3 Not Stealthy Enough

-Mojave Desert, California, 2005-

A man suddenly in the middle of the desert.

"God damn it, Kurama! Why Didn't you tell me it landed that fucking far! I really hate those long-range Hiraishins." Naruto complained.

"Well, you didn't ask! At least it's not as bad as that Hiraishin gate you made. That's just a doozy." Kurama replied

"Oooohh! I really like this place! Can we stay here, please!" Shukaku said with extreme enthusiasm.

"No way, only you can love this place, sand brain." Isobu countered

"Huh!? What did you just say!?"

"All right! Shut up!" Gyuuki roared at the two.

Naruto looked around and observed where he landed. It looked like he landed in the middle of a desert. The sun is just setting, leaving a beautiful image to behold. There are no structures anywhere in sight, only some mountain ranges on the horizon. He looked down on his feet and saw a small crater only half a foot in diameter. At the center, his Hiraishin kunai.

"Thanks, Gyuuki. We're not going to stay here, Isobu. There's almost nothing here. It might be perfect for a base if we're hiding, but we need information. Kurama, can you figure out where are the largest cities near here?" Naruto said.

"Look to your left... There's a large city there. It has more people than the whole Land of Fire combined or..." Kurama said after feeling out for awhile.

"Let's go there! It's close to the ocean!" Isobu interrupted.

"or..." Kurama continued completely ignoring Isobu. "you could look to your right and go there. It's significantly closer and smaller."

Naruto looked at both directions, thinking of what to do. After some time, he finally created a plan of attack. He reached for the chakra suppression tag on his neck that burnt out due to the use of Hiraishin. He placed it in one of the storage seals tattooed on his arm. He then created a shadow clone and handed over a Hiraishin kunai and a sealing tag to it.

"Go to the city to the left. Find some out of the way area in the city and hide the kunai. Use the tag to siphon of chakra from me. Create a thousand shadow clones and collect information there. I'll come over later."

"Yes, boss!" The clone saluted and ran to execute his orders.

"And don't forget to use henge!" Naruto shouted over to the clone.

"Are you sure that's a great idea?" Kurama asked.

"Eh. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Don't jinx us kit."

He picked up the kunai on the ground and placed it again in his storage seal. He then ran to the opposite direction of his clone as fast as he can.

-Edward's Air Force Base, California-

-March 28, 2005, 1735h local-

Edward's Air force Base is an air force installation built-in 1933, approximately 35km NE of Los Angeles. Throughout the years, it served as one of the military bases used to defend the American western seaboard. With the advancement of space exploration and military technology, the Edward's AFB is one of the military bases which has a close working relationship with National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, due to its close proximity with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, due to its close proximity with Stark Industries which is one of their partners.

Because of the working relationships with these government agencies, several experimental and advanced technologies are housed or controlled in this base. Of the dozens of technology being tested, two things would detect one of the first signs of Naruto.

The first is an experimental detection system invented by Stark Industries. LAser Diffusion DEtection Relay or simply called LADDER is an advanced detection and mapping system that can be used to accurately guide short-range missiles or help small scale logistical planning. It uses a short series of prisms and satellite relays to diffuse high and low energy lasers to create a real-time 3D rendition of the environment up to 250 km away. It won't penetrate inside buildings or houses, but it can be used to see people and cars in motion in a surprising amount of detail. Currently, it can't detect colors due to the limited amount of detail the lasers can detect. The amount of data processed by the system would require a supercomputer to process about 200 gigabytes of data a second, which the technology at that time could barely achieve.

The second is a group of satellites working in unison to produce high-quality real-time surveillance video or picture. It is called GODS IS (God's eyes) or Geo Orbital Diametric Synchronization Identification and Surveillance. Developed by DARPA with the help of NASA, this was designed to capture surveillance photos of high-value targets for future operations. A total of 8 probe satellites and one primary satellite are positioned in a way that all satellites are in geosynchronous orbit within the same plane while maintaining as far a distance with each other as possible. The primary satellite would always be placed in the center of an octagonal plane made by the probe satellites. Each probe satellite is equipped with a high-quality reflection telescope with each centimeter of the mirror capable of minute adjustments to offset the atmosphere's refraction of light. The primary satellite would be the central relay of all the probe satellites and would always be directly overhead the target area. The photo or video produced is a compilation of 9 different camera angles of the same area taken at the same time. This would help the computer create a high-quality 3D model of the area. The quality of the photo or video developed is comparable to shots taken only 5 meters away. The maximum area of capture is 100 km diameter with quality decreasing the further the target is from the center.

Technical Sergeant Jonah Hernandez is relaxing in front of his work station, waiting for dinner. He enlisted for the air force to achieve his dream of flying around the world while still serving his country as his father, Captain Joaquin Hernandez of the Army. Well, he is currently not flying anything but some paper airplanes in his barracks now and again. But at least he gets to play with the cool new toys developed by the military since he is one of the smarter persons in the base. He is currently the test handler of the LADDER system. He sometimes just spies on some random people going about their lives, but now, something more serious has been picked up by the system.

"Huh, that can't be right." Hernandez said to himself while looking at the notification on his screen. It is showing that an approximately 25 cm long object traveled at supersonic speeds and crash-landed near the edge of the visible zone.

"Hey Collins, can you take a look at this for me?" Hernandez called Technical Sergeant Elizabeth Collins. The technical operator of the GODS IS system.

Walking over to Hernandez's station, he hunched over and looked over the data in the monitor. Turning over the rendered map a couple of times and playing back the replay a couple of times, she finally said,

"What the hell is that? Is that a rocket?"

"No, too small."

"It's showing it crashed from somewhere east."

"I know, I'm looking at it too."

"Don't give me attitude. You're the one who called me here."

"Yeah yeah, I'm sorry. But can you use the eye to look at what happened? I know it's over Vegas near the crash site."

"Apology accepted. Give me a second."

Walking back to her station, she opened the latest data packet she received from the satellite. Scrolling the time bar to the target time and closing upon the area, she watched what happened.

"Hernandez, you are going to want to call the general after seeing this." Collins finally said.

Hernandez walked over and saw the video playing on the screen.

"Fuck. What the hell was that!? Where the hell did he come from!?" Hernandez reacted.

In the video, a three-pronged knife crashed in the desert. Two seconds after that, a man wearing a jacket appeared on top of the knife. He looked disoriented for a moment. He looked around while talking to someone. He then multiplied out of thin air and handed over another of those weird knives and a piece of paper. The doppelganger then ran at least 250 km/h towards LA until he was out of satellite range. The original then picked up the knife and ran towards Las Vegas at similar speeds.

"I'm going to create a copy of this. You create a copy of the report you've got from the LADDER." Collins finally said after Hernandez is done freaking out.

"For what?" Hernandez replied, still a little on edge.

"We are going to report this to the general. Move it, come on. We need to catch him before he leaves." Hernandez nodded in agreement with Collins's suggestion.

The two quickly made copies of everything and compiled them in a folder. They both locked their stations and ran towards the door. They left the experimental relay room and biometrically locked it to make sure that the room can't be tampered with. Hernandez looked at the guard posted outside the room and ordered,

"Whatever happens, don't let anyone in. We need to bring something to the general."

The guard saluted to confirm he received the order. The two then jogged quickly to the administration building and saw the general just walking over to his service car. They ran over to him and saluted.

"Technical Sergeant Collins and Hernandez, Sir. We are operators for some experimental projects, Sir. We have observed some irregularities that need to be brought to your attention, Sir." Collins said while extending her hand to pass the folder.

They looked nervously to the man at the imposing man before them. Brigadier General Collin "The Titan" Powell is a 6'1 African-Americans man renowned for his no-nonsense attitude and his support for injured vets. He has short black hair and wears wire-rim glasses. He earned his nickname during the First Gulf War when he was just a Captain. He was leading a 15 man unit of Air Force Special Operations Command task to take out the land to land missiles obtained by Saddam Hussein. The mission was continuing smoothly until it all went FUBAR during their retreat. Three members died while the rest of them received various injuries. Only General Collins was lightly injured since he was calling for the extract chopper. He almost single-handedly fought off waves of enemy combatants and defended his unit. He then carried all his unit members, even the dead ones, to the extraction point. Ten members survived the op. He was then called The Titan since he carried all of his units, just like the Titan Atlas.

The general stared at the two for a moment before he extended his hand to take the folder.

After a few seconds looking over the folder, the general leaned over and knocked on the car window. It rolled down, and the General said with a low voice,

"Circle back to the parking. I'll call you in 30 minutes if I need to be picked up."

"Yes, sir." The driver said and drove off.

Looking over to the two sergeants, the general said,

"Follow me."

The general turned around and walked back inside the building.

-Sloan, Nevada, 2005-

"Slow down kit. We are getting close. We don't want to tip our hand too early." Kurama said.

"Ok..." Naruto replied. "Hey, there's some road over there." He started when he saw a clearing on the horizon.

He walked towards the road to make sure he doesn't attract any unwanted attention. After 20 mins of walking, he finally reached the road.

"Whoa, where ever we are, this country sure is rich. Who makes road out of concrete and in the middle of nowhere." Naruto mused

He then looked over the sign by the side of the street. He stared at it for some time and hanged his head low.

"I can't read it." Naruto said sadly.

"Of course you can't read it. We're in another world. We probably won't be able to understand them either." Kurama replied. The bijuus are hundreds of years old. A by-product of living that long is being able to learn a whole bunch of languages.

"Hmm. I think I can make a temporary fix for the speaking thing. Hold on a minute."

He then walked over a rock and sat down. He unsealed some ink and paper and drew some intricate design. When he's done, he placed the sealing tag on his nape and activated it.

"That should cover it for a while. I'll be going to be able to understand them, and when I'm speaking, the tag will convert my words to something they can understand. It even applies a small genjutsu to allow the person to see the corresponding mouth motion for what they would understand. Awesome, right!" Naruto explained proudly.

"Good job. Take a cookie." Kurama replied, oozing with sarcasm. Naruto pouted because of Kurama's reply.

"We need to reach the city before nightfall. You are going to continue walking." Gyuuki said.

"Roger!"

After another 30 minutes of walking, a carriage without a horse stop next to him and made that god awful sound. He stopped and looked at a sleek looking carriage, awed by it's design. The window opened, and an angelic voice asked,

"You need a ride?"