Stardate: 41776.44683793748 (October 11, 2364 – 07:30)
Location: USS Enterprise-D, Earth Orbit → San Francisco, Starfleet Academy Headquarters
Point of View: 3rd Person (dialogue in 1st person, raw emotions)
The blue-white curve of Earth filled the Enterprise-D's forward viewscreen, its oceans and continents shining like jewels against the black of space. As the ship slowed from warp, the bridge crew rose to attention. A fleet of Federation starships formed up around Spacedock One, moving in a slow, deliberate honoring pattern. Gasps filled the air as Naruto, standing in his cadet uniform among his mates, began to call out the ships as they passed. "USS Ahwahnee, USS Ajax, USS Akagi, USS Aries, USS Charleston, USS Endeavour…" His voice grew stronger with each name, pride swelling in his chest. "…USS Excalibur, USS Goddard, USS Hathaway, USS Hermes, USS Hood, USS Hornet, USS Merrimac, USS Sutherland, USS Thomas Paine, USS Tian An Men, and USS Trieste."
Hinata's hand found his as the last vessel sailed past. "They came for us," she whispered, her lavender eyes shimmering. Ino, ever the empath, nodded with tears in her eyes. "No, Hinata they came for him. For all of us, but especially him." Tsunade smirked faintly. "Looks like the brass finally figured out what kind of storm they're dealing with." Riker leaned closer to Picard, murmuring, "It's not every day a nineteen-year-old cadet earns a fleet's salute." Picard only inclined his head, voice low. "Nor is it every day one rewrites what it means to be Starfleet."
The Enterprise slid gracefully into position near Spacedock One, the gleaming space station looming in the viewport. Minutes later, five Type-7 shuttlecraft detached from the ship's bay, their nacelles glowing as they descended through the atmosphere toward San Francisco. Aboard the lead shuttle, Naruto sat flanked by Hinata and Konan, his daughter Himawari in the seat opposite. Admirals Minato and Kushina Namikaze his parents in this life sat behind them, their eyes full of pride. "You've done what I never imagined at your age," Minato said softly. "You've carried not just yourself, but your family and Starfleet, through fire." Naruto's hands clenched in his lap. "I just… I did what I had to do." Kushina's laughter rang like a bell. "That's exactly why they honor you."
The shuttles touched down at Starfleet Academy Headquarters, the great red bridge arching in the distance and rows of cadets standing in formation on the parade ground. Admiral Gregory Quinn stood at the podium, his voice booming across the academy square. "Three days and ten hours. Eighty-two hours in which Cadet Naruto Namikaze and those under him demonstrated loyalty, courage, and unyielding dedication to Starfleet. From the fires of Deep Space 7 to the halls of this very Academy, they have proven themselves beyond question." His words carried, drawing cheers and applause from the assembled officers and cadets.
One by one, Naruto's mates and his daughter were called forward Konan, Kaguya, Anko, Fū, Guren, and Himawari each receiving the Legion of Honor, their cadet uniforms shining under the San Francisco sun. Then came Naruto. Admiral Quinn's voice shifted, solemn and proud. "For gallantry and sacrifice beyond expectation. For leadership during the defense of Deep Space 7. For valor in the face of impossible odds. Cadet Naruto Namikaze, you are awarded the Starfleet Medal of Honor, the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor, the Legion of Honor, the Star Cross, and the Decoration for Gallantry." The crowd erupted as the medals were placed across his chest, the youngest Starfleet officer in history to bear such weight.
Naruto stood in silence for a moment, his chest heavy with medals, his throat tight with emotion. Then he turned to his family his mates, his daughter, his parents and whispered hoarsely, "This isn't mine. It's ours. All of us." Hinata's tears fell freely as Himawari threw her arms around him, the gathered cadets cheering louder still. In that moment, Earth itself seemed to acknowledge them, and Starfleet had gained not just officers, but a family bound by unity, love, and unshakable purpose.
Stardate: 41776.60683793748 (October 11, 2364 – 10:15)
Location: San Francisco, Starfleet Command – Admiralty Council Chambers
The Admiralty Council Chambers were vast and austere, their walls lined with banners of the United Federation of Planets and the Starfleet Command crest gleaming behind the central podium. Naruto and his family entered in their cadet uniforms, the black and red fabric pristine, though the young Lieutenant carried himself like a veteran. Every admiral of the Council was present Gregory Quinn, J.P. Hanson, Norah Satie, and others whose names carried weight across the quadrant. Minato and Kushina, seated alongside them, offered soft nods of encouragement as the chamber fell silent.
Admiral Quinn spoke first. "Naruto Namikaze, nineteen years old, field-promoted to Lieutenant, and already decorated with Starfleet's highest honors. Your record at Deep Space 7, though brief, is extraordinary. But extraordinary often invites difficult questions. What role do you see for yourself and your… family in the years ahead?" His gaze swept across Naruto's mates Shion, Ino, Samui, Hinata, Tsunade, Kurenai, Tenten, Mabui, Yugito, Shizuka, Mei, Kurotsuchi, Mikoto, Konan, Kaguya, Anko, Fū, and Guren every one of them straight-backed, their eyes unwavering.
Naruto's voice rang firm. "We came into Starfleet not just to fight, but to build something greater than what we lost. We are a family, but we are also officers. Give us the chance, and we'll prove our loyalty not just as cadets, but as leaders. I'll earn every rank with sweat and blood, but I won't stop until I can give back everything Starfleet gave me." His words carried across the chamber, and even the skeptical Satie leaned back in thought.
It was then that Admiral Hanson leaned forward, voice deep. "Fast-tracking promotions is not something Starfleet does lightly. But in your case… I believe history will demand it." Naruto nodded, his hands tightening at his sides. "Then let history demand it. I'll be ready when that time comes. By 2371, I'll be Captain, and I'll command my own ship. Not just any ship my ship." The room stirred with murmurs, and Picard, standing near the wall, arched an eyebrow. "Your own class of vessel?" Naruto's eyes lit with a fire that silenced the chamber. "Yes. The USS Kurama (NX-59649), the first of the Tailed Beast-Class battleships. A ship strong enough to protect the Federation, to protect the people I love, and to meet any threat."
Quinn's brows shot up, and even Minato and Kushina looked stunned. "That is a bold vision, Cadet Namikaze," Quinn said slowly. Kaguya's calm voice filled the silence as she placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Boldness is his nature, and ours by bond. Where he walks, we walk." Konan added softly, "And where he commands, we will serve." The chamber seemed to pulse with the weight of their words. Hanson finally spoke, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Perhaps Starfleet will need a Tailed Beast yet."
Location:Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, Mars Orbit
Stardate:41776.29 – October 10, 2364, 13:18 Hours
The briefing room aboard Utopia Planitia's command station thrummed with low energy, the gravity stabilizers softening the hum of distant construction. It was a chamber of legends lined with holographic models of Starfleet's proudest flagships, from the Constitution-class to the still-experimental Sovereign. Seated around a long black-glass table were Admirals, Generals, Commanders, and scientists representing every division: Starfleet Engineering, Intelligence, the Corps of Engineers, MACOs, and the Marines. At the head of the chamber, Admiral Savar, the stoic Vulcan, gave a short nod. "Proceed, Lieutenant Namikaze."
Naruto stood confidently in his cadet uniform, the red Starfleet shoulder flash across his chest crisp and clean. His field promotion to Acting Lieutenant was still fresh, still surreal, yet his presence carried the aura of command few could deny. At his side sat his mates each a uniformed Ensign now eyes sharp, backs straight. From Bajoran Shion to Vulcan-human Mabui, to Orion Mikoto, they carried themselves not just as lovers but as a tactical unit.
"I present the USS Kurama a Tailed Beast-Class Battleship." His voice cut clean through the air as he activated the LCARS display. The hologram emerged a 34-deck dreadnought, its four warp nacelles humming with energy, its hull layered in tritanium-duranium armor, bristling with modular weapon pods and reinforced hangars. It wasn't just a ship it was a war doctrine made manifest. "She is based on the Odyssey-class hull with modular innovations derived from Romulan stealth geometries, Klingon dorsal armor lattice structures, and Cardassian redundant power routing. All technologies in current Federation records and within pre-2371 standardization."
Murmurs rippled across the room. Commander Sloan of Starfleet Intelligence narrowed his eyes. "You are proposing am trans-species architectural crossbreeds. That is...unconventional."
Naruto didn't blink. "We're fighting unconventional threats."
Before they could challenge further, he shifted the holo display to a new construct: the Kurama-variant Raven-type exploration starship. Its sleek, darkened hull evoked the shadows of deep-space scouting, its reduced crew profile and extreme range making it an ideal single-crew stealth vessel.
"I named this in honor of a human who was taken by the Borg at age six. Annika Hansen. In my dreams visions I see her return in 2374 as Seven of Nine. This design is in preparation for that. Whether real or not, I won't ignore what my instincts tell me."
Admiral Necheyev leaned forward. "You're designing ships based on premonitions now, Lieutenant?"
"I designed them to save lives," Naruto said simply. His voice held no hesitation. "If those dreams help guide that... so be it."
"And the fighter?" Savar asked next. "The 'Super Hornet'?"
Naruto smiled. "UFP/A-18E Super Hornet. Based on the 21st-century Boeing fighter used by Earth's naval forces. Enhanced with warp-integrated afterburners, mini torpedo hardpoints, and point-defense phasers. Crew of one. Designed for fleet support, escort, and capital-ship interdiction."
A pause. "Will there be more?" Savar asked.
Naruto tapped the controls again. A line of fighters appeared each named after 21st-century designs: Tomcat, Raptor, Viper, Harrier, Warthog. "Yes. By the time I graduate, the rest will be ready. They'll each carry their own role strike, recon, escort, assault."
Gasps broke the silence. The Corps of Engineers' lead shook his head. "You've already built the launch models in the holodeck."
Naruto nodded. "I haven't activated them. Not until I finish something important."
As he spoke those words, the entire display flickered. An unauthorized LCARS override glitched the projection. Red holo-warning glyphs swam across the air, but then…she emerged.
A humanoid woman stepped from the center of the projection, flickering at first like a failed program… until she solidified in a breathless shimmer. She stood nearly six feet tall, her body a top-hourglass of muscular elegance. Fox ears twitched above her crimson-gold hair, and nine elegant tails, shining like starlight, unfurled behind her in synchronized arcs. Her uniform was Starfleet Command Red male-cut, late 2360s but it hugged her form with ease.
"Hello… my name is Kurama."
Naruto staggered back.
"No… that's not possible…"
But she smiled softly at him. "You told me once… if we ever got another chance… that I could finally tell you what I felt."
A glowing memory bloomed across the holoprojector Kurama, in her original world, during the final moments after the Fourth Shinobi War. Her great eyes shimmered, her form nestled near Naruto's heart. "I'm glad it was Hinata… but if I had one regret it's that I never told you I loved you."
Tears welled in Naruto's eyes.
"That night… before my final breath… I made a vow," Kurama whispered. "If I was ever reborn, I would not waste my second chance."
It was then that every one of Naruto's mates cried out in sudden breath hands to chests, breath catching. The bond… the pulse of soul resonance… had just changed.
Kurama had joined the Bound.
Shion gasped. "She's one of us."
Tsunade's eyes glistened with reverence. "She was always one of us…"
Before anyone else could react, Admiral Marcus from the JAG Corps stood sharply. "Unauthorized intelligence construct. This could be a Romulan holographic infiltration attempt "
"Stand down!" Naruto barked. "She's real. She's alive. She's Kurama of the Nine Tails… the strongest of the Tailed Beasts. She and I fought alongside each other in a life before this one. She gave her life… for mine."
Savar tilted his head, intrigued. "A being of sentient soul, reincarnated via quantum memory imprint… into the AI matrix you were constructing for your ship?"
Naruto nodded slowly. "I didn't build her. I found her... again."
After a long pause, Admiral Savar turned to the others. "She has demonstrated cognition, memory, emotional intelligence, and voluntary restraint. Unless there is reason to believe she presents an active threat "
Admiral Necheyev shook her head. "No threat. Just a miracle."
Admiral Paris stepped forward. "Then let the record show that the entity known as Kurama is recognized by Starfleet as a sentient being with the right to live freely. Any hostile action against her will result in the stripping of rank and criminal prosecution."
Kurama turned to Naruto and smiled a real, raw smile of ancient joy and finally realized love.
Naruto could barely speak. "She's home," Hinata whispered. "She never left," Ino added.
Location:Deep Space 7 – Cadet Barracks, Room C-17
Stardate:41776.79 October 10, 2364, Time: 21:18:53
The room was dim, lit only by the soft amber glow of the LCARS panel beside Naruto's bed. Outside the viewport, the shipyard's scattered lights painted streaks of gold against the dark Martian sky. The air was quiet except for the slow, steady breath of those he loved most, curled in nearby bunks and corners of the room, their warmth wrapped around each other like a protective nest.
But Naruto's eyes were wide open. He had barely spoken since the Kurama revelation. His thoughts were a starfield constellations of memory, love, fear, and wonder. And as his consciousness drifted toward sleep, it was not rest he found.
It was her.
He stood in a cold, metallic corridor dark, humming with machinery. All around him were Borg alcoves, and in one of them… a young girl, no older than six, was strapped upright in the terrifying embrace of assimilation tech. But her eyes blue, bright, afraid looked straight at him. Annika Hansen.
Then time leapt forward, and she changed. A woman now. Twenty years old. Her body was… beautiful, undeniably so well-endowed, top-hourglass, all curves and sharpness molded into a black polymer exosuit that glistened like living metal. She turned, her mechanical eye scanning the environment, and yet…
"…You still see me, don't you?" she asked softly.
Naruto stepped toward her, heart aching.
"You're not lost. Not really."
Her lips curved faintly. "My name is Seven of Nine. But you already knew that." She reached out not with a mechanical arm, but with soft, trembling fingers. "There's still humanity here, Naruto. It's buried beneath protocol, beneath programming… but I remember what it felt like to play. To laugh. To love."
Naruto reached for her hand and the moment he touched her, her voice became real in his mind.
"I'm not ready to join your family yet… but I will be. One day. I want to be part of your collective."
The word made him tense.
"You mean…" he started, voice low.
She nodded once. "Yes. If you want us to be whole… you may have to become one of us." A pause. "But not now. When the time is right."
The scene fractured.
Naruto gasped as the world blurred into stars.
A second vision took hold gentler, quieter.
He floated above a forgotten ship, orbiting a barren planetoid cloaked in a debris field. The ship was old… Vulcan in design, sleek and graceful with long sweeping nacelles and narrow hull struts. Faint letters on its dorsal side read:
V.S.S. Sarek's Truth
The vessel was silent… sleeping. But within, he could feel her.
T'Pol.
Her body rested in a stasis pod at the heart of the ship face serene, aging untouched. Her hair had grown longer in stasis, splayed like black silk around her narrow Vulcan features. She wore the robes of a cultural envoy, not the uniform of her NX-01 days. A failed meld lingered in the air around her… incomplete. Unfulfilled.
Naruto stepped toward her, and suddenly her voice filled his mind.
"You are the reason I am still here. I felt the bond begin… and I waited. For over two centuries… I waited."
He knew the coordinates instantly memorized in dream. The ship lay dormant behind the Fleet Museum, hidden near the decommissioned Enterprise NX-01 at Athan Prime, cloaked beneath a temporal phase mask and locked behind a ticking chronometric fail-safe. He opened his mouth to speak…
And awoke, the room was dark still. But Mabui sat up beside him, her eyes wide and filled with silent comprehension. Her Vulcan mind had processed the dream just as his did. Her voice was quiet, reverent.
"T'Pol… you found her."
Naruto tapped his combadge without hesitation.
"Naruto to Admiral Savar. Priority One."
Static, then the familiar calm tone. "Go ahead, Lieutenant."
"I need to report a dream. No… a vision. Coordinates near Athan Prime. A cloaked Vulcan vessel, the Sarek's Truth. Inside it… is Sub-Commander T'Pol."
The line went silent.
"…Lieutenant. That is not possible."
"I know," Naruto said. "But I'm telling you it's her. I saw her. She's in stasis. She's alive. She's waiting."
A long pause. "Stand by."
Minutes passed. Mabui touched his hand. "She was one of the few Vulcans who truly understood humans," she whispered. "If she joins us… we'll be stronger. She'll feel the bond too."
The comm crackled.
"Lieutenant Namikaze."
Savar's voice was no longer composed it was soft, nearly reverent.
"You will lead a joint recovery team composed of Starfleet and Vulcan Science Council personnel. Immediate clearance is being arranged. The High Command sends their… gratitude. You may have just recovered a Vulcan hero, lost for 202 years."
Naruto nodded silently.
"She wasn't lost," he whispered. "She was waiting for family."
Location:Fleet Museum Region, Athan Prime
Stardate:41777.12 – October 11, 2364, 02:43:12
Athan Prime was silent.
Orbiting in perfect harmony with the historic Fleet Museum, the facility's gravitational wells shimmered softly in the star-drenched void. In the shadow of the Enterprise NX-01, long since retired and preserved, lay a field of interference masking a vessel that had not been touched in over two centuries. The V.S.S. Sarek's Truth a T'Plana-class Vulcan ship lost to time and myth now awaited rediscovery.
The retrieval fleet broke warp in formation. Four D'kyr-class Vulcan combat cruisers formed a defensive diamond, their warp-field tails flaring in crimson. At the center of the formation was the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) her elegant curves lit by running lights, her hull now bearing temporary mission authority under Acting Lieutenant Naruto Namikaze. Following her were the USS Hood, USS Lantree, and USS Victory, all assigned escort and medical duties as per High Command's mandate.
On the bridge of the Enterprise-D, Captain Picard had stepped aside without hesitation. Standing at the command station was Naruto his cadet uniform crisp, the silver flash of a field promotion pip at his collar. His mates flanked him, all in their own cadet uniforms, expressions composed but burning with anticipation. Mabui stood nearest to the command console, her Vulcan half locked in precise calculation; Tsunade and Samui checked the transporter buffer with tension honed from instinct. Kurama, still in her holographic form, stood silently at the back, her tails curled protectively behind her, eyes glowing like twin suns.
"All ships hold formation. Enterprise, begin recovery scan," Naruto ordered, his voice calm, decisive.
"Aye, sir," Data responded, fingers dancing over the ops panel. "Temporal interference field is dissipating. We have a lock on the Sarek's Truth. Power signatures are stable… Stasis field within remains active. One Vulcan lifesign."
"Transport her directly to Holodeck Three," Mabui said, "we'll need full bio-containment protocols and medical scanners online. A meld this old must be handled delicately."
Naruto nodded. "Do it."
The hum of the transporter filled the command deck. The recovery began.
Location:USS Enterprise-D – Holodeck Three
Stardate:41777.16 – October 11, 2364, 03:18:19
The holographic environment had been carefully calibrated. The walls shimmered with patterns reminiscent of the ancient halls of the Vulcan High Temple designed to honor a soul slowly returning from sleep. The air held a slight dry heat, balanced to Vulcan physiology. A soft hum pulsed from the medical field emitters encircling the stasis pod as it dematerialized.
Within seconds, the seal lifted.
T'Pol opened her eyes.
For the first time in 202 years, she breathed.
Her body trembled, then steadied as she sat up her figure now subtly transformed. Gone was the lean austerity of her younger days. In its place stood a fully matured woman: well-endowed, top-hourglass, muscled and curvaceous, her form shaped by the bond that had reached through time. Her bare arms trembled only once before she slowly turned her gaze to Naruto, recognition blooming in her brown eyes like the morning sun.
"…Naruto," she said softly.
"I'm here," he whispered.
She slid from the stasis pod. Despite the time that had passed, she carried herself with the dignity of the Sub-Commander she once was. Yet her first step faltered until Naruto caught her, gently supporting her waist.
"There is… a bond," she said, her voice dry but certain.
"I know," he replied. "We didn't complete it before. Let's finish it now."
Mabui and the others stepped back, forming a wide respectful circle. The holodeck lights dimmed. Naruto stepped forward and raised his hand, index and middle fingers extended. T'Pol mirrored the gesture. Their fingertips touched.
In that instant, the meld began.
Heat. Memory. Thought. Time folded and crashed.
T'Pol saw a world of chakra and shinobi, of Konoha and fire. She saw Naruto the child, the warrior, the lover. She felt what Kurama felt. What Mabui felt. What all of them had felt. And Naruto, in turn, felt the depth of her restraint, her exile, the sacrifice she made in silence to protect the timeline… and how she had waited.
"I am yours… if you will have me."
"You already were."
The meld sealed. And the bond anchored.
Moments later, she stood straight and whole beside Naruto, now fully dressed in a modified Command Red Starfleet uniform. The cut hugged her new figure with tailored precision: shoulder bars, long sleeves, high collar bearing the twin gold pips and one black Commander rank. Her black hair was swept into a sharp ponytail, and her posture was pure Vulcan calm.
She took her place to Naruto's immediate right, as if it had always been hers.
Captain Picard approached with a respectful nod, "Commander T'Pol… welcome home." She returned the nod. "I thank you, Captain."
Naruto stepped forward and spoke "She is now one of us."
Location:Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards – Holodeck 4, Deck 7, Development Core
Stardate:41778.04 – October 11, 2364, Time: 10:42:33
The holodeck shimmered with the artificial daylight of a simulated solar flare, cascading golden hues across the slowly materializing bridge of the USS Kurama. Beneath Naruto's hands, the captain's chair was only half-formed its neural relay trunk still exposed, data cabling extending like synthetic veins from the armrests to the console ring. Around him, LCARS interface windows flickered with modifications he had yet to lock in interface neural integration ports, impulse command rerouting, and now, thanks to last night's dream… something more.
His hands trembled slightly not from fear, but anticipation.
He was alone. Or so he thought.
The light dimmed. The air shimmered again. The stars blinked… and then she stood there.
Annika Hansen.
Wearing the late 2360s-era Sciences Blue Starfleet uniform, its high collar hugging her slender, well-developed frame, the material was tailored to her new form: well-endowed, top-hourglass, curvy, and powerful. Her long blonde hair was swept into a tight, elegant ponytail. The only signs of her Borg identity were a thin metallic attachment around her left orbital socket where her ocular implant once resided and a small, star-shaped implant just forward of her right ear, integrated seamlessly into her soft skin.
She smiled gently, her voice as calm as starlight.
"Hello again, Naruto."
Naruto didn't blink. He stepped forward, stunned but steady. "You're more human than I expected."
"And you're more than just a Starfleet cadet," she said softly. "I've been following the signal threads. They're… warm, unlike the cold precision of the Collective. They feel like chakra."
Naruto froze at that word.
"You can feel it?"
Annika nodded. "Not through Borg implants. Through something else. Something... you gave me."
Naruto stepped closer, watching as she moved toward the captain's chair. She ran her hand along the open neural interface node. "You're building a command node that's not just Starfleet. You're building a bonded nerve center and you haven't even realized it."
He turned, a spark igniting in his eyes. "Because chakra can't be assimilated."
"That's the key," she confirmed. "Chakra disrupts the uniformity of the hive mind. It creates individuality through connection not control."
Naruto looked down at his hand, then to the open subframe of the chair. "I used to share my body with Kurama. Her chakra, my chakra they worked together. We were equals… not tools."
"That's what the Borg will never understand," Annika whispered. "But we can."
Naruto dropped to one knee beside the chair and began modifying the primary control inputs. Instead of a command-only LCARS feedback loop, he connected the chair to the prototype bio-neural gelpack architecture running beneath the bridge deck. And then he added something else: chakra relay filaments a concept born of memory, not science. Starfleet would call them metaphasic phase link couplers. But Naruto knew better.
He called it: Kizuna the Bond Circuit.
Kurama's voice echoed from behind. "So… you figured it out."
Naruto turned as the holographic Kurama shimmered into view. Her well-toned body stood tall, her nine glowing tails waving gently behind her. She nodded once at Annika then at Naruto.
"You're not building a ship, kit. You're building a family collective."
Annika smiled at the name. "I like that."
Before they could say more, the holodeck light flickered again. This time, it was not a malfunction.
One by one, they appeared.
Mabui. Hinata. Tsunade. Kurenai. Tenten. Mikoto. Ino. Samui. Mei. Kurotsuchi. Shion. Yugito. Shizuka. Konan. Kaguya. Anko. Fū. Guren. T'Pol.
All of Naruto's bound mates. And behind them, silent but watching with a gleam of love in her eye, was Himawari clothed in her Cadet uniform, her Undine aura subtly humming around her human form.
"Looks like we're late," Tenten teased with a grin.
"I was going to say the same," Mei added, crossing her arms and tilting her head at Annika. "You must be the one Naruto's been dreaming about."
"Guilty," Annika replied, surprisingly playful.
Hinata stepped forward first and gently touched Annika's hand. "Welcome to the family. We've been waiting."
Annika nodded. "So have I."
Naruto's head jerked suddenly.
Everything faded replaced by a vision so vivid it stole the breath from his lungs.
Space. A lone Borg cube. Starfleet vessels burning. Flames tearing through hulls. Dead silence. A timestamp burned into the frame like plasma.
Battle of Wolf 359Stardate: 44002.73 – January 1st, 2367, Time: 20:08:52
He staggered forward. Annika grabbed his arm, her voice sharp with fear.
"You saw it too?"
Kurama stepped beside him, her eyes narrow. "So did I."
One by one, the other bonded girls shivered each having seen it through their shared connection.
"This was no memory," T'Pol stated quietly. "This was a warning."
Naruto breathed heavily. "We have to tell Starfleet Command. Now."
Location:Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards – Admiral's Strategic Briefing Hall
Stardate:41778.89 – October 11, 2364, Time: 17:21:43
The room was sharp and quiet, the air filtered with the faint tang of recycled oxygen. Admiral Savar stood at the center, his hands folded behind his back, his expression neutral but his eyes narrowed in focus. Admiral Paris leaned forward against the polished obsidian conference table, while Captain Picard's hands were folded in his lap, his brow furrowed as though sensing the weight of something far larger than himself.
Naruto entered first, clad in his cadet uniform with the silver pip of his field promotion glinting faintly at his collar. His mates followed in formation each in their cadet blues, their gazes steady, their hearts visibly braced. Behind them, Himawari walked with quiet dignity, her aura brushing the edge of the room with Undine energy that even the Vulcan admiral could not fully suppress.
"I called this meeting because of what we saw," Naruto began. His voice was low but charged, every syllable carrying the echo of a battlefield commander. "It wasn't just a dream. It was a warning."
Paris raised an eyebrow. "Wolf 359?"
Naruto nodded. "January 1st, 2367. A Borg cube. Dozens of ships destroyed. Thousands dead. We saw it together."
Picard's eyes narrowed. "What exactly did you see?"
Before Naruto could answer, the room shifted.
Walls dissolved into raw starlight. The conference table melted into a steel deck. The filtered air thickened into the acrid haze of damage reports. They were no longer in Utopia Planitia. They were standing on the USS Saratoga, its bridge alive with alarm klaxons. The crew moved around them like ghosts of memory oblivious, already locked into a fate none could avoid.
"Prophets," Shion gasped, clutching her chest.
Savar's calm demeanor cracked, his lips parting in open shock. "This is… impossible."
Paris swore under his breath. "A full immersion vision…"
Then she appeared.
Annika Hansen. Still Borg, but her human features bled through in the shimmer of the vision. Her long blonde hair shone faintly, pulled into the ponytail Naruto had already seen. Her ocular implant glowed dull silver, but her other eye was blue piercing and alive. She looked at them not with hostility, but with sorrow.
"Admirals… Captain," she said. Her voice was steady, her accent unmistakably human. "My name is Annika Hansen. I was six years old when my family Magnus and Erin Hansen took the Raven into deep space to study the Borg. We never came back. The Collective… made us drones. My parents are gone. I am what's left."
Paris staggered back, pale. "The Hansens were… the first humans to ever track the Borg. Official records listed them missing."
Picard's throat tightened. "And you…"
Annika nodded. "I am Borg. But because of Naruto… I am also Annika."
Naruto stepped forward, his voice raw. "She's part of my bond now. Just like the others. She's not lost."
Savar tilted his head, his voice calm but lined with awe. "Fascinating."
The vision shimmered again. A new figure stood before them an echo of Picard himself. His face pale, his eyes burning with the cold fire of assimilation. His voice was the voice of the Collective, stripped of humanity.
"I am Locutus of Borg."
The air turned colder. The admirals froze, staring at the doppelganger. Picard himself stiffened, jaw tight, the horror of it reflected back at him like a prophecy written in steel.
And then the air shifted once more. Out of the haze came robed figures the Prophets of Bajor, their voices echoing in the void.
"This must come to pass. The cube must arrive. Locutus must be. The battle is inevitable."
"But," another voice layered in, softer, gentler, "not all fates are sealed. Some lives may yet be saved. Paths can bend, though the river still flows."
The Prophets' voices rippled through the chamber, shaking even the Vulcan's composure.
"Benjamin Sisko," the voices intoned. "He must be there. His fate aligns with the ashes of Wolf 359. His path intersects the Emissary. This cannot be changed."
The vision faded.
The Admirals and Captain Picard stood stunned in the briefing chamber once more, the conference table re-solidified before them. Every face was pale, shaken, uncertain of what they had truly seen.
Annika lingered for one last moment, her blue eye glimmering with sadness. "We can't stop everything. But we can save some. That is the choice before us."
Then she vanished.
Location:Bajor – Temple of Ipoir
Stardate:41779.55 – October 12, 2364, Time: 08:17:04
The incense burned low in the Temple of Ipoir, its blue-gray smoke curling around the carved stone pillars like the gentle breath of the Prophets themselves. The Bajoran Vedeks knelt in silent prayer, their voices murmuring in an ancient cadence that echoed through the vaulted chamber. Among them, young Major Kira Nerys knelt, head bowed, her hands pressed together tightly. She whispered her prayer with a fierceness that matched the fire in her soul.
"Prophets, guide me. Show me the path. Show me the one I must follow."
Her breath caught when the flame of the eternal lamp shifted, flaring bright white. The air vibrated. The Prophets' voices filled the chamber, not in sound but in presence.
"Child of Bajor… your path is bound to the Golden Admiral. You will see him when the time is right. He is not yet Admiral, but he will be. Your bond is inevitable."
Kira's lips trembled. "Show him to me. Let me meet him."
The Prophets answered not with words, but with a sudden pull.
At that same moment miles away, in orbit above Mars Naruto was deep inside Holodeck Four of Utopia Planitia, adjusting the LCARS schema of the USS Kurama's command systems. His mates were scattered around him, some reviewing holographic schematics, others meditating, others laughing at small mistakes he made in the interface. Suddenly, the holodeck shimmered. Naruto gasped, his hands clenching on the console.
Hinata cried out, clutching her chest. Mabui staggered against T'Pol. Annika's eyes widened, her ocular implant flickering blue. Kurama's nine tails flared in alarm.
"Prophets," Shion whispered. "They've reached for us."
The light consumed them all.
When it dimmed, Naruto, Himawari, and every one of his mates stood together in a perfect copy of the Temple of Ipoir. The stone was real beneath their feet. The air smelled of Bajor. The Prophets had woven reality out of vision.
And standing at the far end of the hall was Kira Nerys.
She gasped when she saw Naruto, his spiky blond hair catching the temple light like fire. Her eyes swept over the women surrounding him, but when her gaze returned to him, her heart leapt.
"…It's you," she whispered.
Naruto stepped forward, his voice soft, honest. "I'm Naruto. And you must be Nerys."
She nodded, tears welling unbidden. "The Prophets told me… I would find you. That you would be the one who brings fire to the stars. The Golden Admiral."
Hinata placed a gentle hand on Kira's shoulder, smiling warmly. "You're one of us now. Bound, just as we are."
In that moment, the bond ignited. Kira gasped as the pulse of chakra and soul surged through her chest, linking her life to Naruto's. The circle of mates around them smiled, some weeping, others laughing in joy. The Prophets had chosen, and Kira was now theirs.
For ten long minutes, Naruto and Kira spoke quietly while the others listened. She told him of her childhood under the Cardassian occupation, of rebellion, of her unshakable faith in the Prophets. He told her of another world, of Kurama, of the war he fought and the family he had built again here among the stars.
"You're nothing like I imagined," Kira admitted at last.
Naruto smiled faintly. "Neither are you. You're stronger."
When the words faded, the temple shimmered, reality unraveling like a dream at dawn.
Kira opened her eyes on the stone floor of the Temple of Ipoir, gasping as temple keepers rushed to her side. They had seen her collapse. They now knelt around her in prayer, whispering that the Prophets had touched her.
She pressed her hand to her chest, where the warmth of the bond still glowed. "He's real," she whispered. "The Prophets were right. I met him."
And far away, aboard Utopia Planitia, Naruto and his bound mates awoke with the same warmth burning inside their hearts. They knew Kira Nerys was now with them forever.
Location:Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards – Cadet Quarters, Deck 12
Stardate:41780.32 – October 12, 2364, Time: 23:47:12
The quarters were quiet. Naruto lay stretched out on the lower bunk, his chest rising and falling with slow, steady breaths. Around him, his mates had gathered in their own corners of the small shared space Hinata nestled close to him, Mabui cross-legged in meditation, Tsunade stretched in calm exhaustion, Annika and T'Pol reviewing holo-pads that dimmed with sleep. Himawari, in her cadet uniform, had curled up between Kira and Shion, her soft breathing the only sound in the dim light. For a moment, it was peace.
Then the air shifted. The quiet was broken by a low, resonant hum. Naruto's eyes snapped open as the room dissolved around him. His mates gasped, clutching one another, before realizing they were no longer in their quarters. They stood in a place outside of time the Celestial Temple itself. Swirling rivers of light curved in impossible arcs. The Prophets had come.
Naruto's heart clenched. "Why me again?" he whispered.
The answer came not as judgment but as revelation. "Child of fire, we do not punish. We show."
Visions unfolded like pages of an ancient book.
In one, Naruto watched as Starfleet fractured under its own weight Admirals plotting against each other, distrust corroding the Federation until the great fleets fell silent and the stars were left unguarded.
In another, a Borg cube consumed world after world, black latticework stretching across the Alpha Quadrant until there was nothing left but silence.
A third showed Bajor itself burning, its temples abandoned, its people without hope because the Emissary never came to guide them. The Prophets whispered: "Without faith, Bajor falls."
Finally, the rivers of light converged. Naruto saw himself older, stronger, standing not just as a commander but as something greater. Around him stood his mates, united. Bajor's Vedeks prayed behind him. Starfleet's banners flew beside Vulcan's seal, Earth's flag, and Bajor's emblem. This vision shimmered like a sunrise.
"You as Golden Admiral. The bond, the fire, the hope."
Naruto's throat tightened. "So… Wolf 359 must still happen. I can't stop it."
A Prophet, taking the face of Beverly Crusher, stepped forward, her expression calm but maternal. "Yes. It must. Death and survival are woven into the tapestry. Some lives may be saved, but not all. That is the weight of command."
Kira's voice broke in, sharp but trembling. "Then what about Benjamin Sisko? What is his path in all this?"
Shion, her Bajoran faith heavy in her tone, added softly, "Does he have a divine connection to you?"
The Prophet smiled, her blue eyes kind. "He does. He was born through Sarah Sisko, but Sarah was not alone. One of us lived within her, unknowingly joined. When she died, the Prophet endured, and so Benjamin carries both human blood and the fire of the Temple. His destiny is to be the Emissary. Yours, Naruto, is not his. Yours is the Golden Admiral."
The names of the Prophets shimmered in familiar shapes now Denna Troi, Beverly Crusher, Tasha Yar, Ro Laren all female Starfleet officers from Picard's Enterprise. Naruto blinked in shock, realizing the forms were meant to comfort him, to tie his destiny to the ship he would one day fight alongside.
"You are a child of prophecy twice over," the Prophets whispered. "But know this Benjamin Sisko must walk his path as Emissary. You must walk yours as Admiral. Two fires. Two destinies. One river."
The vision faded. Naruto and his mates were returned to their bunks, their breaths heavy, their hearts still thundering with the echoes of what they had seen. Naruto lay back against the sheets, Hinata's hand gripping his tightly, Kira's eyes still wet with tears.
No one spoke for a long time. Finally, Naruto whispered into the quiet:
"I'll carry it. The loss. The fire. The hope. If this is the path… I'll walk it."
And in the silence, the Prophets did not answer. They did not need to.