Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Shinobi Odyssey ❯ Chapter 2: Three Worlds ( Chapter 2 )

Shinobi Odyssey

 

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“Normal speech.”

 

“Speaking in a foreign language.”

 

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto and all the characters from the anime and manga. The Stargate franchise is owned by MGM.

 

Please do not reproduce this story without the express consent of the author, huntsvilletiger.

 

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Chapter 2: Three Worlds

 

P3X-4117

 

Massive pillars of smoke and flame rose into the night sky from the still burning Ha'tak vessel. The disabled Goa'uld mothership lay relatively intact a few hundred yards from where it had crash-landed following its frantic attempted to take off when the three attacking vessels first emerged from hyperspace.

 

The screech of death gliders echoed in the night as they loitered overhead in support of the units still searching the surrounding woods for holdouts. Every so often, the pilots of the gliders would see the flash of a staff weapon or zat'ni'katel signaling one of the patrols had found someone.

 

A little over three miles away at the Stargate, three hundred Jaffa warriors stood in formation. Their faces taking on a ghoulish appearance in the dim illumination provided by the planet's two moons and the flickering flames that raged in the distance.

 

“Jaffa cree!” the lead Jaffa warrior called out when the Stargate flushed sideways. As one, the Jaffa kneeled on one knee and bowed their heads. Their commander stood with his head lowered and his arms outstretched to his sides in a sign of respect.

 

A statuesque redheaded woman wearing a black cloak covered in intricate gold braid emerged from the shimmering event horizon of the open stargate. The woman's eyes glowed for a brief moment as she surveyed the assembled warriors.

 

“What have you to report?” she demanded of the commander of the Jaffa.

 

“Lord Osiris, Tilgath's forces have been annihilated. We are currently searching the area for any who may have eluded our initial assault.”

 

“And the target?”

 

“I do not believe him to still be on this world, my Lord.”

 

“Why is that?”

 

The Jaffa warrior opened his hand to reveal the brass cylinder of a spent cartridge casing to his master.

 

“The Tau'ri,” Osiris spat. The Goa'uld symbiote within the woman's body ruthlessly suppressed the feeling of taunting laughter rising from the mind of its host. `Mark my words, woman, Lord Anubus shall deal your home world in due time.'

 

“Raze this place to the ground. Execute the prisoners.”

 

“As you command, my Lord.”

 

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Earth

 

“Hey, Cassie, have you started on number twenty-two yet?”

 

Bbbrriinngg, Bbbrriinngg.

 

“Huh, yeah, Diane…you can take a look at what I've got so far,” Cassandra Fraiser as she left to answer the ringing phone.

 

“Hello, Fraiser residence,” the seventeen year old said after picking up the receiver of the phone in the kitchen.

 

“Hi, Cassie, it's me.”

 

“Oh hi, Mom,” Cassandra replied. She glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall and noticed it was almost 7 PM. “What's up? I thought you were planning to be home by 6:30, did something happen at work?”

 

“Actually, yes. I've got a couple of new patients, so I am going to have to stay late tonight.”

 

“Is everyone okay? It's not anyone I know, is it?” Cassandra asked in a worried voice. She knew her adoptive mother trusted the night-shift medical staff and wouldn't stay late unless she was really needed.

 

“No, everyone's fine. The patients are… guests from Toronto,” Dr. Fraiser answered.

 

Cassandra was relieved but rolled her eyes at the mention of the lame cover story she had been told to use when she first came to Earth. None of her friends ever really bought that she was from Canada, but the majority of the kids at her school were military brats whose parents also worked at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex that housed the Stargate program. They didn't press her too much on where she was from once they found out her adoptive mother was in the Air Force. Most of them were smart enough to know their parents were involved in something they weren't supposed to talk about. A sudden thought occurred to Cassandra, why had her mother called them `guests from Toronto' instead of just guests? She would have understood what she meant either way...unless. “So…how old are they?”

 

“Cassie, you know I can't discuss what goes on here, especially over the phone,” Dr. Fraiser replied.

 

“Oh, come on! It's not like I don't know what you guys do, and you've already told me they're ali…uh, from Toronto,” Cassandra argued.

 

“Cassie…”

 

“Pretty please,” Cassandra said in her best little girl voice.

 

Sitting at the desk in her office, Dr. Fraiser sighed. She had a good idea where this conversation was headed. Cassandra had adapted to life on Earth better than she could have hoped in the almost seven years since they found her hiding behind a bush on the planet Hanka. However, she knew it bothered Cassandra not to have friends her own age she could talk to openly about her past and all the trouble she'd had adjusting to life on Earth. As a parent, Dr. Fraiser was tempted to tell her daughter about the two new guests, but two things stood in the way. The first issue was that she knew very little about Naruto and Hinata, and experience had taught her to be careful when dealing with unknown aliens. She would never willingly put her adopted daughter in a position where she might be harmed. Her first impression of the two teens was, that despite their strange abilities, they were both `good kids.' Still, there was plenty of room for surprises. The second obstacle was one of security. The Stargate Program was the government's most closely guarded secret, and as an officer in the Air Force she was obligated to maintain that secret. Of course, Cassandra had been right when she called her on the fact that she'd already said more than she should have. Then again her daughter was also recognized to be somewhat of a special case as far as the security rules were concerned and was even allowed to visit the SGC on occasion. She was probably the only seventeen year old on the planet with a top-secret security clearance. `Too bad she can't put that on her college applications,' Janet mused. `As long as I'm careful about what I say, it should be okay. I probably need to clear it with General Hammond before I tell her more though.'

 

“It's a boy and a girl. They're a year or two younger than you. And before you ask, I don't know how long they'll be here or if you'll be able to meet them, so don't get your hopes up. They need a chance to learn English first, and I want to get to know them a little better before I agree to anything. If they turn out to be alright, I'll consider talking to General Hammond about you coming for a visit.”

 

“Thanks, Mom. I owe you big time,” Cassandra cheerfully replied. In truth, she was a little disappointed at the news they couldn't speak English yet but hid it well. Balancing out her disappointment was the fact that one of them was a girl close to her age.

 

“I'm going to remember you said that when we clean out the garage this weekend.” Dr. Fraiser teased, causing Cassandra to emit a small groan. The two members of the Fraiser household had been dreading the task for weeks, but it had gotten to the point that the garage was so crammed full of junk that they couldn't park a car inside it anymore.

 

“Couldn't you order someone from the base to do it for us? You are an officer, you know.”

 

Dr. Fraiser laughed. “Nice try, but I think the General might have a problem with that. Have you been studying for your chemistry test?”

 

“Yes, ma'am. Diana is here and we're working through the practice problems from the textbook.”

 

“Good. You can call me at my office number if there's anything you can't figure out. I do know a thing or two about the subject, after all. There's a frozen pizza in the freezer the two of you can cook for dinner if you want. I'll grab something here.”

 

“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”

 

“I love you too, sweetie. I'll call again when I get ready to leave. Study hard.”

 

“Okay, Mom. We will. Bye.”

 

Miles away at one of the telephone company's computer rooms, a computer virus expertly hidden within thousands of lines of code encrypted and forwarded the mp3 file it had made of the conversation to another computer in a small non-descript house located in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.

 

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“I-I-I'm n-not coming out…s-sorry,” the lump in the middle of the bed stuttered.

 

“Having a problem?” Daniel turned to see Sam standing a short distance away with a laundry basket.

 

“You could say that,” a frustrated Daniel replied. He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He'd been trying to coax Hinata out from under the covers of her hospital bed for the last five minutes. She had steadfastly, if politely, refused.

 

Sam looked questioningly at Dr. Fraiser, who had just walked out of her office to join them.

 

“Embarrassed teenage girl,” Dr. Fraiser reported.

 

“Ah. What happened?” Sam asked.

 

“Oh, nothing much,” Daniel said with a sigh. “She just knocked Sergeant Sawyer on his butt; accidentally flashed half the infirmary, including Janet, the boy, and myself; ripped a privacy curtain down to cover herself; and then did a pretty good impression of a tomato before fainting.”

 

“Ooo, not good,” Sam replied. “The boy too, huh? Do you think she…you know?”

 

“Judging by her reaction, I'd say definitely,” Dr. Fraiser answered with a knowing smile.

 

“Um, am I missing something?” Daniel asked.

 

“Yes,” both women responded in unison.

 

“How'd he react?” Sam asked.

 

“Who? The boy? I'm not sure, he fainted, too.” Daniel replied, obviously confused by the whole affair.

 

Sam's face broke into an amused smile that she tried to hide from Daniel. He was a brilliant linguist and archaeologist, but despite his marriage to his late wife, Sha're, he could still be surprisingly clueless when it came to women at times.

 

Dr. Fraiser shifted her gaze to the laundry basket. “Are those their cloths?”

 

“No, their cloths are still being washed. It took the SFs the better part of an hour to find all the knives, throwing stars, and other stuff hidden in them,” Sam said, shaking her head in amazement. The head of base security claimed he had never seen so many concealed weapons and other items on two individuals in his entire career. What's more, there were a number of empty slots for more weapons in the pouches and holsters both teenagers had been wearing. “Captain Meyers said he'd have someone drop them off when they're done. I just decided to pick up some cloths from one of the supply rooms for the girl to wear, since it sounded like she wouldn't be here too long. I wasn't sure of her size, so I tried to bring enough so she'd have some options. Not that it matters.” She didn't bother repeating the age-old military joke about standard issue clothing coming in two sizes, too large and too small.

 

Sam pointed toward the Hinata-shaped lump on the bed. “Mind if I try?”

 

“Be my guest,” Daniel answered.

 

Figuring that, unlike Daniel, she could get away with the direct approach without freaking Hinata out, Sam walked up to the bed and slowly started to pull the covers back. Hinata tried to worm her way further under the covers but quickly ran out of bed. She sighed then poked her head out from under the sheets and blanket so that only the top of her head and her eyes were visible. Sam smiled warmly at her, showed her the basket of cloths, and then nudged Daniel with her elbow.

 

“Right…Hello. My name is Daniel Jackson and this is Dr. Janet Fraiser and Major Samantha Carter. What's your name?” Daniel asked.

 

“H-hello, I'm Hyuuga Hinata,” Hinata responded after uncovering her mouth.

 

“Well, Hinata-san, I'm sure you'd like to get dressed, but Dr. Fraiser needs to give you a quick checkup first to make sure you're alright,” Daniel said. “Are you okay with her doing that?”

 

Hinata warily nodded her head, but neither her nor Dr. Fraiser or Major Carter moved.

 

“Oh,” Daniel said in an embarrassed voice when he noticed all three women staring at him and realized what was wrong. “I need to be on the other side of the curtain, don't I?”

 

“Yes, you do,” Dr. Fraiser said before gently pushing Daniel away from the bed.

 

“I'll be right over here if you need to tell Dr. Fraiser anything, Hinata,” Daniel said. “Janet, I told her that I'd be right over here if she needs to tell you anything.”

 

“Daniel, this is not the first time I've had a patient in this infirmary who couldn't speak English. We'll manage. Now shoo!” Dr. Fraiser said as she closed the curtain. She turned back to Hinata and patting the edge of the mattress. After pushing the covers off, Hinata sat up and swung her feet around so that she was facing the doctor. Sam took a seat on a stool next to the bed.

 

Dr. Fraiser held the end of her stethoscope to her own chest, said the word `breath,' and took a deep breath to show Hinata what she wanted her to do. When the teen nodded her understanding, the older woman put the earpieces in her ears and untied the top tie on the hospital gown. Hinata blushed and grabbed the gown right above her breasts to keep it from falling too far. She jumped slightly when the cold stethoscope touched the bare skin of her chest.

 

“Sorry about that,” Dr. Fraiser said. “Breath.”

 

Hinata took a deep breath.

 

Dr. Fraiser repeated the process on another spot on her front and two more on her back.

 

A few minutes later, Dr. Fraiser was taking her pulse and blood pressure. Despite, the fact that she was obviously nervous, the teen's heart rate was amazingly low, around fifty beats a minute, which spoke to amazing physical shape she appeared to be in. In fact, both teens were remarkably fit. They showed signs of not only constant physical conditioning but access to excellent medical care and food as well.

 

The gauge on the blood pressure cuff jumped slightly.

 

“Uh, Janet,” Sam said in a slightly alarmed voice.

 

Dr. Fraiser looked up and was surprised to see the veins and arteries around Hinata's eyes were bulging out again. While Hinata was staring directly at her, Dr. Fraiser got the strange sense that she not looking at her but through her. The older woman tried to figure out how to ask Hinata if she could take a closer look at her eyes without startling her and making her stop what she was doing.

 

“Hyuuga-san, may Fraiser-san examine yours eyes the way they are now?” Sam asked in halting Japanese, surprising Dr. Fraiser.

 

“Y-yes.”

 

“She said it's okay.”

 

Dr. Fraiser gently felt the raised blood vessels on Hinata's face. “I didn't know you speak Japanese, Sam.”

 

“I don't…well, not much anyway. I was assigned to an F-16 squadron in Korea the first year after I got out of flight school and was able to go to Japan on leave a few times. Unfortunately, I only picked up enough of the language to ask directions, order at restaurants, that kind of thing.” Sam replied.

 

With Hinata's Byakugan activated, Dr. Fraiser could see that the girl actually did have pupils. They were almost the same color as her irises and were barely visible. She aimed a penlight into Hinata's eyes. Surprisingly, the pupils didn't respond the way she expected. They barely contracted when exposed to a visible light. Normally, it was the kind of response Dr. Fraiser would expect from someone who was blind or had extremely poor vision, but it was obvious neither condition applied to Hinata. `If her eyes aren't as sensitive to visible light when they're like this, are they sensitive to other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum instead?' she wondered.

 

“Sam, could you ask her what she was looking at?” Dr. Fraiser asked hoping the answer might provide a to whether or not her hunch was correct.

 

“I'll try,” the major responded before relaying the question.

 

Hinata's answer was immediate and carried far more emotion than either woman expected,“Naruto-kun.”

 

“Naruto, his name?” Sam asked awkwardly while pointing in the direction of Naruto's bed.

 

Hinata nodded yes, but closed her eyes tightly for a moment to prevent herself from breaking into tears. She had volunteered Team 8 for the mission when she heard Kakashi was looking for a tracking team to go on a mission to recover Sasuke. She wanted to help Naruto bring his teammate back and possibly prove to him how much stronger she had gotten while he was gone. Instead, she screwed everything up. He had gotten hurt, and they had probably lost his best chance so far to bring Sasuke back all because of her. She just hoped Naruto didn't hate her too much for it when he woke up. She wouldn't blame him if he did, though. She certainly hated herself at the moment. She desperately wanted to crawl back under the covers and hide. `No! I won't hide. Naruto-kun wouldn't hide,' a defiant part of herself shouted back. She tried to regain her composure. If she gave up and hid, it would be an insult to his ninja way that she had adopted as her own. Somehow she'd endure and find a way to make it up to him.

 

Seeing the emotion wash over Hinata's face in the brief moment before she schooled her expression, Dr. Fraiser and Major Carter finally realized she wasn't simply embarrassed that she had accidentally flashed a boy she had a crush on. She was blaming herself for him being injured. At that moment, both of the older women wished they knew someway to make the teen feel better. They could see she was trying to be strong, but the pain and guilt were still visible in her eyes.

 

“Janet,” Sam said, “when you're done how about I take her to one of the guest suits and let her use the bathroom there to get cleaned up before Daniel talks to her.” It wasn't much, but it might help a little.

 

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A few minutes later, Dr. Fraiser prepared to change Naruto's bandages for the first time since he arrived. He had been in a deep sleep since the fainting incident earlier. It wasn't unusual given his injury. If anything, Dr. Fraiser was surprised he'd woken up at all, but she mistakenly attributed it too the fact that Naruto was young and in exceptional physical condition.

 

Sam waved goodbye as she and Daniel left the infirmary to take Hinata to one of the guest suits where she could take a shower with some sense of privacy. The timing was fortunate. Dr. Fraiser didn't want Hinata see just how bad Naruto's wound appeared. Staff blasts tended to create horrific looking wounds. She was worried about the girl. Hinata was clearly depressed and blaming her self what happened. Dr. Fraiser wished there was more she could do, but the girl seemed hesitant to talk to Daniel about what was bothering her, although she would talk to him about other subjects.

 

Part of the problem was while Daniel could speak Japanese, it wasn't one of the languages he was completely fluent in and he'd barely had an opportunity to practice speaking it in over a decade. According to Daniel, Hinata's way of speaking was more formal and likely closer to the proper way the language was supposed to be spoken on her world. This made it harder for Daniel to understand Hinata, since her language had evolved independently from `Earth' Japanese for an unknown amount of time. There were a lot of peculiarities to Naruto and Hinata's language that would take time for Daniel to sort out. For example, both teens seemed to have some words that derived from English in their vocabularies. While that fact certainly hinted at how a blond-haired, blue-eyed fifteen year old could grow up as a native Japanese speaker on an alien planet, Daniel believed their grammar indicated their language broke off from Earth Japanese sometime before English and other Indo-European languages began to contribute a significant number of words to the Japanese vocabulary in the late 19th century. Ironically, Daniel had an easier time understanding Naruto in the brief time he was awake, since his accent and less formal way of speaking seemed to be a little closer to the modern Japanese Daniel was familiar with.

 

Dr. Fraiser didn't believe Hinata was a danger to herself, but given the communication problems she couldn't be one hundred percent sure. She hated that. Hinata appeared to be a very kind hearted girl. She'd even insisted on apologizing to Sergeant Sawyer, the nurse she'd knocked down earlier, before leaving the infirmary with Sam and Daniel. Dr. Fraiser hated the idea of not being able to help the teenager when she was obviously hurting.

 

Putting aside her concerns about Hinata for a moment, Dr. Fraiser turned her attention back to the job at hand. She snipped the outer layer of bandages with a pair of shears. She had to be careful. She didn't want to cause her patient any more pain than he already felt. Slowly, she pealed back the bandages. Suddenly, she froze. The shears clattered to the floor as she stared at the exposed wound in alarm and disbelief.

 

“Impossible! He couldn't be!”

 

Dr. Fraiser turned and called out to the two SFs standing guard outside the infirmary.

 

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Two Hours, Later

 

“Sorry, we took so long, Janet,” Sam said as she and Daniel walked back into the infirmary with a freshly showered Hinata.

 

“Not a problem,” Dr. Fraiser responded before turning to Hinata with a warm smile. “Are you feeling better now that you've had a chance to clean up?”

 

Hinata looked to Daniel. “She asked if you are feeling better.”

 

Hinata gave Dr. Fraiser a smile that didn't quiet reach her eyes and nodded her head in response, all the while trying to surreptitiously peak around the doctor.

 

“He hasn't woken up yet, but you're welcome to go sit with him until he does.”

 

Daniel translated. Hinata nervously bit down on her bottom lip, before heading over to Naruto's bed on the other side of the infirmary.

 

Dr. Fraiser and Major Carter shared a concerned look as they watched the girl walk across the room.

 

“What'd you find out?” O'Neil asked making everyone but Dr. Fraiser jump. He was sitting on an empty hospital bed, flipping through the sports section of a newspaper.

 

“Didn't see you sitting there, Jack,” Daniel apologized. “Her name is Hinata Hyuuga and his is Naruto Uzumaki. She claims they are ninjas…”

 

“Excuse me, did you say ninjas?” Colonel O'Neill interrupted.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Cool.”

 

“Anyway, they…” Daniel started to say.

 

“What kind of ninja wears orange? I thought they were supposed to be, you know…stealthy,” Jack interrupted again.

 

“Apparently, the same kind that can make copies of themselves and blow up Jaffa with glowing balls of light,” Daniel responded. “As I was saying, they where on a mission of their own when they came across a town near the Stargate on their world that was under attack by the raiding party we saw go through the gate on P3X-4117. You're not going to believe this, but she said she, Naruto, and one other ninja managed to rescue the townspeople and take out over half the Jaffa before she was knocked out.”

 

“After seeing how the boy fights, I'm not that surprised,” O'Neill replied. He'd been wondering what happened to the rest of the Jaffa that went through the gate. “Did she say anything about the eye thing or their other abilities?”

 

“Yes actually. Her eyes look the way they do because she has a `kekkei genkai,' which roughly translates as `blood inheritance limit,' the type she has is called the `Byakugan.'” Daniel answered.

 

“So it's genetic?” Dr. Fraiser asked.

 

“I think so. She said everyone in her clan has the same kind of eyes. She was kind of vague on the specifics, but from what I can tell when this Byakugan is activated, like it was when all the veins around her eyes were bulging earlier, her eyes can sense something she called `chakra,' see in a 360 degrees arc, and from the sound of it, act something like X-ray vision.”

 

“I don't know how that's possible, but it does explain how she knew it was Naruto behind the curtain earlier,” Dr. Fraiser responded.

 

“I think it may be part of the reason she freaked out when the nurse tried to take the blood sample, too. Apparently, `kekkei genkai' are very much prized on their world, and some of her village's rivals will go to great lengths to try to obtain them. I got the impression that she's had some bad experiences in that regard,” Daniel added. “I also don't think she was telling me everything.”

 

“Still trying to decided how much she trusts us, huh?” O'Neill asked.

 

“Looks that way,” Daniel sighed. “I can't really blame her given the circumstances.”

 

“It occurs to me that stripping her naked and dressing her in a hospital gown was probably not the best way for us to make a good first impression,” O'Neil responded.

 

“She was covered in mud and soaked to the skin when you brought her here. What were we supposed to do? Let her catch pneumonia?” Dr. Fraiser asked.

 

Jack held up his hands defensively. “Hey, all I'm saying is a few pairs of pajama bottoms would go a long way toward improving interstellar diplomacy. Not to mention keeping me from mooning your staff during physicals.”

 

“He does kind of have a point, Janet,” Sam said, apologetically.

 

“Especially on the mooning part. I don't think anyone wants to see him do that again,” Daniel added.

 

Colonel O'Neill looked at Daniel. Daniel stared back, “Yes?”

 

“Sorry, I was just trying to decided whether I should feel insult or relieved to hear you say that.”

 

Dr. Fraiser conceded defeat, mainly to change the subject. “Okay, okay, I'll look into it the next time I order supplies.”

 

“How'd she take the news about us not being sure how to get them home?” O'Neill asked.

 

“She hasn't said anything since I told her, but she comes off as kind of shy to begin with, so it's hard to tell,” Daniel answered.

 

“Colonel, I'm worried about her. It's not just that she's shy. Janet and I think she's blaming herself for Naruto being injured,” Sam added.

 

“And now that she knows they're stuck here you believe she thinks that's her fault, too?”

 

“Possibly, sir.”

 

O'Neill looked over at Hinata, who was pulling a chair up to the side of Naruto's bed, and frowned. “Daniel, any ideas?”

 

“I'm actually having some problems communicating with her, and she seems reluctant to open up to me. I might have an idea on how to deal with that, but I need to make a couple of phone calls first.”

 

“ Do what you have to do.” He turned to Dr. Fraiser and asked, “That's not the reason you asked me down here, is it?”

 

“No, Sir. I found something you need to see.” Dr. Fraiser opened the folder she had in her hand and passed Colonel O'Neill a photograph.

 

He grimaced slightly when he saw it was a very graphic photo of the staff weapon wound in Naruto's side. The wound was a foot wide and consisted of flesh that resembled charred hamburger meat. “I'm glad I didn't eat dinner before coming here.”

 

“One of the medics took that photo for the records when he first arrived in the infirmary,” Dr. Fraiser said. “Despite how bad the wound looks externally, his condition was extremely stable when we first started working on him. At first, I though he had merely received a glancing blow from the blast that hit him.”

 

“Doc, I was there. The kid caught the full force of it when he was shot. I'm surprised it didn't blow a hole clean through him,” O'Neill said.

 

“Yes, Sir. That wouldn't be out of the ordinary for someone hit by a staff weapon. As you know, staff weapons fire blasts plasma that not only have significant penetrating and explosive effects but also inflict thermal damage. That's one of the reasons we've had so much trouble developing body armor that can effectively counter the threat. The types of armor that protect best against the penetration and blast also become super heated by the plasma and either shatter from the rapid change in temperature or cause severe burns to the wearer,” Sam pointed out. She too was now curious as to why Naruto's injuries weren't more serious.

 

Dr. Fraiser nodded her head in thanks to Carter for the explanation. “Usually, we get a lot of second and third degree burns in addition to the internal injuries. That's both good and bad. The burns tend to cauterize the wound, significantly reducing the amount of external bleeding. The down side is they also make the wound extremely painful, slow to heal, and prone to infection. By the looks of it, the Goa'uld went out of their way to design a weapon that, if it didn't kill you outright, would cause the most difficult to treat and painful wounds possible.”

 

O'Neill could tell how disgusted the doctor was with the Goa'uld's brutality. He didn't doubt for a moment that they considered inflicting the maximum amount of pain and suffering a key factor in which weapons they chose to equip their armies with, but he could also see a more practical military reasoning behind the weapon. Given the natural resilience and rapid healing abilities of the Jaffa, a weapon that caused the type of injuries the staff weapon did prevented the majority of the Jaffa warriors who were merely wounded in battle instead of killed from recovering or being healed quickly enough to return to the fighting in time to make a difference. Also, the Goa'uld practice of absorbing the armies of conquered rivals meant that many of the wounded Jaffa would be able to serve their new master once they recovered. If you looked at other sentient forms of life as mere `resources' to be used to achieve your goals like the Goa'uld did, it all made perfect sense. Of course, that didn't change the fact that the whole lots of them were a bunch of heartless, megalomaniacal assholes. It just made them a little easier to predict.

 

“We also took some X-rays of Naruto and ran him through the MRI. That was when I first noticed something odd. He did have some internal injuries but they were not anywhere near the severity of what you'd expect in someone who took the full brunt of a staff blast to the abdomen.” Dr. Fraiser flipped the switch on one panel of the light box mounted on the wall next to them, illuminating an X-ray image that was clipped to its surface. “This was taken when he and Hinata first arrived five hours ago. See the two fractures in his ribs right above where he was shot?”

 

Everyone nodded. It was hard to miss. The ribs were cleanly broken all the way through, and the fractures were easy to pick out.

 

“Normally, it takes one to two months for a broken rib to fully heal.” Dr. Fraiser flipped the switch for the second panel of the light box, illuminating another X-ray image. In the new image, the fractures only appeared to go halfway through the two ribs. “I took this an hour ago after I changed his bandages and saw this.” She handed O'Neill a second photo. This one showed Naruto's side from the same angle as the first. The wound was now almost completely closed and the charred flesh around it was scabbed over and appeared to cover only half the area it did in the first photo. Around the now smaller wound, the skin was only reddened as it were merely sunburned.

 

“Whoa, are you sure he isn't a Goa'uld?” Daniel asked.

 

“Positive. Sam would have sensed it if he was, but we took X-rays of his head and neck just to be sure. There is no sign he has, or ever had, a symbiote. I can't explain it, but as far as I can tell so far, he's completely human.”

 

“How long until he's completely healed?”

 

“If he continues to heal at his present rate, mid-day tomorrow. I plan on keeping him here for observation for at least the whole day, though,” Dr. Fraiser answered.

 

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Later that night, Naruto slowly started to wake up. At least he assumed it was nighttime. Although the lights in the infirmary had been dimmed, there didn't appear to be any windows in the room and the only clock in view had twenty-four numbers on it instead of twelve. `When the hell is 22 o'clock?' he groggily wondered.

 

It took another couple of minutes in his doped up condition to wake up enough to realize he wasn't alone. He could hear someone else breathing. When he turned his head toward the source of the sound, he was greeted with the sight of Hinata asleep in a chair next to his bed with her head resting on her crossed arms on top of the mattress. The blood instantly rushed to his face as the memory of what he'd seen before fainting came rushing back. He felt like the image was burned into his brain. `Oh crap, I hope I'm not turning into a pervert like Ero-sennin,' Naruto worried.

 

He took a deep breath and tried to focus on the cloths she was wearing now in a vain attempt to somehow replace the memory he had of her from earlier with one of the way she appeared now. The first thing Naruto noticed was that the pair of dark green pants Hinata now wore were nearly identical in style to the kind Kakashi and many other Konoha shinobi wore. On her feet were the same sandals she had been wearing when they stopped at the monastery. She also wore a hoodless gray sweatshirt. Naruto had to smile at that. The sweatshirt looked like a tent on Hinata's small frame. `I guess they were out of her size. She does look comfortable though.'

 

On impulse, he reached out and gently stroked the side of her face with the tips of his fingers. Hinata moved slightly and let out a contented-sounding sigh, which startled Naruto enough to make him yank his hand back like he'd been burned. He cringed, expecting her to wake up and be mad at him. Instead, she snuggled her head into her arms like they were a fluffy pillow and a smile appeared her lips. Naruto held his breath until she settled back down and he was sure she was still asleep. He had no idea why he'd had the sudden urge to touch her like that. It had just felt `right' at the time.

 

It was then that he spotted their cloths, which had apparently been laundered, sitting in two neatly folded stacks on a cart a short distance away. He gulped when he noticed Hinata's bra and panties on top of her stack. Very carefully, he lifted his head off the pillow and looked down at the gap between Hinata's back and the waist of her pants caused by the way she was leaning on his bed. His eyes widened when he confirmed that, yes, Hinata Hyuuga was indeed going commando. He started to sit up more to get a better view when it hit him what he was doing. Naruto quickly screwed his eyes shut and slowly laid his head back down on the pillow.

 

Not realizing he was speaking aloud, Naruto mumbled, “What the hell am I thinking! Bad Naruto! Bad!” He took a deep breath to collect himself. “Okay, it's only Hinata. I've known her since we were both what…six years old? So what if I saw her almost naked, she's still the same person she was yesterday…even if I know what a cute ass she has now…and I've seen it naked.” Naruto caught himself slowly starting to lean over to take a second peak. Shocked with himself for doing it again, he grabbed his pillow and held it over his mouth to muffle his scream of, “Damn it, damn it, damn it! I am not a pervert! I. Am. Not. A. Pervert.”

 

Naruto had been so groggy from the painkillers and antibiotics Dr. Fraiser had given him and focused on Hinata on the right side of the bed that he had failed to notice Daniel, who was trying desperately not to laugh and snort the coffee he had been drinking out his nose, standing on the left side. Once Daniel had safely lowered the coffee mug from his lips and was fairly confident he could talk without laughing, he cleared his throat to get Naruto's attention.

 

“Um, hey…how long have you been standing there?” an embarrassed Naruto asked when he opened his eyes and finally saw Daniel.

 

“Just got here,” Daniel fibbed.

 

“Oh, good…not that there was anything going on before you did,” Naruto said.

 

“Of course not, Uzumaki-san,” Daniel agreed with as straight a face as he could manage.

 

“Sooo…how long was I out, uh…Danyeel Jack…Jacksin, right?” Naruto asked, trying to remember the strange sounding name from the first time he woke up.

 

Daniel checked his watch, “About six hours and close, my name is Daniel Jackson. You can call me Daniel. That's my first name. We say the family name last here.”

 

“Cool. You can call me Naruto. You don't have to bother with the `-san' or anything, either.” Naruto couldn't remember if he'd told him his name earlier. Maybe Hinata had told Daniel while he was asleep.

 

“Before I forget, Dr. Fraiser, the woman you met before the…uh, incident, wants to ask you a few questions,” Daniel added as casually as possible.

 

“Is there something wrong?” He was slightly nervous, having figured out in the brief time he was awake the first time that the woman he met was some kind of medical-ninja, or at least the non-shinobi equivalent.

 

“No, there's nothing wrong. Quiet the opposite actually. When you first arrived, she didn't expect you to wake up as soon as you did or heal at the rate you have been. She's curious about how you managed it,” Daniel answered, deliberately down playing the doctor's interest. It actuality, Dr. Fraiser is way beyond curious. She had been very alarmed when Naruto's wounds started healing at a rate on par with that of a Goa'uld. In fact, it was so close to a Goa'uld's ability that Dr, Fraiser had felt compelled to use the portable X-ray machine just to make sure he wasn't a Goa'uld using some kind of symbiote-masking drug.

 

Naruto shrugged. “I'm a fast healer. Always have been. I'm usually out of the hospital in less than two days, no matter how badly I'm injured. Not that that ever stops Granny from trying to keep me there for longer.”

 

“Your grandmother?” Daniel asked. He was tempted to press Naruto on the healing issue but held back in favor of building a better rapport and hopefully learning more about the two teens.

 

Naruto shook his head and smiled. “No. Granny is just a nickname I call the Hokage, the leader of the village Hinata and I live in. She's supposedly one of the best medical-ninjas that ever lived, too. I just call her that because she's kind of vain and tries to hide how old she is with some kind of weird henge. Most everyone else calls her Tsunade-hime or Hokage-sama. Sakura-chan, who's my teammate and Granny's apprentice, says I'm probably the only one who can get away with calling her Granny.”

 

“Henge? Medical-ninja?” Daniel asked.

 

“A medical ninja is what is sounds like, a ninja who specializes in healing jutsu, and a henge is a very basic transformation ninjutsu.” Naruto did the hand signs for the jutsu and transformed into Daniel. “See, a henge. Maybe you call it something else here.”

 

“Wow! I've never seen anything like that. How did you do it?” Daniel asked in shock, still managing to somehow keep his voice low enough to avoid waking Hinata. He reached out and touched Naruto/his double's forehead and was surprised to see that it was solid and not some kind of hologram or illusion like he expected. “That's simply amazing.”

 

“What, do you not have shinobi here or something? I thought everybody had heard of a henge,” Naruto answered after releasing the jutsu. He was confused by such a strong reaction to something that, to him at least, was an everyday thing.

 

“Not that I know of. Japanese history was never one of my fields of study, but ninjas, at least in the historical sense, haven't existed here for hundreds of years. I mean, there are still people who study the martial art of ninjutsu, but there are not real ninjas who work as professional warriors. Not to mention, I have never heard of anyone being able to do anything like what you just did,” Daniel answered.

 

“Weird. I've traveled a lot, and I've never been anywhere were they didn't know what a jutsu was before. Where did you say we were again?” Naruto replied.

 

“Oh, I mentioned Japan, but that's not where we are. You're currently in the United States of America, both it and Japan are nations on a planet called Earth,” Daniel explained.

 

“Never heard of either of those places,” Naruto answered with a perplexed look on his face. “Anyway, I'm from Konohagakure no Sato and it's…wait a second…did you say, `a planet called Earth'?”

 

Daniel took a deep breath. He always hated this part. There really wasn't an easy way to tell someone. “Yeah. About that…”

 

111111111111111111111111111111111111111

 

“NANI!!!!” a very loud shout echoed through the underground passages of Stargate Command.

 

“What the hell was that?” O'Neill asked.

 

“`What,' sir,” the young Japanese-American woman walking with the three members of SG-1 toward the infirmary answered.

 

“Uh, the banshee shriek that just threatened to make my ears bleed. What else would I be talking about, Captain?” O'Neill replied in annoyance.

 

“Sorry, sir. I should have been clearer. I meant to say that `Nani' is the Japanese word for `what,'” Captain Miura tried to explain.

 

“How the hell should I know what that means? You're the one who speaks the language,” O'Neill shot back.

 

“Colonel…”

 

“Captain, just let it go. You're not going to win this one,” Major Carter counseled.

 

“Indeed,” Teal'c added. “Colonel O'Neill responded similarly when he first heard the name of the system lord, Yu. It took quiet some time for Daniel Jackson, Major Carter, and myself to make him understand that Yu was not `you.'”

 

“Liar! I just met her, so I couldn't possibly have thought Miura was a system lord back then,” O'Neill said, this time obviously in jest.

 

“Not that understanding necessarily makes the Colonel stop,” Sam groaned as they reached the infirmary.

 

Once inside, the group saw Daniel trying to simultaneously calm Naruto down, keep him from climbing out of bed, and wave off the two guards who had come running into the room. Dr. Fraiser, who had also come running when she heard Naruto's shout, was helping Hinata up from the floor where the teen had fallen from her chair when she was startled from her sleep.

 

“What'd we miss?” O'Neill asked.

 

Daniel turned to him and said, “Jack...”

 

“ANSWER ME! WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T SEND US HOME?!” Naruto loudly interrupted. The frustration he felt at the realization that he had just lost his best opportunity yet to bring Sasuke back was threatening to get the better of him. He needed to be back home to help Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei…and what about fighting Akatsuki, the Chuunin Exams, and becoming Hokage? Damn it, he didn't have time for this. As his emotions built, Naruto's eyes changed from their normal blue color to red and his pupils turned into cat-like slits. To everyone else in the room it suddenly felt like some invisible, malevolent force was pressing against them. The two SFs instinctively started to move their hands to the zats they had clipped to their belts, only to stop a moment later when Colonel O'Neill turned and shook his head at them.

 

“I didn't say we couldn't get you home eventually, but there are Stargates located on hundreds, if not thousands, of worlds scattered across this galaxy. Without a gate address there is no way of knowing which one is your world,” Daniel explained nervously, having noticed Naruto's eyes and felt the strange energy that coursed through the room. “We'll do everything we can to help you, but you need to understand we can't make any guarantees. It could take a long time, and you need to be prepared for the possibility that we may never find the world you came from. I'm sorry.”

 

Naruto appeared ready to argue with Daniel, until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking over he saw Hinata, who appeared on the verge of tears. “P-please, N-naruto-kun, don't be mad. It's all my fault! I'm so s-sorry!”

 

“Huh? What are you talking about, Hinata?” Naruto's eyes returned to their normal color and the oppressive force dissipated as his anger and frustration turned to concern and confusion.

 

Hinata tried to lean her head forward to hide the fact that she was crying behind her long bangs. She didn't want Naruto to see her upset. She wanted him to see her as a strong kunoichi worthy of his respect…and maybe one day his love. She'd worked so hard to improve herself and become strong. She'd become a chuunin and gained respect the respect of the other Lead shinobi as a capable and dependable ally. Even her father had acknowledged that she was improving, although he still seemed to favor her little sister. But at the moment, none of her accomplishments over the last three years seemed to matter. When it had really counted and her most precious person was counting on her, she hadn't been strong enough. Her hard won confidence was beginning to crumble, and she once again felt like the scared little twelve-year-old girl who use to run and hide because she was ashamed of her constant failures.

 

Naruto could see her tears dripping to the floor below. He started to reach for her but hesitated. He was afraid that if he touched Hinata, he'd somehow offend her or make things worse. He watched as Hinata tried to reign in her emotions, but then heard her let out a pitiful sound that was midway between a sob and a whimper. He couldn't bear seeing her so upset any longer. Sam and Dr. Fraiser had started to move toward the crying girl to comfort her, but Naruto beat them to it. He reached out and pulled Hinata into a hug, forcing her to sit down next to him on the bed in the process. She let out a surprised squeak, but then wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. Naruto felt hot tears begin to soak through the fabric of his hospital gown when she stopped trying to hold it in.

 

He looked up and made eye contact with Dr. Fraiser, who was looking on with a sympathetic expression. He looked at her pleadingly and jerked his head in a motion he hoped she would interpret as a request to be alone for a few minutes. Correctly guessing what he wanted, she motioned for the others to follow her to her office a short distance away. Teal'c gave the two teens a respectful nod in passing, while Sam flashed him an approving smile and moved the box of tissues from a nearby table to the bed where Naruto could reach it before joining the others.

 

“I guess you're having a bad day, huh, Hinata?” Naruto said, feeling guilty that he'd been worried about his own problems when one of his friends was in the same vote.

 

Hinata nodded and sobbed something unintelligible into his shoulder.

 

After a few minutes of Naruto holding her and rubbing her back, Hinata pulled away and sat up, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. Naruto passed her a handful of tissues. She made a surprisingly loud honking noise that sounded remarkably like a foghorn when she blew her nose. Coming from the shy and always lady-like Hinata, the noise was particularly funny. Naruto somehow managed to limit his reaction to an amused smile. The last thing he wanted to do was make Hinata think he was making fun of her.

 

“So what exactly do you think is your fault?”

 

“I-it's because of me…th-that you were injured and we can't get home,” Hinata quietly answered. “If I h-had been stronger, they w-wouldn't have captured me and you wouldn't have l-lost your chance to find Sasuke. Y-y-you should have just let them t-take me. I'm weak and useless…”

 

“Bullshit.”

 

“W-wh-what?”

 

“You heard me,” Naruto said. “I said bullshit. It's not your fault that I got hurt or that we can't get home. It's the fault of those bastards that attacked that town and killed those people.”

 

“B…but I…”

 

“But nothing,” Naruto cut Hinata off. “They managed to get you with a cheap shot, that's all. It could just as easily happened to me or Yamato-sensei. It was a hundred verses three, and those guys were a lot stronger than we thought they'd be. Odds were they'd get at least one lucky shot in on one of us.”

 

“Naruto-kun, I was captured because I was almost out of chakra and let my guard down. It wasn't just luck. I couldn't last as long as you or Yamato-sensei, and I put both of you in danger because of it,” Hinata said.

 

“No you didn't, and so what if you ran out of chakra before Yamato-sensei and me. He's an ANBU captain, and I kinda have an unfair advantage in the chakra department. Kakashi-sensei is always going on about how I have bigger chakra reserves than him even without `fuzzy' here, and he's one of the strongest jonin in the village,” Naruto said while patting his stomach. “You've got nothing to be ashamed of. I mean you're plenty strong even if your chakra reserves aren't big as mine. You developed your own ultimate defense and Gentle Fist style, didn't you? You're also way better at chakra control than me. I still have trouble with making a regular bushin, sometimes.”

 

Hinata nodded, she knew he was right. She had worked very hard to develop her Shugo Hakke Rokujyuyonshou. Even Neji had been impressed the first time she showed him the technique. She didn't think her chakra control was anything special, but then again she came a clan where excellent chakra control was the norm, not the exception. And while Hinata was proud of the unique Gentle Fist style she had created, the only reason she had developed it was because she couldn't seem to master the style of Gentle Fist her father and cousin had tried to teach her. Her style wasn't necessarily an improvement in her eyes; it merely worked better for her than the traditional style.

 

“And you are definitely not weak or useless. Hell, you saved my life at least three times before I left Konoha to train with Ero-sennin, and you were kicking some serious butt during that last fight before you got knocked out.”

 

Hinata began to feel better as Naruto reminded her what was good about herself.

 

“Oh, and one more thing,” Naruto said now that he was on a roll, “I am definitely calling bullshit on the idea that I should have done nothing to stop them from taking you. We're Konoha shinobi, we don't abandon our comrades. Besides, I wouldn't deserve to be Hokage if I was willing to let someone kidnap one of my precious people without a fight.”

 

At hearing Naruto call her one of his `precious people', Hinata blushed and started nervously pushing two of her fingers together. A small, embarrassed smile was beginning to form on her face.

 

`She's so cute when she does that…AKK! Damn it, I'm doing it again! I've got to get my head on straight. Hinata is my friend, I can't go all Ero-sennin on her, especially now.'

 

“You really consider me one of your precious people, Naruto-kun?” Hinata asked without stuttering. She was precious…to Naruto-kun? It was more than she could have hoped for.

 

“Well, yeah…I do. I use to think you were weird, but once I got a chance to know you a little better I found out you were really cool. You're always so nice to everyone, and you're always there for your friends. I mean…take the time you helped me get my confidence back when we ran into each other at the training posts before my fight with Neji, for example. You knew exactly what to say to make me feel better. And when he closed off my chakra points, it was remembering how you and Lee wouldn't give up during the preliminaries that gave me the strength to get back up. If it wasn't for that talk and you and Lee inspiring me, Neji probably would have won,” Naruto confessed. It really had been that close.

 

“No! You're Naruto-kun! You would have found a way! Even when everyone treated you so badly and you were struggling, you never gave up!” Hinata exclaimed in disbelief.

 

Naruto's head jerked in surprise at the outburst. Then he smiled. “See, that's what I'm talking about. You believe in your friends, even when they don't believe in themselves. You're strong where it counts most…here,” Naruto said, gently touching two of his fingers to a spot right over Hinata's heart.

 

She quickly ducked her head to hide her blushing. If Hinata hadn't looked away, she would have noticed Naruto's own blush. Instead all she saw was his quickly retreating hand.

 

“T-that's why you're one of my precious people,” Naruto said in a slightly shaky voice.

 

“Thank you, Naruto-kun.”

 

“Hey, what are friends for? Besides, look on the bright side. We can pretend like we on vacation together, or something, until we find a way home. We could even work on that fainting problem of yours. I'm surprised Kurenai-sensei doesn't make you wear a helmet.” Naruto joked in an effort to relieve the tension. Hinata looked up at her crush's face, not sure how to take his last comment. Naruto flashed her an affectionate, almost flirty, smile to let her know he was only being playful by teasing her. That was all it took to derail the emotional roller coaster Hinata had been on for the last few hours. Her vision started to turn black around the edges, and she felt herself falling forward toward Naruto's chest. Caught off guard, his injured abdominal muscles couldn't support their combined weight, and he was knocked out of his sitting position onto his back. He let out a loud gasp of air when the now unconscious Hinata landed diagonally across his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

 

When Naruto was once again able to breath normally, he realized he had a new problem. Thankfully, she hadn't landed on his broken ribs or his wounded side, but when he tried to sit up his stomach muscles gave out before his shoulder got more than a couple of inches above the mattress. He tried to use his left arm to help lift them up, but he couldn't put any weight on it with causing pain to his broken ribs. When he tried use his right arm to do the same thing, Hinata almost fell off the bed and he felt the a pain tearing through his injured side when he barely managed to keep her from falling by grabbing her with his left hand. Naruto looked down and noticed a small red place where blood had soaked through his fresh bandages, and sighed. If he kept this up, he was going to reopen his wound, and then he'd have to listen to Daniel relay a lecture from the lady in the white coat. `Two chewing outs for the price of one.' Deciding to give it one last try, Naruto attempted to scoot Hinata into a different position so he could lift them up without knocking her off the bed. Unfortunately, all he managed to accomplish was accidentally getting a mouthful of her hair, which caused him to spit and sputter.

 

Now resigned to wait for someone to come back and rescue them, Naruto lay in bed with his face turning increasingly redder due to his growing, among other things, awareness, that: A) Hinata's braless boobs were currently mashed against his chest, B) He was pretty much naked except for a paper-thin hospital gown, and C) Despite his embarrassment, he was enjoying his present predicament a little too much for his good conscience. Naruto glared up at the ceiling of the infirmary and shot the bird at whichever kami was having so much fun at his expense. “Why the hell aren't the bastard fox, the emo missing-nin best friend, the group of power hungry psychos who like to wear nail polish, and trapping Hinata and me on another planet enough for you? Quit trying to turn me into a mini Ero-sennin too, you bastard!”

 

Naruto tried to bunch up the blanket between Hinata and his crotch, so she wouldn't notice his `condition.' `I hope someone comes back soon before Hinata wakes up and screams at me for being a pervert. I don't want her to quit talking to me. If she does, the only person I'd have left who could understand me is that dorky guy with the glasses.'

 

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

 

Daniel let out a loud sneeze.

 

“Bless you!”

 

“Sorry, allergies,” Daniel said with a sniffle before blowing his nose. He leaned forward to peer out the door of Dr. Fraiser's office but could only make out Naruto's feet moving under the covers of the hospital bed. “Maybe I should go check on them? They've been talking for a while now.”

 

“Quit acting like a mother hen, Daniel. I'm sure one of them will let us know when they're done,” Colonel O'Neill said. “What were you trying to say, Carter?”

 

“I just asked if I was the only one who felt that when his eyes changed?”

 

“You were not,” Teal'c answered. “It was most…disconcerting.”

 

“When his eyes changed?” O'Neill asked. Daniel had been blocking his view of Naruto's head, and he'd missed the brief change in the teen's eyes.

 

“They turned red, and the pupils kind of elongated. It almost looked like a cat's eyes, Sir,” Captain Miura answered, speaking for the first time since arriving at the infirmary.

 

Daniel looked up apparently noticing her for the first time. She was around Sam's height but a little slimmer in build. Her short, black hair hung down almost to her shirt collar. She had obviously just arrived at the SGC as she still dressed the dark blue skirt and jacket of her Class A uniform instead of the fatigues or jumpsuits most of the base personnel normally wore while working. “…And you are?”

 

“Captain Rachel Miura,” she said while reaching out to shake Daniel's hand. “I'm normally an engineer on the F-302 program at Area 51, but I was ordered to report here for temporary duty as an interpreter. Sorry, I didn't introduce myself earlier.”

 

“Dr. Daniel Jackson,” Daniel replied. “And wow. You got here fast. I only made the request for someone fluent in Japanese like two hours ago. I guess you were the only one they could find with the proper clearance on short notice.” He'd been hoping for a trained linguist, but beggars can't be choosers.

 

“Yes, Sir. They gave me thirty minutes to pack, and had a Gulfstream waiting on the tarmac to pick me up.”

 

“That's probably my fault, too. I said it was urgent,” Daniel grimaced. He'd momentarily forgotten how seriously `urgent' requests from the SGC tended to be taken.

 

“It's okay, it wouldn't be the first time I've been roped into acting as an interpreter. Although, the last time was for a Japanese general visiting the Pentagon, and not you know…”

 

“Teenage alien ninjas with weird eyes,” Colonel O'Neill offered.

 

“Um, yes, Sir.”

 

“Sir, what are you going to recommend to General Hammond?” Sam asked.

 

“What do you guys think?” O'Neill asked.

 

“I don't think he lied to me or anything, but Naruto never did answer how he's able to heal so fast,” Daniel answered.

 

“Maybe he has a kinky gecko thing like the girl…” O'Neill started.

 

“Kekkei genkai,” Daniel corrected.

 

“Yeah…one of those, and is just nervous about telling us about it?” O'Neill finished without missing a beat

 

“It's possible. Like I said, I don't think he lied, but he did seem to avoid answering the question. It just bothered me because he was so open about everything else,” Daniel reiterated. “Of course, if you look at it from their point of view it's not too surprising. They encountered people from another planet for the first time, today. Had to fight those same people. Were taken to another world and then rescued by people from a second world and taken here. I'd be a little wary of trusting us completely too. To be honest, I'm surprised they've said as much as they have.”

 

“Carter?”

 

“I agree. I don't see any reason to doubt them. I haven't spent any time around Naruto yet, but Hinata seems to be an absolute sweetheart. Plus, isn't this discussion kind of moot, since we don't know the gate address for their home planet, Sir?”

 

“Eh, good point,” O'Neill responded. “We are kind of stuck with them, aren't we?”

 

“I wouldn't put it that way, but yes, Sir,” Carter responded.

 

“Shouldn't we be looking at this as an opportunity to make some new allies?” Daniel asked.

 

O'Neill perked up at Daniel's way of reframing the discussion, “I like it. Ninjas would be a definite upgrade from the Tok'ra…no offense to your dad, Carter.”

 

1111111111111111111111111111111

 

Naruto and Hinata's World: Konoha

 

“I didn't think you'd bring your daughter with you,” Ibiki said as he walked down the steps to the holding facility located underneath ANBU headquarters. Behind him walked Inoichi and Ino Yamanaka.

 

“She needs to gain experience doing the jutsu on real, resisting targets at some point. Now is as good a time as any,” Inoichi replied. “At least this way, I can bail her out of trouble if something goes wrong.”

 

“True enough,” Ibiki grunted. “How long do you think it'll take to find anything of value?”

 

“More than likely, it will take several secessions before we can piece together anything useful. Most people think in the same language they speak, so Ino and I won't be able to understand his thoughts or anything said to him in his memories. We will however be able to see what he's seen,” Inoichi replied thoughtfully. “Do you have Anko preping the prisoners like I requested?”

 

“That crazy woman from the Chuunin Exam! Why her?” Ino exclaimed.

 

Her father sighed and shook his head. “Ino, rule forty-three,” Inoichi said in his best sensei voice.

 

Ino groaned in annoyance before robotically repeating one of the rules she memorized during her clan's jutsu training, “The Yamanaka clan mind jutsu are most effective when the intended target's mental defenses have been weakened by anxiety or some other form of emotional stress. Come on, Dad! I already memorized all these! You can stop quizzing me on them every five minutes, already!”

 

“Well that certainly explains why you requested Anko, Inoichi. If there's one thing she excels at it's making people nervous. Something I'm sure your daughter can attest to from first-hand experience by the sound of it,” Ibiki added with a chuckle while opening the door to the interrogation room.

 

Inside the room a man with a tattoo on his forehead quivered in terror as a massive thirty-foot long python squeezed him in its coils while staring directly into his eyes. Overseeing the scene was Anko, who wore an amused look on her face while she twirled a kunai by the ring on its handle around her finger.

 

“Ophidiophobia?” Inoichi asked.

 

“Oh, yeah…big time,” Anko laughed before walking up to the snake and scratching it affectionately under the chin. “The bad man doesn't appreciate you like I do. Does he, precious?”

 

“No, Mistresssssss,” the snake summon hissed while slightly tightening its coils. “Maybe I ssshould jussst eat him?” The reptile positioned its head above the Jaffa and unhinged its jaw as if it was preparing to swallow him whole.

 

The Jaffa warrior stared up into the gaping mouth of the massive serpent in horror before losing control of his bladder.

 

Ino scrunched up her face in disgust. “Eww.”

 

Anko merely glanced down at the newly formed puddle on the concrete floor with a satisfied smile before turning back to the three new arrivals. “Well, I think my work here is done. The prisoner is all yours.” She patted the snake on the side of its body. “You're free to go after Inoichi-kun gets started, Ochi-chan.”

 

The purple-haired special jonin turned to leave after the snake summon nodded its head slightly in understanding. As she passed Ino on her way out, Anko leaned in and said in a conspiratorial tone loud enough for the others to hear, “I warmed him up for your first time, Blondie. Have fun popping your cherry.”

 

Ino's jaw dropped in an amazing imitation of Ochi-chan in response to the older kunoichi's gall.

 

Anko smirked at the teen before continuing on her way. Once she got to the doorway, she paused, rubbed her hands together in anticipation, and then shouted down the hallway, “OKAY BOYS! WHO'S NEXT?”

 

A number of groans and what could only have been curses rang out from various cells in response to the sound of their tormentor's voice.

 

“OH, COME ON GUYS! YOU KNOW YOU LOVE ME!” Anko shouted as Ibiki closed the door behind her.

 

11111111111111111111111111111111

 

At the main gate to the village, two shinobi and a large dog ambushed Kakashi before he could depart for his mission to find Jiraiya.

 

“You're not leaving without us,” Kiba stubbornly stated while blocking the masked jonin's path.

 

“Kiba, Shino, I really don't have time for this. Jiraiya-sama is on his way to the Land of Rain, and I have to track him down before he reaches the border,” Kakashi said.

 

“We're going with you, and that's final. Shino says Jiraiya is the best chance we have to find out where Hinata and Naruto disappeared to, since both he and Naruto can summon frogs.”

 

Kakashi was about to push his way past them when Shino spoke up, “Did you not recruit us for the original mission because of our skill as trackers. We can help you find Jiraiya-sama much faster than you would be able to alone.”

 

“Actually, I didn't recruit you. Hinata volunteered your team for the mission,” Kakashi said. He was pleased by the surprised look that appeared on Kiba's face and the raised eyebrows showing over Shino's glasses. “That doesn't change the fact that you happen to be right. You can come, but I'm not going to slow down if you can't keep up, and this is a S-ranked mission so you will follow my orders without question.”

 

“Why the hell would tracking down a dirty old man who happens to be an ally be a S-ranked mission?” Kiba sputtered.

 

“Jiraiya's on a recon mission to the likely hideout of the leader of Akatsuki,” Kakashi said before walking past them. Both Kiba and Shino froze at that piece of information “Also, if you come with me you will be going without orders and breaking the rules. There could be serious consequences when you return to Konoha...assuming you make it back from this mission alive.”

 

Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru stared at Kakashi's retreating back for a moment before running to catch up. “Come on let's hurry so we can get Hinata and that blonde idiot back, before he does something stupider than he already has,” Kiba said as he and Akamaru pasted Kakashi.

 

Unbeknownst to the members of Team 8, Kakashi couldn't have been prouder of them. They weren't lower than trash.

 

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Author's Note:

 

Hi, everyone. Sorry for the long delay in updating, but sometimes life takes precedence over writing fan fiction. I'll try not to make you wait so long for the next chapter.

 

I'd also like to say a word about plagiarism. Someone has seen fit to copy the entire first chapter of my other story, Faith of the Heart, word-for-word and post it as their own. This person literally “copy and pasted” my story. Just for the record, don't do something like that without my permission. I will find out, and I will make it your problem. I don't mind people getting ideas and inspiration from my writing to use in their own original stories, but if you're too lazy to write your own story don't try to steal someone else's and pass it off as your own. I thought that was a no-brainer, but apparently there are people out who don't get it.