1,955Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Metal Gear. I Went back and played the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 not too long ago. God, I don't know why, maybe I'm just a nut, but for some reason, despite all of the technology that goes into games today, good 8-bit games feel so rewarding.
Chapter 33: Welcome To The Family
(Late July 2010 – Outside of Tehuamixtle, Jalisco, Mexico)
The departure from Area 51 had gone smoothly. For once, everything had gone the way of the combatants from Philanthropy. They weren't tracked. No one was hurt. It was as clean a departure as anyone could have hoped for.
Snake had secured their escape by stealing an experimental aircraft that they had been set to test that day. A juggernaut of a plane that carried them well past the border until they could find a safe place to land.
They made their way to Mexico to wait for their proper exfiltration. It had been a long way to go. Everyone was tired, but the most important thing for the four soldiers involved was the success of the mission, and the mother reunited with her child.
After the aircraft had landed, Naruto slipped away to give Olga some space to get acquainted with Sunny. There was going to be a real adjustment period there, but he had faith. Olga would be patient. She would do anything to make it work. Sunny was extremely advanced, but she was still so young, she would adapt.
"What a day," Naruto said to himself, sitting in the sand, staring at the sun setting in the west. It was so peaceful. It felt good. Mostly.
He had done a good deed. This he knew. It was something that had taken quite a while to accomplish. Something that someone important to him had been waiting even longer for, if not something that this someone had tried to resign herself to thinking would never happen.
No matter what Olga would have done for them, the Patriots would have never given her child back. The best Olga could have ever hoped for as long as Sunny was in their possession was that she would remain their prisoner – never seeing the light of day. This outcome had been prevented, and that was cause to take a moment and smell the roses. Instead though, it gave Naruto a little bit of cause to pause.
He stopped thinking to himself when he noticed someone walk out of their newly obtained aircraft to light a cigarette. Naruto grinned at the sight of Snake grumbling to himself and lighting up a cigarette. He'd probably been outlawed from smoking onboard the plane.
The man noticed and turned his sharp eyes in Naruto's direction. It almost made Naruto clam up instantly. Snake cut an imposing figure, even if they were comrades, "What the hell do you look like you're having an existential crisis for? Shouldn't you be chipper? And here I thought I was supposed to be the downer around here," Having spotted Naruto, Snake walked over.
Was it that obvious that something was bothering him? In the time it took him to think about it, he had come up with no way to deflect.
"Well?" Snake asked, having no patience for any excuse-making.
Naruto worked his jaw, wondering how to broach the subject before just deciding to plunge in headfirst, "She's mine, Snake."
Snake didn't know quite what Naruto was alluding to at first. That could have meant any multitude of things, "What are you talking about, kid?"
"Sunny. She's mine," Naruto patiently specified. Saying it to himself as many times as possible helped him accept it more easily, "I… I actually have a daughter."
Snake took a moment to absorb the information before letting out a grunt of understanding, "Olga lied to you then?" He ventured to guess.
Naruto almost laughed at how easily Snake suspected Olga for keeping the information from him. But no, it wasn't her, "No. The Patriots, apparently. It's a looooong story. She doesn't know either," He said, before turning to Snake with an inquisitive look, "Do you think I should tell her?"
Snake crossed his arms before dispensing with his advice, if one could call it that, "I honestly don't see how telling her would be a bad thing."
Of course he didn't. Because he wasn't in Naruto's shoes. Naruto had thought about this at least three dimensions deeper, "Because then I would be Sunny's real dad. I can't be anyone's dad, Snake. I don't know how," This he knew for certain.
The whole nine months of pregnancy was important for more than just the baby's development. It gave the parents themselves time to accept the fact that they were going to be parents. Naruto didn't have that. One day, he was planning to be crazy Uncle Naruto, and maybe a stepfather if Olga wanted him in the end. Now it was more.
Naruto was more afraid of failing at this than screwing up any mission or fight he had ever taken part in. It was the biggest deal imaginable from his point of view, "It freaks me out, thinking that I'd be responsible for someone that small and fragile who's depending on me."
"So it's more of a 'you' thing than anything else," Snake surmised, "Look, I don't know the first thing about raising a kid, but I do know that you've manned up to everything life has thrown at you so far. Is this really the worst thing? The most difficult?"
Yes. And it wasn't even a question, "It's the most important. I screw up everything important. I can't with her. I won't ruin her," Instead of saving a life, he would have a guiding hand in shaping one. How in the world was that supposed to work for him? "I'm messed up. I don't want her to get any of what I am."
Snake let out a sigh. He didn't want to get involved. Things like this, they were beyond him. He fought battles. That was his thing. He didn't give advice aside from what to do on the battlefield. And yet, this kid needed help, from someone. As startling as it was, there was literally no one better suited to talk to Naruto than Snake.
...And boy, did that piss him off.
Snake tried to ignore the voice in his head telling him to say something. He just came outside to enjoy a cigarette. But he couldn't. He growled to himself and dropped it in a portable ashtray.
He grabbed Naruto, pulled him up to face him and gave him a shove to make sure he had his full attention, "...You tend not to listen to anything I say, but God help me, you're going to listen to this," Snake said, "Here's what you're going to do. You're going to walk back on that plane, tell Olga everything, then you're going to introduce yourself to your daughter, and the two of you are going to work together to raise that child. And you're not going to do it because I told you to. You're going to do it because you know it's the right thing to do. You're going to do it because you want to, no matter how much it scares you to death."
Unflinching blue eyes stared back at him. Eyes that had seen dozens, if not hundreds, of battles fought. And yet this new, foreign thing intimidated him, "What if I fail?"
"You won't."
"But what if I-?"
"You. Won't," Snake punctuated with a hard shake for each sentence, "Goddamn it, kid. Do something for yourself for once in your life. At least try to be happy. God knows, we're not going to get a whole lot of chances to."
The two men stared each other down for what seemed like minutes until Naruto finally turned to look over at the massive aircraft they had landed in. After another moment of consideration, he walked past Snake and went onboard.
He had been right. Naruto had taken everything else that had come his way head-on, one way or another. This was no different. If Sunny was his-, no, even if she wasn't. Just because Sunny was Olga's, he would make himself ready to raise her as best as he could... if the latter would have him, of course. That was a conversation they still needed to have.
She had told him before that she needed him. Did that still apply? Was that over now that he'd done the thing that he'd promised her he would do? Did that apply for this?
...Would she leave?
These were questions that Naruto needed answered, and there was only one place to get them: directly from the source herself.
"It took you long enough," Naruto heard, once he had gotten back onto the aircraft. He turned to see Wolf sitting off to the side in the cargo hold, "I was wondering when you were going to finish playing in the sand and come inside to talk to her."
Naruto didn't need to have this conversation again. He had been brow-beaten enough by Snake outside, "Shut up, Wolf," He said, with no heat to his tone, "Are you gonna eavesdrop on this?"
Wolf shook her head in return, "There's no need. I know what you're going to say," A smirk took shape on her lips, "I've known you both for some time now. Believe it or not, I've had this scenario play out in my head once or twice."
Naruto raised an eyebrow and stared down the female sniper, "...I love you to death, but you're so weird."
He wouldn't have her any other way though. Without Sniper Wolf, things would have gone much differently for him in life. He wouldn't have learned the things he had learned, and he might not have survived for as long as he had. She was like a sister to him... albeit, one he had slept with in the past. That train of thought was promptly derailed.
Wolf didn't respond to that. Instead, she just gestured to the next room with her head, "Go," She instructed.
Naruto had never quite been good at following orders. If anything, that had been one of his chief weaknesses as a soldier. He followed this one.
There was a small space set aside for bunks. That was where he found Olga, sitting on one of the lower beds while Sunny slept peacefully right next to her. He could only imagine. All of this was fresh, brand-new. The results of what had happened, of years of struggle, were now hours old. It almost felt wrong to intrude.
Just as Naruto contemplated leaving and trying again at another time, Olga noticed his presence and quietly gestured him over. He had no problem approaching silently and resting himself on the bed without stirring the child.
His child. Holy shit. He had a child. This was real. There was a tangible, physical human being that somehow came from him. And she was inches away from him.
"She slept easier than I thought she would," Olga said, garnering his attention, even as the two of them continued to observe Sunny, "She has never slept in any bed other than one inside of that horrible place."
Olga's words prompted Naruto to finally say something, "She's never seen anything except that base, I'd imagine. With everything that's happened, she's probably exhausted," He reached out a hand to brush Sunny's hair, but stopped himself short.
Olga saw this occur and spoke up in amusement, "...She won't break if you touch her, you know."
Naruto turned and looked at her, then back to the little girl that lay sleeping between them. He didn't think he had the right. Not as far as Olga knew at the moment, at least. She wasn't aware of what he was yet. That would change very soon. No one else had gotten within two feet of Sunny yet, except for Olga.
She was giving him permission. No one else had received it yet. No one except for him, "Are you sure?" Naruto asked.
"Yes," There wasn't a hint of doubt in Olga's voice. She even gestured for him to do it, "Go ahead."
Naruto carefully reached out and placed a hand on Sunny's head. She stirred slightly, but didn't wake up. When Naruto pulled away, his hand trembled. He quickly found Olga's hand wrapped around it. He looked up to find her smiling at him. Honestly smiling.
It didn't matter how difficult she could be, how hard her temperament was. This was a woman worth fighting for.
"I need to say thank you," Olga told him.
"No, you don't," Naruto immediately stopped her right there, "After everything that's happened, I figured you would know by now that I'm here for you."
Olga nodded. By now, it was clear that he always had been, and that wouldn't change, "I am used to everything coming with a price."
Naruto understood. Olga was raised as a soldier, most of that time spent as a mercenary, "I get it. But you should be used to the idea of having comrades too."
Olga's smile turned wry, "Just comrades? Are we talking about us now?"
Naruto couldn't help but laugh softly, "We are whatever you want us to be. But I figure you'd rather get other stuff sorted first."
At that, Olga's smile fell, "I don't think so," She crawled in her accent, "Every time we set this aside, something happens to drive us apart. It has happened again and again for the last five years."
History backed her up on this point. It indeed did keep happening that way. It would have been funny if it weren't so sad and infuriating.
"It won't again," Naruto said before looking away, "...Not that way, at least," He added, more to himself.
He thought he'd been quiet enough to not be heard properly, but when he returned his gaze to Olga's he found her glaring at him, "…I don't believe this," She said angrily, "You think I'm going to leave, don't you?"
Did she read his mind or something? Yes, it had been a concern since he'd reunited with her on Big Shell, but he had never said that out loud to her, or anyone else for that matter, "I… wouldn't blame you," Naruto admitted, "You've got Sunny. I don't think there's anything else you can get out of sticking around with me."
Olga wasn't going to have any of the self-deprecation. How he could stand with so much poise on the battlefield and lack it elsewhere was beyond her, "I can get you. Or can't I?" She said with a narrowing of her eyes.
Naruto wanted to make sure she knew that things weren't going to settle down. The people after him and his cohorts weren't going to quit, "I'm not going to stop fighting those fuckers. They'll probably end up killing me somehow. Would it be worth it for you?"
"Yes," If there was anything to be said about Olga, when she made a decision, she had no doubts, "Do not underestimate my resolve, Uzumaki. I would have figured you had long since learned this."
That, Naruto did not. Hard-headed wench, "I just want you to be happy. The two of you deserve it."
"And you don't?" Olga shot back, "I swear, it seems you are only happy when you are miserable. It isn't healthy."
To be fair, nothing any of them did was particularly healthy, how they handled relationships included.
Naruto frowned in return, "I would do anything for you. I need you to know that," And that meant letting her go, if that was what was best for mother and daughter. Olga took it another direction, though.
"Well… do this," She said, giving Naruto a nudge, "Give it a try. God forbid, you do something that you want for once."
Naruto sighed, but a smile still formed on his face, "I'm going to be terrible at this," He warned her, "I mean it. Boyfriend. Husband. Whatever you're gonna want me to be. I just know it. I'm gonna suck."
Olga raised an eyebrow in skepticism, "And you think I will make for a good lover?" She asked rhetorically, "But I won't leave. This is my fight as well. And honestly, I believe the safest place for Sunny and I from the Patriots is by your side."
Sunny. Right. Naruto knew that eventually he would have to tell Olga about this. The sooner the better, "So... while we're talking about Sunny… I don't know to put this in any other way, so I'll just say it," He proceeded like pulling off a bandaid, "At Area 51, I found out something kind of important. She's mine."
Olga went dead silent for a moment, staring right at Naruto, "What?"
Naruto doubled down on his statement, "She's mine. Sunny is mine," He said, making himself clearer.
Olga looked down, and then all over the room as she tried to process what she'd heard, "That's... I mean, you and I have never-."
Naruto held up a hand to keep her from rambling, "I know. But this is what I was told," He said softly before shrugging, "There's no rush to get it confirmed, or anything, but I didn't even ask, and the guy told me. He didn't have a reason to, other than to throw me off, so take it with a grain of salt if you want, but-."
Olga furrowed her brow and crossed her arms in thought, "No... I believe you. I believe it," She said, accepting this much quicker and easier than Naruto thought she would have, "Have you seen her eyes?"
Naruto looked over his shoulder at the sleeping child. Yes, He had seen them. The entire way out of Area 51, He couldn't help but glance at her whenever he could, "Yeah. They're blue, like yours."
Olga sagged a finger, chiding him for an incorrect answer, "No. Look closer next time, Uzumaki. Yes, they're blue. But they're blue like yours."
As close as he was to her, Naruto couldn't see much of himself in Sunny. She looked exactly like Olga. Yet from what Olga was telling him, there was more to it than he could see.
"If Sunny is your-, our child," Olga corrected herself, "I absolutely will not take her away from you. You have done nothing to deserve such a thing. And she will need you. I will need you," She then gestured her head to Sunny, "Would you like to meet her?"
Naruto nodded slowly and stood up off of the bed to give Sunny some space at first. He was still wearing his stealth suit and didn't want to frighten her. Olga took that time to gently stir the little girl awake. The entire time, Naruto sweated bullets. All he could do was stand back and wait for Sunny to become aware of her surroundings.
Olga was patient, putting her arms around her tiny daughter until she noticed she was with her mother and gave her a hug. Despite not having it for her entire life, it was like the desire for contact was instinctual. Naruto had never seen Olga happier about anything. It helped calm him down until he noticed that Sunny realized he was there. Her eyes were large and inquisitive, but not necessarily afraid. Having her mother holding her must have helped.
"Did you sleep well, little one?" Sunny nodded, but never took averted her gaze from Naruto. Olga gestured her head toward Naruto for the benefit of clarity, "Sunny, this is the man that helped me find you. He is very important to me, and I hope he will be to you as well. His name is Naruto," She gave her a little jostle and encouraged her to greet him, "Say hello."
It took Sunny a while. When it came to actually doing or saying anything, she was extremely shy, "H-Hi," She said in a tiny voice.
Naruto's mouth felt dry as he got closer and stooped down to her level, "Hey there..." The words came very softly. He felt like talking too loud would scare her, "Uh... I'm a friend of your mom. We've known each other for a long time. So from now on, I'm gonna be helping her watch out for you."
Inwardly, he kicked himself. Was that really the best he had? He only had one chance to make a good first impression on the kid that was more than likely his daughter, and that was what he came out of the chute with?
"Are you my dad?"
An entirely innocent question. Both Naruto and Olga stared at each other with wide eyes until the latter started to chuckle to herself. Sunny had been almost as blunt with her during their first meeting. At just under 3 years old, she was smart enough to put things together after hearing enough context before whatever point people were trying to make.
For Naruto, after being put on the spot by the child he was trying to ease into a relationship with, he decided to just go with it and turn into the skid, "Yes. Yes I am," He said bluntly. Olga's mouth fell open in shock. Naruto figured it wasn't such a big deal to say. Even if they found that he wasn't really related to Sunny by blood, in the end he'd more than likely be her stepfather soon enough, "...But your mommy's last name is better than mine, so we're gonna have you use that."
Sunny stared out at the man in front of her and reached out for him. Naruto stopped smiling and held still. His hair stood up on the back of his neck when he felt her hand on his face. He was only 23, and yet he felt so old. He could only imagine what he looked like to her.
And just like that, he broke. He felt the tears. His tears. He was crying. It made him feel like a complete loser, but it also made him feel good. It was a relieved kind of crying. There was no sound. The weight of the world seemed to come off of his shoulders, just from Sunny's touch.
"I've... I've waited a really long time to meet you," Naruto said, continuing to silently cry. His tears dropped down onto Sunny's little hand as it rested on the whisker-marks on his cheek.
She didn't know what to make of the strange man crying in front of her. Naruto knew that. It didn't change anything from his perspective, though. He was going to do his absolute best to take care of her. Snake had been right. He was always going to do this, no matter how much it scared him.
He wanted to.
A soft ringing went off inside one of Naruto's ears, prompting him reach up to it and touch at it to activate his Codec, "Hey, Kitten."
Catherine's voice sounded out in his head. From the softness of her voice, she could tell something was affecting her brother, even though he had greeted her with one word, "Aniki? Are you alright?"
Naruto let out a laugh and reached up to wipe his own eyes, "Yeah, I'm okay. What's the good word?"
"Your ride is here."
Standing up straight again, Naruto nodded to no one in particular, "Alright. We've got a little something we're bringing onboard with us too," He stopped and spared a glance at Sunny, "Well, two little somethings. One way littler than the other."
"I can't wait. We're surfacing now."
Naruto made for the cockpit to start up the aircraft they were in. Olga picked up Sunny and followed him to where he started to fire it up, "Is Arsenal here?"
"Yep," Naruto said, looking over at his new daughter with a huge smile, "So, you've been outside for the first time, and you've seen the ocean today. Wanna see what it's like under it?"
XxX
(Onboard Arsenal Gear)
Arsenal Gear had been wrested from the possession of the Patriots before they could set up basically anything for it. It was supposed to have housed an A.I. that would have been direct contact with the Patriots. At least it would have been, had it not been torn apart during the Big Shell incident by Emma's worm cluster.
Now it wasn't their weapon. It was Naruto's weapon. It was his mobile base.
The weaknesses of the ship were that it needed a significant force in order to properly run. A significant force like an entire mercenary outfit, such as the Gurlukovich Mercenaries.
Olga's manpower comprised an entire regiment's worth of soldiers, and lots of equipment. Tanks, trucks, smaller boats, and aircraft from helicopters and even a handful of jets. That was without going into detail into the kind of equipment onboard Arsenal Gear when it had been seized.
It was too dangerous to use all of the time. The longer it stayed out in the open sea, the more vulnerable it was. If the Patriots could get a good bead on it once, they would likely never let it get away, so the moments to bring it out were chosen to where it would be worth it.
To into Area 51 to save Sunny, they needed to hit hard and fast, then disappear. Using Arsenal Gear to slip away here certainly fit the bill.
Needless to say, they were able to bring the massive aircraft they stole from Area 51 inside and claim it as their own. If only they had some large... balloon-type thing that would allow them to take stuff off of battlefields just like that. Either way, they were still very well outfitted and equipped.
As Naruto, Olga, Wolf, and Snake got off of the aircraft that had taken, allowing the other men onboard to square it away, they were all saluted by the Gurlukovich Mercenaries that had come down to meet them. Olga made sure to hold Sunny close, to make sure all of the large, armed men around them didn't scare her.
"Welcome back, ma'am," One of the men asked, saluting as the group of top-level soldiers approached, "We're departing now. What's our next move?"
Olga jerked her head in Naruto's direction, "Ask him," She said, taking delight in the surprise on Naruto's face, "He's the one with all of the plans. I defer command to Uzumaki for the time being."
So stunned was Naruto, he hardly noticed that the others were walking away until Snake gave him a hard pat on the back, "Congratulations, kid," He said with a chuckle.
Wolf followed up with a sly smile as she left him behind, "I always knew you were fit to lead."
'Hate you guys,' Naruto thought to himself, though he didn't show his apprehension out loud. If he was in-charge, he couldn't show that kind of weakness just from being given command, "We're heading for Columbia."
"Sir?" The same man asked.
Naruto raised an eyebrow . Being called 'sir' would take some getting used to. That aside, he explained, "We need to pick up two of my operatives. That's a safe place for them to land and link back up with us. Besides, none of us are hanging around the U.S. right now," He put a hand to his ear to tune his Codec, "Hey, Otacon."
The voice of the good-natured scientist came to life in his head, "Welcome back, Naruto."
It sure was. There wasn't any single place on the planet they could consider safe, but Arsenal Gear was the closest thing, "Good to be back with everybody in one piece. Plot a course for Columbia, would you?"
"Can do, will do," He said, before changing the subject for conversation purposes, "Did you find out anything interesting while you were in Area 51?"
Oh yes. But those things were personal and would be talked about later. For now, a soft debrief was needed, "You tell me. Was there anything good in the local files we stole?"
Otacon sounded eager to tell him what they'd uncovered, "Emma's been combing through what you found, and sheesh. There's a lot of research and development stuff in here."
"Is any of it useful?" Naruto asked, finding himself intrigued. They had soldiers, "Like, stuff we can make and give our guys when they go out into the field? Because we're gonna need upgrades for as long as this lasts."
There was no need for them to play one man army on missions anymore. Aside from being inconvenient, it wasn't smart.
"Maybe," Otacon said, "But Naruto, we don't really have a lot of resources for that kind of thing. I mean, maybe we could make a few things, but we don't have the material or manpower to outfit everyone."
Naruto's brain started to put pieces of their conversation together into something useful, and logical thinking finally struck, "…So, wait. You're saying we could do that kind of thing… just not right now."
Otacon had no idea that the more he talked, the more the gears inside of Naruto's head started to turn, "Right. We would need engineers and a facility. Honestly, it wouldn't even be dangerous to have one onboard Arsenal Gear. There's no shortage of space, to say the least. And it's not much more dangerous than having one on any standard military base, anyway."
Naruto had to cut the man off before he really got rolling. They would be there all day, and he would be more than happy about it. However, more important things were afoot, "I'm gonna need you to take that thought and hold onto it for me. We'll talk more later."
For certain. There were a lot of things to do.
XxX
(One Week Later – August 2010 )
Johnny and Meryl had made it out of Romania and into Columbia with no issues. They were then able to get back into contact with Philanthropy and make it onboard Arsenal Gear. Aside from their search for the Paradise Lost Army, they hadn't been in any danger.
After they had returned, Naruto found them speaking with Olga, being introduced to Sunny for the first time, "Well don't you both look rested," Naruto quipped as he walked over, "I see you've met our new addition."
"Finally," Meryl seemed ecstatic to have the tiny girl with them, stooping down to Sunny's level to try and get acquainted with the shy thing, "She's adorable, Olga. I can't believe it. After all this time, I'm so happy for you."
"Thank you, Meryl."
Johnny kept his distance while Meryl was doting on Sunny so that they didn't surround her. In the meantime, he couldn't help but compare daughter to mother, "I wonder if this is what Miss Olga looked like when she was little," He focused in on Olga's face as she now looked at him sternly, "I can't imagine her not being scary."
Meryl rolled her eyes, "Being scary and being attractive aren't mutually exclusive."
Naruto laughed, patting Johnny on the back, "Yeah. Have you ever heard of a fear-rection... or a fear boner?" Olga's hand found its way to the back of Naruto's head, "Ow! What?" He exclaimed, turning to Olga to see her point down to the present Sunny. An unsaid demand to watch his mouth around her, "Oh. Sorry. Have to get used to that," He said, face turning red in embarassment.
He wasn't used to being around kids. He hadn't even really been in front of a kid since he'd been one. There would be an adjustment period, and his choice of words would be one of the things he would need to work on.
"Sorry, Sunshine," Naruto said, walking over. Sunny's eyes lit up and she hopped over to him for a hug, "Dad needs to remember there's stuff he can't let you hear. Otherwise mommy will beat him up."
Sunny wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck when he held her against his chest, "M-My name is Sunny."
Naruto nodded and picked her up, "I know. Sunshine is just a nickname. A little something only I can call you."
Meryl and Johnny watched this entire scene oddly. Even if Naruto and Olga were unofficially a thing, it was a large step for him to go doting over her daughter a week after they had retrieved her, "Why is she letting you pick her up?"
Naruto and Olga looked at each other, the latter gesturing that it was okay to talk about it, "It's a long story. The short version, this is legit my beh-beh," Naruto said. Meryl and Johnny stared at him dumbly, neither saying anything, "Questions? Comments?"
Meryl spoke slowly, "...I have many. But I'm guessing you want to hear from us first."
"That would be great," Naruto said with a wry smile, "So, Paradise Lost Army. Big Mama. Not your mama," Naruto said the latter to Sunny, touching his nose to hers. Olga rolled her eyes, but smiled nevertheless, "Talk to me, guys. Who is this lady?"
Johnny shook his head, "We never saw her. They're not dumb, Boss. And if they were able to tell you where Sunny is..." He looked between the two parents and hesitated.
Olga frowned and placed her hands on her hips, "What? What's the matter?"
Meryl motioned for Johnny to continue. They would have to inform everyone else of what had transpired in Romania eventually, "It's just... if they were right about Sunny, it's kind of nuts to accept that what they want us to do now in return is real."
Being vague wasn't helping anyone. Philanthropy basically owed the Paradise Lost Army now. Whatever it was they needed, after getting Sunny back, it was worth it to go for it, "Guys, I need you to talk to me here. What exactly does this old lady want us to do?"
Meryl thought long and hard about how to put this for the sake of her leader, "What do you know about Big Boss?" She eventually asked.
Naruto regurgitated the gist of what he had learned of the man to get the point across that he knew, "Some kind of amazing soldier that fought all over the world during the second half of the last century. Tried to hold the world at nuclear gunpoint twice with two different Metal Gears. Snake beat him twice, killed him the second time."
Master Miller talked to Naruto about Big Boss a lot back when he had lived with him. A lot of the lessons he taught Naruto in his training, he used either Solid Snake or Big Boss to frame them.
"You got most of it. But he wasn't just some kind of amazing soldier. He was the soldier," Meryl explained, "This is the guy that every single person that ever picked up a weapon and joined any kind of army or mercenary outfit wanted to be like."
"And that includes you too?" Olga asked in jest.
Meryl rolled with the attempt to lighten things up, "You already know Snake was my hero. But I found out who he was after he defeated Big Boss in Zanzibar Land. I'm telling you, Naruto, this guy was the real deal."
"All joking aside, she is correct, Uzumaki," Olga said, making sure he was paying attention, "Big Boss is a legend the world over. A part of popular culture. Other than Snake, there is no other soldier that has come along since that everyone knows."
"My grandfather fought against Big Boss back in the 60's," Johnny said, puffing his chest out, taking great pride in the 'accomplishment' of his relative, "Yep. Had him captured in prison at one point."
No one was impressed. Meryl reached out and gave Johnny a pat on the head, "That's nice, Johnny," She said, thoroughly deflating him.
Naruto waved all of it off with one hand, the other supporting Sunny, "Okay, so why are you telling me all of this? What's the point? I mean, as great as he was, the guy is dead. Long dead. Snake put him down 10 years ago."
Meryl was quick to correct him. Military history buff that she was, "11 years ago, and if Big Mama and the Paradise Lost Army are to be believed... not quite. They want us to procure something. Something really important that they're sure we can find, and no one else," She took a deep breath before saying more, "They want us to bring them Big Boss."
Olga's jaw fell open. Naruto, who cared much less about the legends of yore simply raised an eyebrow, "The guy Snake killed. 10 years ago," He said, skeptically.
"11 years ago," Meryl corrected offhandedly, "And they say he's not dead. This is what they want, Naruto. And they say if we want to keep fighting the Patriots, this will help."
There was too much bollocks for Naruto to be sporting for. Mid-20th century Legends that were still relevant in the 2010s. Dead men that weren't really dead because... reasons. An organization at the center of it all, of which none of them had the first idea about its membership, "This is so dumb. This can't be real, right?"
Meryl and Johnny weren't so sure. And after thinking about it for a moment, Naruto wasn't either. He knew mystics. He had seen the remarkable and terrifying things that technology and science could do. If the Patriots were involved, there was little that wasn't possible.
And if the Patriots were involved, it would behoove them to find a reason to get interested, even if they weren't. If it was a hoax, they would discover it in the process of trying to achieve it.
At least they were pointed in a proper direction to work with now, "Fine. If that's what they want, we have to at least try," Naruto said, "I need to talk to the Brain Trust."
XxX
Naruto was happy that Catherine and Emma had become friends. Granted, Catherine had good enough relationships with Sniper Wolf, and Olga, considering the extreme natures of the soldier women, but there was a major disconnect between her and them because of their differences.
There was much more common ground to be had with Emma. Both were very young. Both enjoyed technology and information. Both... err, had a thing for their brothers that they weren't blood related to.
And both were amazed that there was a 2-year-old girl that could not only work a fully functioning adult's computer, but could do so just as well as they could, if not better. She had been around for a few weeks, and it still amazed them.
Sunny sat in Catherine's lap, typing away, little fingers plinking off of the keyboard. It easily kept her pacified, enough so that she was fine being surrounded by three brand new people, even as Catherine ran her fingers through her hair.
"I feel really inadequate right now," Emma commented from elsewhere in the room, sitting next to her brother Otacon.
Otacon hummed in agreement, "Kids these days are getting into this stuff earlier and earlier, but this is ridiculous."
Naruto nodded, arms crossed as he leaned against a wall, "Yeah, they wanted her as a programmer or something," He told them, "When Olga picked her up, she was surrounded by computers."
Catherine grinned at the child sitting with her, "Well whenever things get a little uncomfortable with all of you battle nuts, she can always come here," She said, before turning her head to look at her brother sternly, "You're not going to train her, are you?"
A chill went down his spine at the thought of Sunny going through anything like what he had, "Fu-, I mean, heck no," He amended, trying to keep himself from cursing in front of Sunny, even if she was in her own little world at the moment, "She's not getting anywhere near a battlefield if I can help it."
"Speaking of the business that you do so well, what do you need from us, Naruto?"
"I know you guys have been digging through GW's brain to try and salvage some stuff for us. Well, have you ever seen anything about Big Boss? Say for instance, him still being alive? Or at least his body being held somewhere?"
A man could hope. The Brain Trust, as Naruto had affectionately dubbed the support staff of Philanthropy, had worked constantly during the year that had passed since Big Shell to try and get whatever coherent information they could get out of the tatters that remained of the AI that had run it, GW.
Emma did good work. Better work than she thought she did. The worm cluster she had used to shut down the AI during the mission had rendered it to tatters. It had been nearly impossible for them to pull any relevant data off of it, but still, a man could hope.
And it was a little sister's job to crush that hope. With a remorseful expression, Catherine relayed the news to Naruto, "GW is like Humpty Dumpty, Aniki. And I'm talking Humpty Dumpty after falling off of the wall," She colorfully alluded, "We can't find anything in what's left of its system to piece together anymore."
Naruto remembered the last time they had gotten something worth trying to follow up on. The data in GW on the Patriots that they found only traced back to an international cabal of ultra-rich jerks that had died back in the 1930s. There was no one for them to target in order to crush the Patriots. Not yet, at least.
GW probably did have invaluable information on it. But in order to disable Arsenal Gear and save the U.S., they'd had to essentially lobotomize the AI. It was what they had needed to do at the time, but now they were toting around a vegetable of an artificial intelligence.
If only there was someone that had been in contact with GW before it had gone kaput. Someone that had been fed information from the AI... possibly more than it had intended to give. After all, the very last thing Emma's worm cluster had affected in GW was its memory. That hadn't gone out until some time after they had
Naruto tried his hardest to brainstorm, given his limited scope of the situation, when Emma cleared her throat, getting his attention, "Uh... I have a solution."
Naruto looked up and blinked blankly, "Emma?" Otacon's sister had not been particularly fond of him since they had met, but he would be damned if she wasn't a valuable commodity to the team, "Well, it's not like we've got any other ideas right now, so even if yours doesn't work it'll at least get the hamster moving around in the wheel. What do you got?" He asked with a smile.
"Jack," Emma said simply.
"Jack?"
"You know? Raiden," Emma elaborated, "His brain is filled with nanomachines. They're heavily concentrated in his cerebral cortex. I told Olga after Sunny's checkup, hers is too. The Patriots probably did it for the same reason."
Naruto felt his jaw tighten at the thought of anyone putting anything like that into his daughter's brain. But if Olga or anyone else hadn't raised a fuss over it, it couldn't have been a dangerous thing, "What does that mean?"
Emma crossed one leg over the other and pushed off in her rolling chair, sending herself across the room in leisure, "They were going to have him function as a backup unit for an optic-neuro AI. And given what his mission was, it was probably for GW."
Catherine interjected at this point, "He has backup data in his brain, Aniki. Backup data from the Patriots," She said, sounding amazed at this fact, "How much he has, I don't know, but... with GW the way it is, I guarantee you it's much more than what we've got."
"So we need him," Naruto said with an exasperated sigh. He really didn't want to go and drag Raiden into all of this. It didn't feel right. Didn't feel fair, "That's rotten. He was out. He had things to look forward to. He has a girlfriend. He has a kid by now, doesn't he?"
Otacon grew visibly uncomfortable the moment that topic was broached, "Rose miscarried. And Snake told me Raiden left her. He didn't seem well when they met."
Everyone went silent. Naruto audibly sucked air through his teeth in sympathy. Raiden's life seemed to be just as much a shambles without fighting the Patriots as it would likely be if he was with them.
Furrowing his brow, considering his options, or lack thereof, "I guess I've got to try and get in-touch with him. If he's willing to lend a hand, we should probably take it."
"No."
All heads turned to the door where Snake stood. No one had noticed him approach, nor did they know how long he had been listening in. The conversation hadn't exactly been private though.
Otacon adjusted his glasses upon the arrival of his old friend, "No? Snake, why not? He's got something that we need to-."
Snake cut him off as he walked farther into the room, "I told Raiden he was done. He called me, begged me to let him on with us, and I told him no. And now you want to go get him and drag him right back in."
"I don't want to," Naruto replied, "God knows I don't. But we don't have a lot of options here."
Snake knew that, and softened his stance somewhat. He had done plenty of things that he rather wouldn't have if there had been better options, "You won't be able to find him, anyway. The guy's gone and run off to Alaska."
If that was the only barrier keeping Naruto from getting to Raiden, it was a laughable one. Naruto smirked, "I live in the Alaskan backwoods, Snake. I could probably find him."
He had been a pretty good wilderness man back when he'd lived with Master Miller, and had only grown to be that much greater of one after training with Vulcan Raven in FOXHOUND.
In return, Snake chuckled at Naruto's apparent naivete, "I didn't say he was in Alaska. I said he ran off to Alaska. If he didn't get into contact with me to meet up with him, I'd have never found him, probably. You want to look for him? Good luck. You'll need it."
How annoying. So he could have been anywhere. Alaska was just a jumping-off place to begin searching from, and there was a lot of potential ground to cover, "What's he supposed to be doing?"
"Finding himself."
"Well, that just means I have to find him first."
Sunny is in the house! And there's a new assignment for the Philanthropy crew. Fortunately, they have plenty of manpower and resources to complete their tasks and move along with their goals of eventually bringing down the Patriots and subduing the scheming Ocelot.
Next time, Philanthropy finds ways to take real-world advantage of all they have at their disposal, trying to keep one step ahead of their relentless enemy. And Naruto begins the hunt for Raiden. The information locked away in his brain could make all the difference to their future.
That's it. I hope you enjoyed. Kenchi out.
