He raised his hand to his mouth with his thumb and index finger forming a ring. He took a breath and uttered, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu." He then launched a large fireball at the armature. It connected and caused a small explosion, but the smoke quickly cleared to show that it only caused its plating to blacken and singe slightly. Naruto grimaced at that. He should have expected that a C-rank jutsu wouldn't be able to take out something like that. Seems Shepard was right about the big guns being brought out.

Naruto wasn't the only one to have acted though. The Mako's cannon connected with the armature right after the smoke from Naruto's attack cleared. Unfortunately the thing's shields held. Shepard focused the turret on the rocket troopers. She took out the one on the left easily, and Kurotsuchi used her assault rifle to take out the other one.

The armature's cannon seemed to have recovered though, if the brightening lights seemed to be an indicator. Before it could fire though, the Mako lurched forward and collided with the armature. The armature's aim faltered and the cannon shot hit the ground twenty yards behind them. The Mako reversed away, and the cannon then hit the armature. This time its shields didn't hold, and the cannon took out a chunk of its body. The thing was still moving, but some fire from the turret soon stopped it.

The group took several moments to recover from the short but intense conflict before they started moving out. Now that they weren't trapped in small corridors, Naruto and Kurotsuchi were capable of properly showing off their speed. The two easily kept up with the Mako, running in a smooth fashion with their arms flowing behind them. So the group's progress across the skyway went quickly.

Not to say they didn't have a few challenges. Several geth rocket troopers were on the skyway, doing their best to pelt the Mako with rockets. The group quickly figured out a good strategy against these. Garrus didn't even bother targeting them with the cannon, leaving it to Shepard with the turret to fire at them from a distance. Once they got closer though it was left to Naruto and Kurotsuchi. It was easy for the two to dodge any rockets sent their way as they closed with the geth. Once close the two didn't even need to stop. Naruto simply used one of Kiba to slice them in half while Kurotsuchi would use her shotgun to destroy them from up close. It was an efficient system which kept them moving steadily for several minutes.

The first real obstacle they had was when they spotted three armatures in the distance. Two were together, with another a small distance behind them. The group moved with a certainty of knowing exactly what the others planned. Naruto and Kurotsuchi sped up and approached the two armatures in front while the Mako targeted the one further back.

It was pathetically easy for Naruto and Kurotsuchi to close with the armatures. Their cannons were focused on hitting the Mako, and they didn't even seem to consider the two humans, to their knowledge, as a threat. Naruto quickly moved to prove them wrong. Naruto jumped up in front of one of the armature's 'heads.' He then sliced with one of the Kiba. It took a second for its head to fall off. Not sure if it could still fire its cannon, Naruto created two clones. Naruto himself reached up and gripped the armature's 'neck' with chakra while the clones did the same to its front legs. The three then acted in perfect sync and with three simultaneous grunts threw the damaged armature into the air. The thing flew over the side of the skyway and disappeared on its long fall to the ground.

Kurotsuchi meanwhile ran through hand seals as she approached her own armature. She then leaped up as she cried out, "Yoton: Sekkaigyo no Jutsu." She then released a stream of boiling hot quicklime towards the armature. The thing screeched as the boiling liquid connected. It took two seconds before the thing blew up. Seemed that while they could handle a fireball, the hot quicklime was capable of seeping past its armor and melting its inner circuitry.

The Mako had already managed its own. Kaiden had managed to deftly dodge all the cannon shots except one by switching between reverse and drive. Shepard and Garrus had then concentrated their fire on the furthest armature. By the time Naruto and Kurotsuchi finished their own, a cannon shot destroyed most of its body while the turret took off most of its head. It sank to the ground before blowing up.

The group then advanced again while only having to deal with several groups of rocket troopers and a single armature. Just as the group was approaching the headquarters though, a geth dropship appeared. It stopped briefly before the building and dropped two more armatures before leaving.

Naruto and Kurotsuchi moved together to take out the one on the right, leaving the left to the Mako. The two ran through hand seals. Kurotsuchi jumped into the air again as she uttered, "Suiton: Mizurappa." She then released a jet of water. Naruto then extended his hands and announced, "Raiton: Kangekiha." Lightning extended from his hands and connected with the water technique, electrifying it. The collaboration technique connected with the armature, immediately causing it to short circuit from the electricity.

The two then looked to see the Mako was finishing the other. The group then quickly entered the building. This building seemed to be even worse than the one they had been in before. The entire track was covered with piles of debris, making the Mako proceed carefully in order to not get trapped. After a few minutes of slow progress though the Mako stopped once they reached an intersection. There was a large platform which likely headed to the ExoGeni headquarters and a staircase. Naruto waited as the Mako opened to let out the others.

"Hey Shepard, why did we stop?" Naruto questioned quickly.

"Sorry, I forgot you guys didn't hear. We really need to get you some radio headsets," Shepard stated sheepishly before she continued, "As we were advancing across the skyway we picked up several radio transmissions. Seems there is another group of survivors. Tali managed to trace it back to this area."

Naruto nodded and asked simply, "Down the stairs?"

"That is what we suspect," Shepard answered before the group started to move down the stairs.

As they walked though Tali stepped by Naruto and Kurotsuchi and exclaimed, "Keelah, you two were amazing. You managed to take down just as many armatures as us."

Kurotsuchi shrugged as she replied nonchalantly, "It is no big deal. We are basically the strongest shinobi you can find."

"Still, hearing about your abilities and seeing them are completely different. Breathing fire, water, using electricity, and was that quicklime? It really is amazing, even for those of us with technology," Tali gushed. She then looked between the two before commenting, "Your teamwork was also really good. I didn't see any hand signs or other method of communication. To be able to work together in such sync without communicating must mean you two really know and understand each other huh?"

Kurotsuchi sputtered before replying indignantly, "As if! Who would bother to understand him!?"

Naruto immediately whined in a teasing voice, "Aw, that's mean, Kurotsuchi. You know you love me."

Kurotsuchi sputtered again as her face reddened, while Tali laughed at the byplay. By this time though the staircase had ended in a ramp. They moved down it and found themselves facing more barricades with several uniformed guards pointing guns at them. Luckily they were waved through.

As they approached the two people waiting for them, one of them stated, "That's close enough!" He was a somewhat tanned man with his hair cut short. Naruto could practically feel the sliminess of his thoughts without even trying.

"Relax, Jeong. They're obviously not geth," the other quickly scolded with a hint of derision. It was a woman who was approaching her advanced years and had her brown hair cut short like a male's.

The other man didn't seem to care for her words, as he reprimanded, "Get back, Juliana." He then faced the group and questioned, "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I'm Commander Shepard. I'm here to remove your geth problem," Shepard answered.

"You see, you worry too much," Juliana told Jeong.

"And you trust too easily, Juliana," Jeong responded.

"I'm just glad to see a friendly face. I thought we were the only humans left on this planet," Juliana state, now facing the group.

Shepard quickly informed the group, "Fai Dan and some of the members of Zhu's Hope are still alive."

Juliana turned towards Jeong at that and questioned harshly, "I thought you said they were all dead?"

"I said they were 'probably' all dead," Jeong replied with a hint of anxiety in his voice.

Tali interjected herself into the conversation now by announcing, "They are somehow managing to survive, despite all that the geth have done to them."

"We know what that is like. Those damn synthetics are relentless," Juliana replied with sympathy.

Shepard decided to retake control of the conversation now and claimed, "We'll do our best to help you, but first I need some information."

"What kind of information?" Jeong asked suspiciously.

"Ignore him," Juliana said immediately. Clearly she and Jeong didn't quite get along. She then turned to Shepard and told her, "The geth are at ExoGeni headquarters, just a bit up from here."

Jeong chimed in then, "Those headquarters are private property, soldier. Remove the geth and nothing else."

"I'm here for the geth. I couldn't care less about your company secrets," Shepard replied, her patience seemingly fading to be replaced by annoyance.

"Commander, before you go…My daughter, Lizbeth, she's missing," Juliana told the group, a bit of despair seeping into her voice.

"They shouldn't waste time poking around. We can do a proper account of our casualties after the geth are gone," Jeong stated without any care. Okay, this guy is officially a douche, Naruto decided. Even if the thoughts and feelings Naruto had been focused on hadn't already proven that.

Juliana seemed to agree as she exclaimed furiously, "That's my daughter you're talking about! She's still alive. I know it."

Shepard sighed in a bit of frustration before questioning, "Where do you think your daughter would be, Juliana?"

"She was working in the ExoGeni building when the attack came," Juliana informed them.

Jeong quickly stated sarcastically, "Oh yeah, there are several places she could hide…For a short time."

"If she's in there, I'll do my best to find her," Shepard told Juliana.

"Thank you, commander. That is all I can ask," Juliana stated gratefully.

Shepard nodded and then asked, "Do you have any idea what the geth are after? Why they came here?"

"I have no idea. We certainly haven't found anything of use. Something ExoGeni is keen to remind us of," Juliana claimed while ending her statement with a glare towards Jeong.

"We need to recoup our expenses. It's nothing personal," Jeong stated coldly.

"We need to head out soon. Zhu's Hope is currently safe and has provisions. It might be a smart idea to move there before the geth fill the skyway again," Shepard suggested to the group.

"No!" Jeong exclaimed in a panic. He managed to recover though when everyone looked at him. He then explained, "We are already safe here, and the geth might attack when we cross the skyway. It will be smarter to wait for the geth to retreat."

"But we are almost out of supplies," Juliana protested.

"Since help has arrived the geth will soon be gone. We'll stay here," Jeong announced firmly at the end.

Shepard shrugged and ordered, "If that is what you wish. Stay here until I return. We'll help you then." She then turned and led the group back up the ramp. As they walked up she turned to Naruto and questioned, "Well? What did you find out?"

Naruto chuckled. Shepard may not be the sharpest person, but she sure as hell knew her team and how to use it. She had known he was scanning those two telepathically to gather information. Likely even stretched the conversation out to help him.

"It's rare I find a person as slimy and dishonest as Jeong, but Juliana is clean," Naruto told her. He then grew serious as he continued, "Jeong definitely knows more thanhe'sletting on. One thing I picked up is that he is literally terrified of going to Zhu's Hope. Something about a 'Thorian' and the colonists being controlled."

"So you were right about the colonists," Shepard commented.

"Seems so, not that I had any doubt. Seems this Thorian is responsible. He also thought of the Thorian when you asked about why the geth might be here," Naruto explained.

Shepard nodded as she announced thoughtfully, "That makes sense. Saren would no doubt be interested in this 'Thorian' if it is capable of controlling people. For now though we need to clear out the ExoGeni headquarters. We might be able to find out more there."

The group nodded and they moved into the Mako while Naruto and Kurotsuchi stayed out again. They moved up the ramp and soon found themselves at the ExoGeni headquarters. The group left the Mako and walked into the large entrance hall. They didn't get much time to look around before a large group of geth arrived.

This time it was a difficult fight. The geth group consisted of three hoppers and a mix of various troopers: two rockets, three shock, and six regular. The hoppers were jumping around, using their mobility to set up good shots with their sniping weapons. The troopers were making sure to suppress them to make sure they couldn't take down the hoppers, and the rocket troopers were doing their best to bombard whatever cover they had. The shock troopers meanwhile moved forward to make use of their shotguns.

That was what caused the tide turned though. Naruto managed to take one of the shock troopers down with Kiba, while Kurotsuchi and Tali both managed to down one with their shotguns. With some of the pressure relieved, the counterattack started. Kaidan popped up and tossed a grenade near the geth rocket troopers, although he ended up with a bullet in the shoulder due to the regular troopers. The grenade flew true though and managed to take down both rocket troopers. Shepard then used a singularity on the largest cluster of troopers. With three now floating in the air, the other three were taken down with the floating three soon following. Now with only the hoppers left it was inevitable. Didn't stop the hoppers from making it difficult though. They were eventually brought down.

The group then took a minute to recover. Kaidan used medi-gel on his own wound before moving over and treating Garrus, who had taken a bullet to the side from one of the hoppers. Shepard looked at all of this before announcing, "We are going to stick together for now. It seems the geth are here in force. Splitting up will only make it easier for them to pick us off. Garrus, Kaidan. Both of you will stay in the back to give the medi-gel some more time to work."

When the group nodded, Shepard led them off. They passed through the entrance hall into another room. The doorway on the other side of the room was covered by a blue field of some kind. Tali approached it and announced to the group, "It's a geth energy field. They've blocked us off."

"Can you remove it?" Shepard questioned.

"No. I'm guessing that the geth ship latched onto this building is powering it. We either have to destroy the ship, get it off this building, or hack the entire geth mainframe to remove it," Tali answered regretfully.

Shepard sighed before ordering the group, "Look around for another way."

Kaiden quickly announced, "Here is a door. It's locked though. I might be able to unlock it."

"Here, let me. That is my specialty," Tali said as she approached. She quickly started to push buttons on the control box for the door. It only took her half a minute to decrypt the unlocking sequence and the door opened as she declared, "And there it is. Easy as pie."

The group moved through the door, but froze when they saw a geth armature sitting in the room. It didn't move though, and Garrus announced, "It is deactivated."

Naruto approached it before swinging Kiba, slicing off its head before putting two deep slashes into its body. He then put away Kiba with a sense of satisfaction. He turned to see the group looking at him, so he shrugged and claimed, "Hey, it may not be active right now, but it could at any moment. I don't feel like allowing that to happen."

The group shrugged and turned a corner, only to find a dead-end. There was a box there though. Shrugging, Shepard opened it to reveal several items. They all turned though when they heard some sparking and grinding noises. The armature seemed to have activated, but then it collapsed due to Naruto's previous actions.

"Told ya," Naruto announced gleefully.

Shepard chuckled and took out the items from the box. Kaiden looked and explained, "Hey, these two amps are Polaris models. They are one of the best bio-amps companies. Not the newest models, but still better than what we have now. Can't put them in now, but those could really improve our biotics, Shepard."

"And this is an Armali Omni-Tool. I could use that," Tali added when she looked.

"So either we stumbled on a storage unit for whatever security forces ExoGeni had or the geth left these to bait us for that armature. Probably the second. Either way, we'll take them. We still need to find a way further into the building. Start looking," Shepard stated to the group.

A minute later Naruto peered down a trench tunnel opening. Seeing a light at the end, Naruto yelled out, "I think I found something." The group came over and looked at the opening.

"I'm not too confident about this. I don't suppose anyone found another way?" Shepard asked while looked at the group. Seeing everyone shake their heads, she sighed and continued, "Looks like we don't have a choice. Naruto, you are first. I'll go next. Kurotsuchi, you'll cover the rear."

The group set out. Naruto soon found himself in the large trench area of a skyway entrance. The entire area was covered in debris that literally blocked off the skyway. As he moved forward though, he sensed someone. He jumped back as a shot rang out. He then turned to see a young woman clutching a pistol.

"Damn it!" the girl exclaimed before actually looking at the group. She then continued in a rushed apologetic voice, "I'm sorry. I thought you were geth, or one of those varren."

Naruto waved a hand nonchalantly as he claimed, "No problem."

Shepard meanwhile approached the woman and told her, "It's okay. You're safe now, but why were you here in the first place?"

"It's my own fault. Everyone else ran, but I stayed back to back up some data. Next thing I knew the geth ship had latched onand the power went out. I was trapped. I tried to get out, but the way was blocked," the woman explained.

"We'll get you out as soon as we find out what the geth are after," Shepard replied.

"Then you need to stop the energy field. They put it up to make sure that no one would be able to gain access to the-" the woman claimed before stopping and looking hesitant about continuing.

Shepard picked this up and informed the woman, "I'm here for the geth, and so it is vital I know what they are after. If you know something, please tell me."

The woman still looked unsure, so Naruto added, "We already know about the Thorian."

The woman looked at Naruto with wide eyes as she inquired, "What? How do you know that?"

Naruto shrugged with a smirk as he retorted, "I have my ways. Just like how I know you didn't stay to back up data. You tried to send out information on the Thorian despite ExoGeni's wishes, but the geth cut off communications before you could."

She looked at Naruto with a dropped jaw, completely shocked by his knowledge. Shepard looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow before turning to the woman and lying, "As you can see, we know a lot about what is going on. However we need to be sure we haven't missed anything. Tell us everything you know about the Thorian."

The girl looked resigned as she answered, "It's an indigenous life form. ExoGeni was studying it."

"Do you know where I can find it?" Shepard asked seriously.

"I do, but we need to focus on the geth for now. There is a databank further in the building with all the information ExoGeni has on the Thorian. If you can get past the energy field, you can access it. I'll even give you my ID card to allow you to access the information," the woman stated as she handed Shepard a card.

Shepard frowned slightly at not getting answers, but still nodded and asked, "Alright. My engineer here stated that we'll likely have to stop the ship powering the energy field to get past. Any information you have that can help us?"

"I've noticed the geth laying power cables all over the place. If you follow the power cables they'll likely lead you to the ship, but there are geth all over the place," she told them after a moment of thought.

"We'll handle that," Shepard claimed confidently. She turned to leave, but Naruto asked the woman something.

"You're Lizbeth Baynham, right?"

She looked at him in surprise, although she seemed to be getting used to him knowing things he shouldn't. She just nodded and claimed, "Yes, I am."

"Good. We met your mother. She's safe, and asked us to look for you," he informed her.

Lizbeth smiled as she answered in relief, "Really? Thank goodness. I wasn't sure if anyone had survived or not."

"No problem. Now sit tight while we handle the situation," Naruto told her with a smile that caused her to blush slightly.

The group started moving away, but halfway across the room a group of varren appeared from the debris. It was a large group, but they managed to handle them somewhat easily. Several survived long enough to get close, but they then met with Naruto's Kiba swords along with Tali and Kurotsuchi's shotguns. Once the varren were dead they moved on.

They soon found a door into the facility. They advanced cautiously, expecting geth to appear at any second. It wasn't until several minutes had passed that they heard something. They carefully moved up a crumbling staircase to see a krogan angrily talking to a VI hologram, "Damn it! Tell me what I want or I'll blast your virtual ass into actual dust."

"Please contact your supervisor for a level 4 clearance exemption or arrange a meeting with-" the VI replied blankly.

"Stupid machine!" the krogan exclaimed in irritation.

"Yeah, but it is only a VI. VI's kind of creep me out. Their blank voice and everything," a voice spoke up from beside the krogan.

"I know. Just talking to them pisses me off-" the Krogan started before realizing that he wasn't alone. He turned with a cuss to see some blonde standing beside him without a care. He pulled out his shotgun and fired into the chest of the grinning human. As soon as he did though, the human exploded in his face. The krogan was thrown backwards in a daze. As he tried to get up again though, a blade pierced through his neck.

Naruto stuck the sword in deeper before pulling it out of the still krogan. Aw, you have to love exploding clones. He then turned towards the group and announced, "See, I took care of it."

Shepard just shrugged in acceptance and approached the VI stand. It appeared and said, "Welcome back, research assistant Lizbeth Baynham. What can I do for you?"

"What data was the previous user attempting to look up?" Shepard asked.

"Fetching data. The previous user was attempting to access data on the study of Subject Species 37, the Thorian," the Vi stated.

"Tell me everything you told the krogan," Shepard ordered.

"I was unable to provide any relevant data due to the user lacking the proper clearance. There is also a lack of new data for the species. All the sensors available at Zhu's Hope have been inactive for several cycles."

"What does Zhu's Hope have to do with the Thorian?" Shepard questioned.

"Species 37 is located deep within the substructure of the Zhu's Hope outpost."

Shepard nodded in understanding while Naruto started to understand. Shepard quickly ordered, "Tell me everything ExoGeni knows about the Thorian."

"The Thorian is a simple plant life form that exhibits sentient behavior uncommon with other flora. Through dispersion and eventual inhalation of spores, it can infect and control other organisms, including humans. The Zhu's Hope control group has returned interesting results. Before sensors went offline, almost 85% of all test subjects were infected."

Shepard quickly questioned with anger rising in her voice, "Are you saying that ExoGeni knew its people were getting infected?"

"It was deemed necessary to ascertain the true potential of Species 37."

"That explains everything. The weird brainwaves of the colonists and why Jeong was afraid of going to Zhu's Hope. He didn't want to get infected," Naruto muttered with righteous anger filling him.

"Tell me everything else you know about the Thorian," Shepard demanded, seemingly just as annoyed by the new information as Naruto.

"Species 37 was discovered several weeks ago when a research team was infected while examining ruins near the Zhu's Hope outpost. The outpost was quarantined immediately and study of the infection began. Within 21 days, 53% of colonists exhibited altered behavior. 28 days, 85%. The control manifests through an intense pain when directives are ignored. The effect is so severe that subjects are soon conditioned against even minor thoughts of rebellion. Observation indicates the Thorian views its thralls in a utilitarian manner. Care is taken to avoid injuring them, much as a craftsmen takes care of his tools. As long as they are not against the creature'sobjectives, the infected are apparently allowed to live a normal life until specifically given a task. The Thorian appears to be a diffused creature. Its cognitive abilities are centered in large nerve bundles, but it receives sensory information from kilometers of meandering tendrils. We have found bundles one meter in diameter, but this is not enough to process such large amounts of sensory information. Either it processes information slowly or there is a far larger nerve bundle that we have not yet found. The Thorian does not exhibit the behavior of a predator. The release of spores is an act of survival, not aggression. It does trigger advanced behavior in the humans it has enslaved, but we are not sure whether it recognizes, or even is capable of recognizing, humans as anything but tools. It is sufficiently alien as to defy classification at this time."

With the VI done, Shepard turned and walked away. As they walked she announced, "The Thorian has to be why Saren is here. Whether because of its control capabilities or otherwise is unclear, but irrelevant for now. We'll stop the geth here before heading back to Zhu's Hope."

The group nodded in assent as they started moving. After a few corridors, Naruto held up a hand. He then shushed them and pointed around the next corridor. As they looked they saw two geth shock troopers…praying at a bright orb in a room which had two of the geth ship's claws in it. Naruto and Garrus stood side by side as they took aim with their assault rifle and sniper rifle respectively. Shepard signaled them and they shot in unison. Both the geth were taken out before they could even stand up.

The group then moved over to the glowing orb. Tali looked at it and said, "It looks like they were worshipping this."

"The geth worship the Reapers, right? So clearly it isn't outside their ability to believe in some greater being," Kaiden added with a shrug.

"We don't have time to dawdle here. Let's move on," Shepard told them after they discussed it a bit more.

They continued moving through the building. They had a brief fight with a smaller group of geth, but they quickly overcame them. They soon arrived in a large room where even more of the geth legs were.

"Same as before. We lack the ability to dislodge these," Garrus stated in irritation.

"Let's just keep moving. We just have to keep searching till we find out how to do this," Shepard told them seriously. They nodded and advanced. Naruto saw that the second leg had entered through a garage door.

They looked down from the platform they were walking on and saw another group of geth, with a destroyer among them. Unfortunately the geth had been watching for them and opened fire. The group crouched down to take cover, but they were trapped in the corridor. Knowing they had to spread out, Naruto looked at Kurotsuchi to see she was thinking the same thing. The two popped up and jumped over the edge of the platform. It was a good twenty feet down, more than any normalhuman could do without possibly hurting themselves. For them it was a small jump down. The geth were surprised enough by the move that they didn't shoot at them till the two had managed to get into cover.

With the geth attention now split, Naruto saw the rest of the group was managing to make it down the stairs towards the ground floor. Naruto popped up and started shooting at the geth, providing cover for the others. As he did this, he saw that the destroyer was approaching his and Kurotsuchi's position. When he crouched down he looked over to see Kurotsuchi switching to her shotgun. The two nodded at each other. They waited till the heavy footsteps were just feet away. Naruto popped up and fired his assault rifle right at the destroyer. He fired till the destroyer faced him and aimed its pulse shotgun at him. He then ducked before he was hit by it at close range, not sure if his shields could take it. Kurostuchi took the opportunity to pop up with her own shotgun. The first shot destroyed its shields, the second blew a chunk out of its torso and sent it to the ground, and a third made sure it was finished.

With the main threat now gone, the group quickly handled the remaining troopers. They then looked around the lab that the geth had been guarding. Tali quickly stated, "It looks like some sort of containment lab. It might be our best chance to get rid of one of these claws."

"Alright. Spread out and see if there is anything we can use. Explosives. Anything," Shepard ordered the group. After only a moment she announced to the group as she read a monitor, "It looks like that garage door is malfunctioning. Apparently it will snap shut hard enough to cut through steel within a certain pressure range. Tali, think you can calibrate this thing to within that range?"

"With one hand tied behind my back," Tali claimed confidently. She then proved it by using only one hand, and within ten seconds the group turned to see the garage door faltering. It then came down with a mighty screech. The geth ship leg held it for a moment before it was cut through. The group heard the other legs dragging as the weight they were supporting increased.

"Come on, fall you son of a bitch," Garrus muttered as they watched the ship stubbornly stay anchored. Finally with a terrible grinding the other legs started sliding back as the ship lowered. Once it lost its foothold the ship fell down off the building. Fifteen seconds later they heard an explosion and felt the building shake as the ship exploded right by its base. Good thing this place was sturdy, thought Naruto. Being in a collapsing skyscraper doesn't sound fun.

"Alright, that got the job done. Now we can go and deal with this Thorian thing," Kaidan told the group enthusiastically.

Before they could set off though they all heard Shepard's radio go off. She put it on speaker so they could hear Joker's voice as he said, "Normandy to shore party. Are you reading? Anyone there? Come on commander, talk to me."

"I'm reading you Joker. What's the situation over there?" Shepard questioned since they had been cut off from the Normandy due to the energy barrier.

"We're in lockdown here, commander. Something happened to the colonists. They're banging on the hull, trying to claw their way inside. They're freaking out!" Joker informed them.

"They can't do any real damage. Just hold on. We're on our way back," Shepard ordered calmly.

"Uh, yeah…I guess you are right. We'll just be waiting here for you," Joker replied, obviously reassured. The connection was then cut.

"Seems that the Thorian has decided our use has ended now that we've eliminated the geth. Maybe it even suspects we know about its presence. Either way, you can bet it will be having the colonists prepare for us at Zhu's Hope," Naruto declared seriously.

"Looks that way. Let's get going," Shepard replied crisply.

The group worked their way through the building while picking off any remaining geth that crossed their path. They quickly found themselves back at the entrance since the energy field wasn't blocking them anymore. They found Lizbeth waiting there. She quickly approached the group as she exclaimed, "There you are. I've been waiting. We should get out of here. I still don't think this place is safe."

"Hold on. I need some answers," Shepard claimed seriously. She then continued, "You knew more about the Thorian then you let on about."

Lizbeth hesitated, but finally spoke in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry. I-I was afraid. They threatened me after I protested what they were doing to the colonists at Zhu's Hope. They told me I'd be next. When the geth attacked, I thought it was an opportunity to send a message to Colonial Affairs. I tried to send them a message about the Thorian, but the power cut off before I could. Just like he said before. I-I never meant for this to happen. You have to believe me."

Naruto quickly interjected, "Don't worry. We believe you. I sort of have a built-in lie detector."

Shepard picked up that he was saying she was telling the truth, so she added, "Yeah, don't worry. We'll do what we can to help the colonists, but you need to tell us where we can find the Thorian."

Lizbeth quickly told them, "ExoGeni never specifically saw the main body, but we theorized based on the tendils we found. The main body should be right under the Zhu's Hope colony, but the entrance was blocked by the colonists with a freighter just before the geth attacked.

"We will deal with that. For now we need to get back to Zhu's Hope," Shepard replied.

The group moved forward. Lizbeth joined the others in the Mako while Naruto and Kurotsuchi stayed out. The group then moved down the platform, but the Mako stopped by the staircase to the group of survivors. The back opened and Lizbeth rushed out. Shepard and the rest soon followed, although they were calmer than Lizbeth had been.

"What is going on?" Naruto asked Shepard curiously.

"We picked up a transmission from Juliana asking for help. Jeong apparently then took the radio away before we could get more. Lizbeth demanded we check on her," Shepard answered coolly as the group moved down the stairs.

Naruto nodded as the group walked down the ramp towards where the survivors were. They saw Lizbeth hiding behind a box, eavesdropping. The group joined her. They saw that Jeong and Juliana were in the middle of an argument. Juliana declared, "You can't do this, Jeong!"

"Everyone shut up! Just let me think," Jeong ordered in a panic as he clutched his head.

Lizbeth turned to the group and asked, "What is going on?"

"You won't get away with this!" Juliana yelled before they could respond.

"Get her away from here," Jeong ordered the security guards. One grabbed Juliana who started struggling.

That caught Lizbeth's attention, as she stood up and screamed, "Get away from her, you son of a bitch!" She then ran forward before they could stop her.

Juliana used the guard's moment of distraction to break free and run to meet Lizbeth while crying out in relief, "Lizbeth."

"Damn it! Get out here where I can see you. All of you," Jeong yelled out in a panicked voice. Since the gig was up the group stood up and walked out. Jeong immediately spat out, "Shepard! Should have known I couldn't count on the geth taking care of you. I found some interesting facts about you in the ExoGeni database. I know what you did during the Blitz, but your heroics aren't needed here."

"Shut up about the Blitz," Shepard immediately snapped with anger in her voice. Naruto raised an eye, catching the flood of guilt and shame Shepard felt when the Blitz was mentioned. Shepard continued though by demanding, "Now what is the problem?"

"Communications are back up. ExoGeni wants this place purged," Jeong told them reluctantly.

"This is a human colony, Jeong. You can't just repurpose us," Lizbeth snapped indignantly.

"This isn't about you. There is something here far more valuable than a few colonists," Jeong replied coldly.

Shepard quickly added, "You're after the one unique thing Feros has. The Thorian."

"The what?" Juliana asked in confusion.

Lizbeth quickly explained, "It's a telepathic plant life form living under Zhu's Hope. It has been taking control of the colonists. ExoGeni knew all along."

"ExoGeni decided to use the people living there as living test subjects in order to study the Thorian's mind control capabilities, and now that this colony will be thoroughly investigated due to the geth presence ExoGeni has to get rid of all the evidence of what they've been doing," Naruto explained with a scowl, his anger finally ending his willingness to let Shepard handle this.

Juliana looked at Jeong and angrily stated, "You won't get away with this, Jeong."

"You keep saying that, but no one is going to miss a few humans. The Thorian is more important," Jeong replied without any care.

That cut it for Naruto. Naruto moved faster than anyone but Kurotsuchi could track. Grabbing Jeong's clothing, Naruto easily lifted him into the air as he snarled, "Shut the fuck up. ExoGeni could have studied the Thorian without using people as lab rats, but you decided to do it this way in order to save time and money."

Jeong struggled pointlessly as he answered in fear, "It's true. A few humans aren't important when compared to the potential the Thorian might allow us."

Naruto gave a vicious grin as he let Jeong drop, the man falling on his butt. Naruto then announced, "I see. If a few humans don't matter compared to the Thorian, then I suppose you won't protest becoming an experiment as well. We're heading to Zhu's Hope. How about we take you along? It will probably only take a few hours for you to get infected. I hear the Thorian conditions you through intense pain. Doesn't that sound fun?" Naruto said as he gripped Jeong's clothes and started dragging him.

Jeong struggled as he yelled, "What? Are you insane? You can't do this to me! Do you know who I am?"

"But you said that a few humans don't matter compared to the Thorian," Naruto replied with a vicious smirk down at the desperately struggling man.

"No, I won't be infected by that thing!" Jeong yelled as he pulled out a pistol from a pocket. He pointed it at Naruto's head and prepared to fire.

A shot rang out.

Naruto frowned as he dropped the limp form of Jeong. He turned to see Shepard holding her pistol. She quickly stated in a cold voice, "That is enough, Naruto!"

Naruto took a few deep breaths to calm himself before muttering, "Sorry."

Shepard sighed as she turned to look at the guards who seemed to be undecided with what to do. He quickly asked, "Do you really want to get into a gun fight with us because a dead man told you to protect him?" That caused the guards to back down. Shepard turned to Juliana and Lizbeth before saying, "We need to go handle the situation at Zhu's Hope."

"You need to save the colonists. It's not their fault that they were infected," Juliana pleaded.

"I'm not sure how we can do that. We need to find out why Saren is interested in the Thorian, but I doubt it will cooperate. It will probably use the colonists to try and keep us away," Shepard stated thoughtfully.

"If you kill the Thorian, then the colonists will probably be released," Lizbeth told them.

"That seems logical, but that doesn't make it doable. It is still going to use the colonists to keep us away," Shepard replied regretfully.

"There has to be another way," Lizbeth exclaimed desperately.

"Maybe there is," Juliana claimed softly. She then explained, "You might be able to safely use a nerve agent to neutralize the colonists. If these colonists are infected by some parasite, their nervous systems are probably weakened. We have some gas grenades here. We obviously couldn't use them against the geth. They are too weak to affect healthy humans since they are designed to take down varren, but they might be able to knock out the colonists."

"I guess it is worth a try. Give us the grenades," Shepard ordered the two. They nodded and the entire group each took several of the gas grenades. They then set off. After they reached the Mako though, Shepard stepped in front of Naruto. She then crossed her arms and informed him coldly, "That is the only time I'll let you get away with a stunt like that, Naruto. You promised to follow my orders, and I won't allow a loose cannon to undermine my authority. You are lucky I was planning on killing him anyways."

Naruto nodded regretfully before telling her, "Sorry, I just got so mad. I was reading his surface thoughts the entire time. He would have sacrificed the entire colony for a promotion without hesitation. People like him don't deserve to live. They'll only ruin the lives of those around him."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean you can just do what you want," Shepard told him as she turned away.

Once they were all set up, they went back to the skyway. They ran into a number of geth, but the group easily handled them as they approached Zhu's Hope. When the Mako stopped in front of the door though, a gray ball uncurled to show something that looked like a gray zombie. Naruto raised an eyebrow and started shooting it with his assault rifle. It took the bullets like a champ though. Even without shields it only fell a second before his rifle overheated. Its torso was basically been torn to shreds by that point.

Naruto looked towards the Mako and yelled, "Whatever these things are, bullets don't affect them much. They aren't the colonists though. No brainwaves whatsoever. It might as well be a puppet. The Thorian is likely controlling them." Trusting that they heard, Naruto opened the garage door.

It opened to reveal at least a dozen of the Thorian creepers. The Mako's cannon started shooting at them. Leaving it to Garrus with the cannon, Naruto looked towards where he saw two colonists shooting from behind the barrier.

"Hope this works," Naruto muttered as he pulled out one of the gas grenades. He threw it with perfect accuracy right between the colonists. It exploded in a cloud of green gas. It dispersed several seconds later, but he saw the colonists wobbling before falling to the ground. He immediately fist pumped as he declared, "Oh yeah!"

The others then came out of the Mako. The group circled the colonists. Tali commented, "So it looks like the grenades work."

"Yes, so we are to save the colonists. No firing on them. Only use the gas grenades," Shepard ordered the group. They all nodded.

They then took the slow elevator down. They moved cautiously towards Zhu's Hope. As soon as they came in sight of the barricades the colonists had set up they came under fire from them. Luckily they mostly were armed with pistols. It would have been pathetically easy to finish them all, but it was slightly more difficult because they had to hit them with grenades. They still advanced quickly though, leaving a trail of unconscious colonists. After knocking out sixteen colonists, it looked like they were alone.

They then headed to the crane control panel. The freighter was apparently on top of the entrance to the Thorian. Tali quickly handled the crane to lift the freighter, revealing the staircase down. Before they could go down though Naruto signaled the group. They turned to see Fai Dan approaching slowly, looking to be going through an internal struggle.

"I-I tried to fight it, but it gets in your head. You can't imagine the pain," Fai Dan told them in a pained voice. He then continued in a seemingly determined voice, "I wassupposed to be a leader. These people trusted me. I betrayed them by not fighting it. It wants me to…stop you, but…I w-won't. I won't let this thing control me. I won't!" Fai Dan then forcefully lifted his pistol to his own head.

Naruto moved first though. Appearing in front of him, Naruto moved the pistol away as it fired. He then whispered to Fai Dan who seemed pained, "Dying doesn't fix your sins. You can only do that by living and learning from this."

"I-I can't fight it anymore," Fai Fan whimpered as his arm tried to point the pistol towards Naruto.

"Don't worry. You won't have to," Naruto told him as his other hand touched Fai Dan's temple. Naruto dived into his mind, feeling the influence of the Thorian. Naruto used the connection to infiltrate the Thorian's mind. Barely a second later though the Thorian cut the connection, thus removing Naruto.

Naruto opened his eyes to see Fai Dan had fainted. Naruto lowered the man to the ground before turning towards the group. Shepard quickly asked, "Did you remove the connection?"

"Yes, but I also managed to use it to briefly gain access to the Thorian. It broke the connection before I could take control of it," Naruto told them.

"You can take control of it?" Shepard asked curiously. When Naruto nodded, she said, "Do you think you can take control of it to stop its control of the colonists? Can you pacify it?"

"I could…but I won't," Naruto stated seriously.

"What?" Shepard exclaimed incredulously before questioning rapidly, "What do you mean?"

Naruto looked at her before explaining in a serious tone, "Because it is immoral. Forcing it to do something simply out of convenience. I don't control people, Shepard. The Thorian considers all animals to be tools for its own use. It provided Saren with information due to what Saren was offering, but Saren's betrayal of it ruined all chance we had of trading with it. If I made it do what I wanted I would be doing the same thing that it is doing to the colonists. I refuse to do that. I won't do it even if you order me to. That is a line I won't cross, Shepard."

Shepard looked angry, but eventually sighed. She then replied, "Alright, you have a point. I can't force you to enslave the Thorian."

"Thank you, Shepard," Naruto exclaimed with a grateful smile. He then added, "I did manage to get some information from it. As I said before, it traded information to Saren. The Thorian was alive back when the protheans still lived. It studied them. Saren needed this understanding of the protheans in order to understand the prothean vision from the beacon."

"The cipher," Shepard stated with a grin appearing on her face.

"Yes," Naruto said, matching her grin. He then continued, "Saren offered the Thorian an asari commando in exchange for the information. The asari melded with the Thorian to gain the cipher, and then melded with Saren to pass it on to him. The asari was then absorbed by the Thorian. I could forcefully take the cipher from the Thorian, but it would be a difficult process. It is quite strong mentally due to how old it is. However if we kill the Thorian, then the asari will be released. We can gain the cipher from her."

Shepard nodded in understanding. She then asked hesitantly, "Are you sure we can't negotiate with the Thorian?"

Naruto shook his head as he explained, "Not a chance. Saren ruined that possibility, but even before then it wouldn't release the colonists. It views them as its property. Killing it is the only way to release them."

Shepard sighed, but nodded in acceptance. She turned to the group and told them, "Alright. We'll be eliminating the Thorian."

The group then started down the stairs. After going down at least ten flights of stairs, they reached a corridor. As they walked down the hallway, Kaidan said, "So now we just need to find the…what is…that thing?"

"That is one ugly ass plant," Naruto commented as he looked at the main body of the Thorian.

It looked like a giant mass of grayish flesh. It was being held in the air by tendrils. It even seemed to have a face. It had several indents that looked like where eyes and nostrils could fit, and its mouth was an opening surrounded by tentacles. It had a constant stream of drool leaving the mouth.

It seemed aware of their presence. It seemed to grunt a few times before feet appeared in its mouth. An asari then fell out it the opening. The asari landed on a knee, but quickly straightened. The asari was an unhealthy green color that didn't fit with any asari Shepard had seen.

The asari then spoke in a dead sounding voice, "Invaders. Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only for digging and decomposing. I speak for the Old Growth. It commands you that you be in awe!"

"See. It considers us insignificant. It is just as likely to make a deal with us as we would to make a deal with a tree," Naruto stated as he looked at the asari.

The asari look at Naruto before uttering, "Abomination! You who steal the Old Growth's thralls and dare to challenge it. The Old Growth shall not tolerate such arrogance from meat such as you."

"That really hurt," Naruto replied flippantly with a shrug. He then grew serious as he continued, "You already know how this is to end. You felt my mind just as I felt yours. I cannot stand by while you enslave people."

"Fool! Your arrogance amuses the Old Growth. The Old Growth is part of this world, extending through the land and back through the ages. You can no more kill it thanyou can cut the sky," the asari said before reaching for her gun.

Naruto beat her though, stabbing her through the stomach with Kiba before he whispered in her ear, "It is not arrogance. With my power, even cutting the sky is possible." He then withdrew Kiba, allowing the asari to collapse.

Several thorian creepers appeared around the corner. The group took them out, although it was quite difficult since bullets didn't seem to bother them much. Once they were all down, Shepard yelled, "We need to take this thing out quickly."

"Got it, Shepard. You guys hold this position. I'll handle big and ugly," Naruto called out. Shepard nodded, and the group set up to weather the approaching rush of creepers. Naruto turned back to the Thorian. Waving his hand, Naruto said, "Chidori Senbon." A hail of senbon shaped lightning flew to collide with the Thorian. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to have much effect. They just sunk in slightly before stopping. Frowning, Naruto tried a Chidori Eiso, but the blade only sunk in half a foot or so.

Naruto looked at the chamber they were in. He couldn't use any jutsu powerful enough to finish such a massive creature in here without risking the entire place falling apart and burying them. Deciding to get close, Naruto jumped onto the Thorian's main body. It wiggled somewhat, but Naruto remained sticking to it with chakra. Lifting Kiba, Naruto brought the two blades down onto one of the Thorian's tentacles. To his shock, they only sunk in a few inches. He then saw the electricity usually flowing through Kiba was gone, and he realized. It was a plant. It was just grounding the lightning.

Naruto sealed away Kiba since it was basically useless now. Since you can't flow chakra through Samehada, Naruto unsealed one of his chakra conductive kunai. He then channeled wind natured chakra flow through it, sharpening it and lengthening it to the length of a short sword. He then slashed the tentacle with it, and was gratified to see it cut a two foot deep cut in the tentacle. Not as much as he expected, but good enough. This thing was tough, almost like cutting through a steel pillar. There were no doubt weak points, but Naruto really didn't want to have to search for them.

It took three more swings of the kunai to cut the tentacle, drawing a muted roar from the Thorian. Naruto used this opportunity to access how the group was doing. Kurotsuchi and Tali were using their shotguns to hold the thorian creepers off while Shepard, Garrus, and Kaidan fired into the masses from a distance. Kurotsuchi was holding her side due to her occasional use of a jutsu, but Tali was about to be overrun.

Naruto unsealed a regular kunai that had an explosive seal around the handle. He tossed it into the mass pressing towards Tali, with the explosion providing her with a few seconds reprieve. Naruto looked towards the next tentacle. Deciding that the kunai was taking too long, Naruto unsealed a large fuma shuriken. He spun it in his hand while breathing wind natured chakra onto it, soon turning it into a revolving disk of death. He then chucked it at the tentacle. It cut right through, embedding in the wall afterwards. The Thorian roared again.

Naruto used chakra strings to pull the fuma shuriken back to his hand, but his shields popped up to block a sniper shot before he could throw it again. He moved to put one of the tentacles between him and the sniper. He then looked to see Garrus reloading his sniper rifle. Naruto yelled out, "Garrus! Help me out. Sniper at one o'clock."

Garrus nodded and took an aim. A second later a shot rang out. Another followed, and Garrus then nodded towards Naruto to signal the sniper was down. Naruto waved at him in appreciation before facing another tentacle.

One throw later and the tentacle was cut. This one seemed to be the final one though. The last tentacle on that side snapped, sending the Thorian and Naruto flying into one of the walls. The Thorian roared as its tentacles strained and slowly tore. Naruto managed to grip a hand to the wall with chakra right before the rest of the Thorian's tentacles snapped. It plummeted into the deep hole. A deep thud several seconds later showed when it landed. The remaining thorian creepers fell like puppets with their strings cut.

Sensing heightening brain waves, Naruto yelled to Shepard, "Hey, Shepard. The asari is on the fourth floor. Come up." Naruto then hopped up the walls.

Shepard arrived a minute later to see Naruto softly rubbing the back of an asari, a broken pod on the wall behind them. Shepard immediately asked, "Is she okay?"

Naruto nodded and answered, "Yeah, just disorientated."

The asari soon recovered. As she stood, the group saw that it was the asari that had talked to them before. Her skin was a light violet color now. She then exclaimed with slight disbelief, "I'm free. I'm really free. I suppose I should thank you all for freeing me."

"You can thank us by telling us everything you know about Saren," Shepard replied seriously.

The asari nodded and started to explain, "My name is Shiala. I serve-I served Matriarch Benezia. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I. Benezia saw the influence and power Saren had. She joined him in the hope that she could guide him down a gentler path, but Saren is compelling. Benezia lost her way. Saren has a vessel. An enormous dreadnought unlike anything I've ever seen. He calls it 'Sovereign.' It can dominate the minds of his followers. They become indoctrinated to Saren's will. It is subtle. It can take days or even weeks, but in the end it is absolute. I was a willing slave when Saren brought me to this world. He needed my biotics to communicate with the Thorian. To learn its secrets. Saren offered me in trade. I was to secure an alliance with the Thorian."

Shepard immediately commented, "Saren was pretty quick to betray his own people."

"He was quick to betray the Thorian too. I sensed what happened after I was absorbed by the Thorian. After he obtained what he wanted, Saren ordered the geth to destroy all evidence of his being here. Including the Thorian. He knows you are searching for the Conduit, and will need the Cipher to understand the prothean vision. So he attacked the Thorian to prevent you from gaining it.

"Smart. Immoral, but still smart," Shepard remarked.

"Yes, Saren is many things, but a fool he is not," Shiala told them.

"I need that cipher in order to stop Saren," Shepard declared seriously.

"I can transfer it to you through a melding. It is the least I can do," Shiala responded.

"Hold on for now. We should first discuss this mind control Saren has. You called it indoctrination?" Naruto interrupted.

Shiala looked at him and nodded before clarifying, "Yes, I heard Saren call it that once. It is confusing to explain. You go to Saren sure of yourself, but as you stay around him and Sovereign you start to change. It is very subtle. You don't even realize it till it is too late. You find yourself a completely different person. We became slaves to Saren's will. We would listen to him talk and smile, even if we believed completely different just weeks before. Even now I can feel the compulsion in my mind, but it is muted. I believe the Thorian must have overridden it when I was part of it."

"As I suspected. Saren is capable of controlling people. That is why Benezia's behavior doesn't match," Naruto stated with a sigh.

"Benezia is an asari matriarch. They are considered the strongest beings in the universe, with incredible mental discipline and biotic abilities. If Saren can control one, then that is very bad news," Kaiden added in a worried voice.

"We'll have to discuss this later," Shepard told them, although Naruto saw the worry in her eyes as well. She turned back to Shiala and claimed, "Okay, I need the cipher."

Shiala nodded and approached till she stood face to face with Shepard. She then started speaking in a soft and soothing tone, "Try to relax, commander. Slow, deep breaths. Let go of your physical self. Reach out to grasp the strings that connect us, one to another. Every idea sends ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live. Every emotion must mark another's spirit. We are all connected. Every living being united in a single, glorious existence. Open yourself to the universe, commander. Embrace eternity." She ended by touching her palms to Shepard's face as her eyes turned black.

The group watched as the two froze for several seconds before they broke apart. Shepard took several deep breaths. She finally muttered to herself, "That was…That was- It made no sense."

Shiala straightened and claimed, "I have given you the cipher, just as I gave it to Saren. The ancestral memories are a part of you, Shepard. You have been given a great gift, commander. The experiences of an entire species. It will take time for your mind to properly assimilate all that information. I'm sorry if it is difficult, but you needed the cipher. It will eventually help you understand the vision you received from the beacon."

Shepard nodded before asking, "Alright, but what do you plan to do now that you are free from the Thorian?"

"I am…unsure," Shiala admitted with a bit of a quaver in her voice before continuing, "I had been planning on staying here with the colonists in an attempt to repay them for my part in their suffering, but I saw your memories when we melded. You saved them all. I now believe they can recover on their own. I might simply be an uncomfortable reminder of their suffering."

"I believe they would welcome any assistance you could provide," Shepard replied before adding, "However I would also be willing to welcome you onboard the Normandy. I need all the help I can get if we are to stop Saren. Not only do you have information to offer, but you are an asari commando. You'd be a great help."

Shiala hesitated before replying, "I thank you for the offer, but I admit to still being unsure. May I have time to consider? I still feel slightly…off from the Thorian's remaining influence."

Shepard nodded and answered, "Of course you can. It is your choice, and anyone who joins me must be absolutely sure."

"Thank you, commander. May fortune smile upon you," Shiala invoked in gratitude.

The group then turned and started to walk away. Naruto quickly made his way next to Shiala and asked, "Excuse me, Shiala. Do you believe you can allow me to access the cipher?"

Shiala looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow before responding, "Of course, but may we please delay it for a while. The melding can be exhausting, even to me."

Naruto just smiled before explaining, "No need. You don't need to meld with me. I am a telepath. I can access your mind myself."

Shiala blinked in shock before questioning, "Really? I've never heard of anyone other than asari being able to do something like this."

"That is a long story. Let's just say I'm not a human. So what do you say?" Naruto replied with a smirk.

Shiala eagerly nodded before replying, "Of course. I admit to being eager to witness this ability of yours."

Naruto nodded and informed her, "I just need to make skin contact. It should only take a second. If you can bring the cipher to the forefront of your mind then it will make this easier."

Naruto then touched her cheek with his hand as he entered her mind. Shiala immediately let out a silent scream as her eyes rolled back in her head. Naruto immediately recoiled and withdrew himself from the immense reaction he gained. He then had to catch Shiala's limp body as she went limp. He quickly confirmed she was unconscious.

"Keelah, what just happened?" Tali questioned as the group looked at Naruto.

Naruto looked at them with wide eyes as he claimed honestly, "I have no idea. I went into her mind, and her mind lit up with…ecstasy. I mean like more pleasure than I've ever sensed before."

The group blinked in shock at his words. Kaidan tilted his head before saying, "I've got an idea. The asari have sex by melding their nervous systems with someone else's, right? This is how they meld minds and exchange memories. They can also derive pleasure from it, right? Well if Naruto is able to do his own form of melding nervous systems through his telepathy, wouldn't doing so possibly cause them pleasure?"

Garrus then added, "And we heard that shinobi have highly advanced and powerful nervous systems. Naruto more so than anyone else. He apparently has hundreds of times more electricity running through his nervous system. If we assume then that the pleasure derived by asari during meldings is proportional to the amount of energy in their partner's nervous system, then melding with Naruto would cause like…"

"Keelah," Tali muttered as she realized.

Kurotsuchi then muttered in an irritated voice, "Then it is practically an orgasm times a hundred. Asari nirvana."

The entire group sweat dropped at that. Seems Naruto could cause an asari untold of pleasure just by touching them if he wanted to. He turned to Shepard and stated, "I think I'll just take the cipher from your mind."

Shepard just nodded while massaging the bridge of her nose. She then replied, "Alright, since I really doubt it would be healthy for Shiala to go through that for long. We can do it later. For now carry Shiala."

Naruto nodded and lifted Shiala over his shoulder as the group moved on.

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The group faced Juliana, Lizbeth, and Fai Dan. Juliana was supporting a tired looking Fai Dan. Juliana then declared, "I still can hardly believe all that had happened."

Shepard nodded before saying sympathetically, "I can sympathize. Your whole world has been turned upside down. What do you plan on doing now?"

Fai Dan was the one who answered, "You've given us a second chance, commander. ExoGeni might withdraw their support, but we built this colony and made it our home. We won't abandon it. We'll survive."

"Good to hear. I hope it turns out well. We'll stay docked here for a bit," Shepard informed them.

The group then started to move away, but Fai Dan called out, "Naruto…Thank you. I'm going to make up for my failings in this whole situation. Thank you for giving me the chance."

Naruto looked at him with the still limp Shiala over his shoulder. He used his other hand to give him a thumbs up as he declared, "It was my pleasure. Just remember that you can do great things as long as you don't give up. I expect to be hearing about this colony thriving in a few years. Don't disappoint me."

"You got it," Fai Dan replied with a smile.

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The group then headed towards the Normandy.

The entire group sat in the comm/conference room. Liara quickly asked, "Commander? You look…pale. Are you suffering any ill effects from the cipher?"

Shepard hesitantly admitted, "The cipher has shaken me up a bit."

"I might be able to help you. I am an expert on the protheans. Maybe if I join my conscience to yours, we could make sense of it," Liara stated, admirably hiding the eagerness Naruto sensed from her. No doubt she was salivating at the thought of gaining the cipher due to her study of the protheans. Understanding them better no doubt appealed to her greatly.

Shepard thought for a moment before reluctantly nodding and saying, "Do it. We can then have Naruto take it from my mind as well, since he can't take it from you or Shiala." Liara looked away from Naruto in embarrassment, she had heard about their theory on Naruto melding with the asari when they had dropped Shiala off at their medical base. Naturally the thought was embarrassing and slightly arousing to her.

Ashley quickly interrupted by questioning, "Do you really think that is a good idea, commander? You already look exhausted enough."

"We don't really have a choice. Figuring out this vision is of paramount importance. We need to do whatever we can to help that process," Shepard snapped in slight irritation, showing how exhausted she really was. Ashley backed down though.

Liara quickly melded with Shepard. The two then broke apart after several seconds. Liara sat down in her seat, breathing heavily from the experience. Melding was really difficult for her it seemed, likely since this was apparently only her second time doing it. Naruto took the opportunity to take the cipher from Shepard as well. He did it as quickly as possible, but Shepard still was clearly fatigued once he finished. She sat back down heavily.

"That was incredible! All this time. All my research. Yet I never dreamed…I'm sorry. The images were so vivid. I never imagined the experience would be so intense. You are remarkably strong willed commander. What you've been through and seen…It would have destroyed a lesser mind," Liara announced to the group.

"Well, did you see anything?" Kaidan questioned.

Naruto and Liara met eyes, and silent communication passed through them. Liara quickly announced, "The beacon must have been badly damaged. Parts of the vision are missing. We were able to figure out the parts that were there, but it is still incomplete. Saren must have another beacon. If we can find the missing parts, I can-whoa!" Liara cut off when she started wobbling unsteadily. She then added, "I'm sorry. The joining is…exhausting. I can't do anymore right now, so I'll go to the medical bay and lie down."

Shepard nodded and told the group, "We're done here. Dismissed." The group started dispersing at that.

Joker's voice soon appeared over the intercom, "I've sent off the Feros report, commander. Do you want me to patch you through to the council?"

"Patch them through, Joker," Shepard answered immediately. Naruto walked to her side. She nodded at him, permitting his presence.

"Patching them though now, commander," Joker announced.

The three holograms of the councilors appeared. Tevos was the first to speak, "Commander, ExoGeni should have told us about the Thorian. It would have made your job much easier."

Valern then added, "It is a shame though that you destroyed it. Capturing it would have been an excellent opportunity to study it." Valern ended by looking at Naruto.

Naruto grimaced as he declared, "I won't enslave a sentient creature like that, honored councilor."

Valern quickly protested, "But killing it is such a waste. Is morality really that important to you?"

"So you wouldn't care if I took control of a salarian, maybe even yourself?" Naruto questioned. Valern didn't reply, so Naruto explained fiercely, "It doesn't matter whatit was. It had sentience, and thus it had the right to choose its own path. It chose to act as it did. Taking away that right is simply wrong. It is not an ability is use simply for convenience, honored councilor. Only necessity."

Valern sighed, but nodded and he commented, "I suppose you are right. Such an ability is to be used as sparsely as possible."

Naruto nodded, but then informed him, "Study of the Thorian isn't impossible though, even with it dead. I'm sure you can gain many quality samples of its body and DNA before it starts to decompose. Your scientists could easily use Zhu's Hope as a gathering force for the remains. The only thing we lost is the chance to study its intellect and personality, and considering it viewed people as animals as 'meat' trying to do such would simply put anyone around it in danger."

"Yes, that is true. Either way, I'll make sure a science team is sent with Zhu's Hope as the staging point," Valern admitted thoughtfully. Naruto did a jig in his head. Hopefully this would help the colony somewhat if ExoGeni pulled their support.

"So perhaps this turned out for the best. At least the colony was saved," Tevos commented diplomatically.

Sparatus quickly interjected, "Of course it was saved. Shepard would go to any lengths to save a human colony."

Shepard looked slightly affronted at the insult, but Naruto retorted before she could, "It isn't about it being a human colony. It was just a colony. It is our responsibility to save anyone we can."

Sparatus looked slightly annoyed, but Tevos interrupted before an argument could break out, "That is true, but please remember that stopping Saren is your primary goal. While we don't disapprove of your…extra efforts, many more people will be hurt if Saren isn't stopped."

Shepard nodded and stated, "I understand."

"Now there are a few more issues we need to discuss. Firstly, this Shiala. What is her current status?" Tevos questioned.

Shepard straightened as she replied, "She is currently resting in our medical bay."

"I'm surprised you kept her alive. It even states you offered her a position on your crew. I hope you know what you are doing. She did work with Saren, after all," Sparatus remarked in a scathing voice.

Shepard kept her cool though and replied crisply, "That is exactly why I offered her the position. She has information that could possibly help us. Even if she doesn't join my crew, I hope to learn more from her before she leaves."

"Can you trust her though?" Valern questioned.

Naruto answered that by claiming, "She feels genuine regret over her previous actions and gratitude towards us for freeing her. Her distaste for Saren is also true. I'm sure she has no plans to betray us."

The councilors weighed his words, considering his abilities and his trustworthiness. Tevos finally told them, "We'll leave it to the commander to decide."

Naruto now announced, "We should also talk about this 'indoctrination' process Saren has."

"Yes, we read about it in the report. I admit I am skeptical about it. Seems unlikely that Saren had developed a method of control like that. Mind control has always been thought impossible," Sparatus claimed.

"The Thorian managed it. Who's to say Saren can't do the same?" Shepard pointed out reasonably.

"If it is true, then Saren is an even bigger threat than we realized. This simply makes your mission all the more important," Valern stated.

Naruto nodded, but explained, "I understand that, but I brought it up for one point specifically. Matriarch Benezia. Shiala claims that Benezia is also indoctrinated. If we encounter her, I might be able to remove the influence Saren has over her. I simply wanted to know what you wanted me to do."

The councilors stayed silent for several moments. They looked at each other before Tevos answered reluctantly, "Benezia is an influential person in the galaxy, even considering her association with Saren. She is too powerful a tool for Saren to be able to wield. We would appreciate her being freed, but if it jeopardizes the mission then you shouldn't hesitate to kill her."

Naruto nodded and then declared in a determined voice, "Then I shall save her. If she is a victim, then I shall ensure that she is rescued."

The councilors stared at him for several moments. Sparatus then spoke, "As long as it does not jeopardize the mission." They all no doubt saw the resolve on his face, and knew it was useless to try and convince him away from that goal.

Tevos turned to Shepard and claimed, "We will be awaiting your next report, commander."

"We'll stay here for a bit longer, but unless another lead pops up on Saren we'll soon be heading to the Citadel for supplies," Shepard announced. The councilors nodded before their holograms flicked out of existence. Shepard immediately groaned out, "I need to sleep. My head is hurting. If anyone wakes me up within ten hours I'll give them latrine cleaning duties for a week."

Omake: Naruto drunk? That is just asking for trouble!…part 3.

Kurotsuchi had to force herself not to step back when Naruto approached her with a weird grin on his face and his hands making squeezing motions. She questioned anxiously, "What are you planning, Naruto? You were yelling for me all over the ship and were just telling Samui and Mabui to do perverted things."

Naruto just grinned as he replied, "Oh nothing. I'm just gathering the underwear of all the hot women on board in order to hang them from a pole over my tent. That way I am properly showing my dominance over them all, and your set will be the centerpiece, Kuro-chan."

"Like hell you will!" Kurotsuchi yelled in an enraged voice. She then continued, "You'll be doing that over my dead body."

Naruto just tilted his head with a grin as he stated, "There isn't much you can do to stop me though, Kuro-chan."

Kurotsuchi growled, but couldn't really deny it. In a straight up fight she didn't stand a chance. That didn't mean she wasn't going to try though. She released some of her chakra and growled out, "Watch me."

Naruto just smiled and released a bit of his own chakra to match hers. The two then started increasing the amount they were releasing like a contest. Soon the entire ship started to vibrate from the pure power in the air.

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"Uh, commander. Can you do something? The ship can't really handle any more of their dick sizing contest," Joker stated over the intercom in Shepard room.

Shepard meanwhile was curled up in her bed, covers pulled up over her body and holding a pillow over her head to block out everything. She also kept repeating to herself, "If I don't hear or see them, then they aren't there. If they aren't there, then it isn't my responsibility to try and stop them. If I don't hear or see them, then they aren't there. If they aren't there, then it isn't my responsibility to try and stop them."

Joker sweat dropped when he heard the mutterings of the commander.

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Naruto still had a grin on his face as he commented, "I really doubt the ship can take much more of this, Kuro-chan." The two were by now releasing so much chakra that is was visible to the naked eye.

Kurotsuchi looked around. The ship was actually shaking. Most of the people still around were cowering on the floor, the pressure of their chakras being too much for them. If they released even more chakra, and Naruto still had a butt load of chakra left, then the ship might simply break apart. Kurotsuchi had no desire to be spaced either. It sounded really dangerous.

Knowing Naruto clearly wasn't in a proper state of mind to make the reasonable choice, Kurotsuchi had to. Her shoulders slumped and she announced, "Alright. I give up. You can have my underwear."

"Really? Cool!" Naruto exclaimed with a smile as he approached.

When he got close enough though, a vicious grin appeared on Kurotsuchi's face. She then screamed, "Like hell I'd say that!" At the same time her right leg came up and landed a chakra enhanced kick straight between Naruto's legs.

Her victorious grin disappeared though when the pained Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving her momentarily unbalanced with a leg in the air. During that moment she felt a breeze pass her and certain pieces of her clothing disappear. Her head slowly turned to see a grinning Naruto holding her conservative white underwear.

"Good try, but I'm too awesome to fall for that," Naruto declared before he darted away.

Kurotsuchi stood frozen for several moments before she fell to her hands and knees. She then muttered with a dark cloud over her head, "He got me…The shame!"

There it is. The finish for Feros. As you could tell, this was so much from the game that it was almost boring for me to write it. I like a good fight as much as the next guy, but I find I enjoy character development more than fight scenes. Especially Mass Effect fight scenes which are more straightforward then Naruto fight scenes. I am currently planning on having three chapters before the Noveria mission. During that time I will mainly be focusing on development between Naruto and other characters. It is a loose plan though, so it might be longer or shorter.

The Shiala development is something I came up with as I wrote the talk scene with her. Just popped out of nowhere. I haven't decided whether to have her aboard the Normandy or keep her at Zhu's Hope. I'll be putting a poll up with three choices so you guys can vote. Stay on Normandy and become an actual squad member(go on the missions), stay on the Normandy and just be on it(just a few talking scenes and she doesn't go on missions), or stay at Zhu's Hope. Vote for your choice. If you want to give an actual explanation to convince me, then leave it in a review.

The Naruto causing asari nirvana by touch thing I've been planning for a while. Just thought it would be funny.

While there is basically zero romance in this chapter, some people asked for a better clarification on pairings. Right now I'm definitely having Naruto romance Shepard and Liara. That will be a three way relationship. Liara will mainly be focused on Shepard, but will see Naruto as a close second. Shepard will mainly be focused on Naruto, but will accept Liara. Naruto will be focuses on both. So that is basically how their three way relationship will work. Tali, as stated at the beginning, is still a work in progress. If I am satisfied with the relationship, then she'll be with Naruto. However even if it doesn't get serious, there will still be a lighter romance going on between them. Only some sexual tension and joking between Naruto and Ashley. Right now all the Naruto girls who went to space besides Tenten and Shiho will be included. Mabui and Mei will have a little less time than the others though. So that is my current plan, but as always my muse is unpredictable. Shiala is also a possibility if she stays on the Normandy.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Update soon.