Alright that's it, *pulls out shotgun*, I'm getting rid of these plot bunnies if it's the last thing I do. They're everywhere and I have to focus on the ones I want to write right now.
*Sees one running towards the screen*
Wait, no! NOOOOOOOOO!
I do not own Naruto or Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
(Author Input)
'Thoughts'
"Talking"
Warrior
For Satine Kryze, Duchess of Mandalore, time had always been easy to keep track of, especially for the most important moments in her life.
For example, it had been 1 year, 9 months, 1 week, 3 days, 4 hours, and 8 minutes since she met the one man she could honestly say she loved. 9 months, 1 week, 5 days, 8 hours, and 12 minutes since he left to return to his Jedi Order. 9 months, 2 days, 4 hours, and 8 minutes since she found out about the beautiful gift he left behind. Now and most importantly, it has been 8 hours, 34 minutes, 12 seconds and counting since she went into labor.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
"Just a little more, my lady. I can see the head." Satine's midwife pleaded.
The Duchess of Mandalore was a young woman with blue eyes and long platinum blonde hair, which was currently frazzled from stress her situation brought on, and her attire at the moment was a simple Mandalorian hospital gown. Her location wasn't a hospital though, it wasn't even on Mandalore. She was currently on her home world of Kalevala, in her old family house with the bare necessities for the process of having a child.
Why was someone of her stature here instead of a state of the art hospital, you may ask? Well, a Duchess giving birth made an easy target for her enemies. She would rather use a makeshift birth center and be safe instead of a medical center and made an easy mark.
Back to the moment at hand. Satine did as the midwife asked, trying to withstand the pain. It was excruciating. Oh, what she would do to Obi-wan if she ever saw him again, even the Sith would shiver with fright! To her, it felt like it would never end. Just as she thought she was going to lose consciousness, the pain suddenly stopped and the cry of the most beautiful thing in the galaxy sounded out in the room. The cry of a newborn baby.
Through teary eyes, Satine witnessed the midwife take the small form of her child and began cleaning the fluids off the wailing babe.
"Congratulations. It is a boy, your majesty." She stated, wrapping the baby in a blanket.
"Let me see him." Satine pleaded.
The midwife complied, handing the still crying child to his mother. A kiss to the forehead from his mother silenced him. At this moment, Satine finally got a chance to get a good look at her son. Every part of him was perfect, from his blond tuft of hair to his eyes, which Satine found out to be the same shade of blue as his father's. His cheeks held three lines on each side. She cradled him closely, watching as he took in the sights of the world for the first time. When his eyes landed on her, he giggled innocently and raised his arms to grab at her.
"He is as healthy as they come. What will you name him?" the midwife asked.
Satine smiled and looked down at the still giggling child, tracing a finger along one of the lines on his cheek. They reminded her of the hero of an old Mandalorian legend that existed since before space travel. The hero brought unification to Mandalore, but the peace barely lasted after the hero's death. Few Mandalorians remember this tale, though Satine's mother told her it every night when she was a child. She always loved that story.
There was a time when giving a child the hero's name was considered a greater honor than being given the title of Mandalore, and Satine felt that it was time to return to that tradition.
"Naruto. His name shall be Naruto." Satine whispered, staring down at the now sleeping child.
She had a new important moment to remember, because now it has been 4 minutes since the birth of Naruto Kryze.
20 Years Later
In the Outer Rim on the planet of Serreno, the Sith Lord Count Dooku waited in his palace's main chamber to give his new assassin/apprentice her first assignment.
The Count was an elderly man with a head of silver hair and beard of same color. Black robes were his choice of attire, and around that was a brown cloak that hid the curved lightsaber hanging from his belt. Dooku heard the doors to his chambers open and looked to see that the woman he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
She was a pale woman, which was common of the Rattataki species, and had absolutely no hair at all. Tattoos covered the back of her skull, and black lines were traced from the corners of her mouth to the ends of her jaw. Her eyes were an icy blue that seemed to pierce everything that they stared at
Bandages wrapped around her forearms and waist, and a black skin-tight top with a hole cut out in the front, showing a little cleavage. A white belt was also wrapped her waist and held a black dress that reached all the way down to her feet.
She knelt at Dooku's feet and bowed her head.
"Master." Her voice was even and soft, showing no weakness nor any hostility towards the elder Sith.
"Rise my apprentice," he ordered, "It is time for your first assignment."
She did as she was told, standing up and awaiting her first orders. Dooku moved over to his desk and pressed a button, causing the shimmering blue form of a holographic planet to appear.
"As you know, the Separatist Alliance has gained control of Christophsis. Two rotations ago, we intercepted a transmission about a Republic assault force led by Anakin Skywalker and Obi wan Kenobi would be attempting an attack on the Separatist fleet we have positioned around the planet. I want you down on the surface for our secondary defense, should they succeed. You will distract them any way possible until our secondary fleet will cut off the Republic, and then you will receive more information." Dooku explained.
Ventress listened intently, not wanting to miss one single detail in hopes of getting her mission right. Dooku pressed the button again and the hologram faded away. He walked forward and stood in front of her, with his arms crossed behind him
"However," He added, gaining her attention, "You will not be going there alone."
Seeing the defiance beginning to form in her eyes, Dooku quickly spoke to quell any objections.
"The Confederacy of Independent Systems has recently gained a new ally. A group of highly elite mercenaries calling themselves The Shadows." As he said this, he pulled up a small hologram showing 4 troops in Mandalorian armor holding WESTAR series blaster carbines standing at attention.
"They are highly trained in sabotage, covert missions, reconnaissance, and assassination. Jabba the Hutt himself has them on the top of the list of groups to use in his operations. Even with this information, I have decided to 'test' them if you will. Their leader will be going with you to Christophsis to insure the absolute success of your mission." He finished, putting the hologram away.
Seeing that there was no argument from Ventress, Dooku turned back to his desk and pressed a secondary button on his console with a resounding beep.
"You may enter." He said into the intercom.
The chamber doors slid open, and Ventress turned to see what the person she was going to be working with looked like.
He wore pure black Mandalorian armor, with the only color being the orange visor on his helmet and the orange paint that made the face of a canine-like creature (1) on his chest plate. On his back was the classic Mandalorian jetpack with the rocket attachment. Attached to his wrists were Mandalorian blaster gauntlets, with dual WESTAR-35 blaster pistols strapped to his sides. Though what drew her attention most was the small cylinder of metal that dangled from his belt.
"Count Dooku, always a pleasure." His greeting snapped her out of her observation.
The old Sith lord chuckled and clasped his hands behind his back.
"Child, you are among allies here, there is no need for you to hide your face." He said.
The black armored Mandalorian seemed to pout through his helmet, before raising his hands and taking it off. What was underneath was revealed to be a frowning face with shining blonde hair, eyes as blue as a lightsaber crystal, and three lines on each cheek.
"You, Count, have no sense of the dramatic." The now unmasked warrior grumbled.
Dooku chuckled again, turning to Asajj and gesturing to the new arrival.
"Asajj Ventress, meet Shadow One, or as he's better known as, Naruto Kryze."
Ventress gained a look of shock that would be equal to if the Count had just told her that the Separatist Alliance had plans for a space station that had the firepower to destroy planets (Little did she know).
"Kryze? As in Satine Kryze, Duchess of Mandalore?" Ventress questioned.
"One in the same, and it looks like you and I are going to be working together for a while, beautiful." Naruto replied cheerfully with his hands brought up to his sides, ignoring her growling and slight blush at the 'beautiful' comment. "So, are we ready to depart?"
"Yes, I have just finished briefing her. You are to leave immediately."
"Yes, my master. Come along, mercenary." Ventress said, walking towards the exit.
"I have a name, you know." Naruto deadpanned as he followed.
Count Dooku's Mansion-Courtyard
Outside the Count's building stood a Kom'rk class fighter in its landing position with the boarding ramp open. Two figures in black Mandalorian armor with blood red visors were standing as guards at the ramp, WESKAR carbines in hand.
"Sir!" Both shouted, standing at attention as Naruto and Ventress approached.
"At ease. Get the ship ready for departure." Naruto ordered.
His response was a pair of "Yes sir's" and the two Mandalorians heading inside the ship to carry out their orders. Ventress snorted, gaining Naruto's attention.
"What?"
"Never met a group of mercenary scum that respected the chain of command before." She answered, crossing her arms.
"Well, as I'm sure you'll see, we're not exactly your typical group of hired guns."
"We'll see mercenary, we'll see."
"My name is Naruto. Na-Ru-To. It's not that hard to remember" He frowned. One of the Mandalorian troopers came back down the ramp, gaining their attention
"Sir, the ship is ready to take off."
"Ladies first." Naruto bowed down, gesturing with his arms towards the ship entrance exaggeratedly. Ventress, without a word, walked up the ramp. Naruto and the trooper just stood there for a moment, until one of them broke the silence.
"She's not much of a talker, huh?" the trooper asked.
"No, she is not." Naruto replied. The two boarded the ship after her, and not soon after said ship was airborne.
A few hours later
Note to self: If you're an antisocial apprentice to a dark and tyrannical ruler with magic space powers and your life has been nothing but laser sword training and learning how to make things float, don't go on a long hyperspace trip in a small vessel with three other people without something to read.
The silence was almost deafening, with only the occasional beeps from the console. The two guards from earlier were at the pilot seats, murmuring to each other quietly. Ventress's supposed partner was looking straight ahead in his seat, not saying anything, and that irritated her.
This Naruto, or Shadow One as he was called in the field, was an unknown variable, and that was dangerous. Ventress considered herself a planner, she had to in order to be a successful assassin, and unknown variables had the ability to ensure a plan's success or make it a complete failure. She had to find out which he was.
"So," she began, snapping the blonde out of his trance, "How does the son of a peaceful planet's ruler become a hired gun?"
Naruto thought for a moment before giving the pale Sith an answer. "Back during the times of Revan and The Old Republic, most Mandalorians lived for combat. Mercenaries, bounty hunting, armies, you name something that involved using a blaster or a blade, there was a Mandalorian apart of it. I simply wanted to honor the past, and my mother disagreed. There were…words." he finished, his voice full of regret and sorrow near the end.
However, Ventress wasn't feeling any pity. Instead she was creating a profile for him in her mind. 'Appears to be an honor-bound type. Good, they don't usually back out of deals they've made. Though the fact he feels remorseful about the Duchess may be problematic should we attempt anything with Mandalore.'
With that information stored away in her mind, Ventress continued with her questions.
"Why work for the Separatists, and not the Republic?"
That was the wrong question to ask apparently, for both his posture and attitude turned a completely turned 180. His mouth contorted into a snarl for a millisecond before pressing his lips in a thin. Ventress could see his hand gain an iron grip on his armrest. Naruto exhaled the breath he had been holding and answered.
"That's between me and the Count."
After that answer, Naruto seemed to relax back into his seat, facing the viewing glass again with a carefree attitude.
'Additional note, reason for working for Separatists is unknown. Possible that in some way that Count Dooku is forcing The Shadows to align with him.'
Before she could ask anymore, one of the pilots cleared his voice, gaining the attention of the two.
"We've arrived."
As if on cue, the blue and white glow of the hyperspace stream faded, revealing the planet's surface.
The dark blue of Christophsis greatly contrasted with the blackness of space. Webbings of light green lines cut through the blue connecting into hexagons. As the ship flew in closer, the Separatist fleet guarding the planet became more and more visible.
A beeping at the console drew the attention of one of the pilots.
"Sir, they're wanting to communicate." He stated.
"Patch them through." Naruto replied, his professional side coming out.
The pilot pressed the beeping button and the shimmering hologram of the Fleet Admiral came forward.
The Admiral was what appeared to be a cross between a human and an arachnid. He stood on two two-toed feet, with gray pants. Covering his body was a blue coat that reached his shins. Fur outlined the coat and six medals were attached to the upper left side of his chest. On each side of his torso were 3 arms, totaling at six.
"Who dares to trespass in Separatist controlled space?!" he roared, making a clicking sound three times after he finished.
"No one Admiral, because you were told ahead of time to expect us." Naruto replied.
"WHAT! I have received no messa-"
"Uh, sir?" a battle droid interrupted, appearing in the hologram. "That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past 3 hours, but you kept ignoring me in favor of gloating about how great you were."
As if to prove the point, the battle droid held out the datapad in his hand to the Admiral.
"Useless droid!" he yelled, yanking the datapad and literally kicked the droid, who shouted a resounding "Why?!".
"Let's see here…" the Admiral muttered while reading the text. He visibly paled, which was impressive considering his image was being played through a hologram, when he realized who he was talking to.
"P…please forgive me. You are clear to land on the surface."
The pilots re-engaged the engines and proceeded down to the dark blue planet below.
"So that was the infamous Admiral Trench." Naruto muttered, "Not very impressive."
The city they arrived at was, for lack of a better term, a ghost town. The streets were empty, the buildings were barren, and any signs of life appeared to be erased. The ship switched into hover mode and positioned itself near one of the buildings that had a balcony. Its ramp lowered down with Naruto, Ventress and one of the pilots standing on it.
"Are you sure that you won't need evac, sir?" the pilot asked.
"No, we'll have transportation off planet when this is over. Return to base."
Ventress and Naruto leaped down from the ramp, with Ventress using the force to soften her and Naruto using his jetpack. The ship behind them shifted back into fighter mode and soared back into the cosmos.
Both entered the building to take shelter for the night.
Linebreak
1 Week Later
"Dooku was right."
Ventress opened her eyes to see her Mandalorian comrade leaning against a wall, reading a book. Apparently, the building that they were in was in fact at one point a library. The assassin was in the middle of meditation when the blonde had disrupted her silence. Meditation was all she had to pass the time while she waited for the result of Kenobi and Skywalker's attack. Though that was a bit troublesome since she had to deal with an impatient partner constantly bugging her.
"What are you talking about?"
"The Republic broke through, Trench is dead, and now we have to hold them off until that second fleet arrives." He stated, nonchalantly.
"What!" Ventress yelled, standing at attention.
"You can see the destruction from here."
Ventress ran to the balcony and look up at the stars. Sadly, he was right. She could see the explosions caused by destroyed Separatist ships. Naruto walked up next to her.
"So…I have a plan if you're interested."
'Oh, what the hell.'
"Sure."
"All right. So first, we're going to need a clone."
1 week later
It was a trap, Obi-wan could feel it as he and his apprentice were elevated to the upper levels of the building.
Their assault had been going well since the first landing. Their forces were prepared for anything thrown at them. Almost anything. They had planned an ambush for a Separatist convoy. Every measure was taken to ensure that they would be successful, and they would have been. Except for the fact the Separatists knew exactly where they were.
It didn't make any sense. There was no way in any shape possible that the droids could have known where they were. That only meant one thing: a spy. But who, out of all the loyal clones that they had led through the years, would betray them?
They had decided that the best course of action was to go to where they believed to be the closest Separatist base. That in turn led them to this moment, riding the elevator to the top floor.
"Are you alright Master?" His apprentice asked.
Anakin Skywalker was a young man in his 20s, with neck length brown hair, tan skin, blue eyes, and a scar on his right eye. His attire was consisted of simple blue and brown Jedi robes. One interesting fact about him was the fact that his right forearm was almost completely mechanical, a result of the battle that happened between him and his master versus Count Dooku on the planet Geonosis during the beginning of the Clone War.
Obi-Wan himself was a man in his late 40's, with blue eyes, and had light brown hair and a beard of the same color. He himself wore what appeared to be a combination of clone armor and Jedi robes.
"I'm just having a bad feeling about this." Obi-wan replied.
The elevator bell signaled that they had reached their floor, and both exited the movable room. Neither of them noticed a figure, shrouded in a cloak, leaning against the side of the lift.
The inside of the building looked like every other one they came across: Abandoned and destroyed. Rubble littered the ground every few feet, as well as holes in the walls from Separatist
"So this is the belly of the beast." Anakin stated.
The figure behind them decided to make herself known, walking around the two and faced their front. The Jedi tensed up in the presence of the new arrival. The figure slowly raised her hands up to pull down the hood, revealing it to be…
"Ventress." Obi-wan stated. "And here I thought this mission would be unpleasant."
"The pleasure's all mine, my dear Obi-Wan." Ventress replied in a sultry tone, discarding the robe. "I've missed you."
"Sweet Mandalore, do you have to flirt with the enemy?" A male voice asked from the stairs.
The two Jedi looked up to see a man in black Mandalorian armor leering down at them from the top step. His face was unknown due to the helmet he was wearing. Ventress smirked at his remark, not even looking at him, and asked.
"Do I sense a hint of jealousy in your voice, mercenary?"
As he walked down the steps, Naruto replied with, "As adventurous as I am with women, beautiful, not even I would risk death by lightsaber for trying to hit on you."
When Naruto reached Ventress, he pulled out his blaster pistols from their holsters and aimed at the pair of Jedi.
"Who's this Ventress, your pet?" Anakin growled, resting on his lightsaber.
"Oh, I'd be less worried about who I am, and more worried about the presents that I left on the elevator behind you." The Mandalorian replied, gesturing with one of his blasters past them.
Obi-Wan and Anakin heard a slight beeping sound behind them and looked to see two thermal detonators attached to the door of the lift, about to blow. Naruto quickly holstered his blasters and wrapped his arms around Ventress, who was initially surprised by the action, and jettisoned them away from the Jedi just as the lift exploded.
The two Jedi used the force to protect themselves from the explosion and quickly ignited their azure blades in preparation for combat. Once Ventress was free of Naruto's grasp, she too activated her scarlet lightsabers. Naruto just reequipped his pistols from earlier.
"Our loyal informant let us know you were coming." Ventress taunted.
"Well, then, we thank you for your hospitality." Obi-Wan replied.
Naruto looked between Ventress and Obi-Wan for a few moments before turning his attention to Anakin.
"Hey, you." Anakin perked up from his battle stance and listened. "Do they talk like this a lot?"
Anakin visibly grimaced, "Unfortunately, yes."
"Great." Naruto drawled out.
They then stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for someone to make a move. Anakin struck first, rushing up to Ventress, slashing at her. Ventress blocked his attacks and began her own offense. Naruto activated his jetpack, gaining the high ground, and began to fire on Obi-Wan, who blocked the blaster fire.
Seeing his strategy wasn't working, Naruto deactivated his pack and fired his flamethrower at the two Jedi. Ventress leapt out of the way of the raging inferno and landed next to Naruto. The two then rushed up the stairs to the second floor of the library. The Jedi, who had used the force to block the fire, followed quickly behind.
Ventress turned around and kept their pursuers at bay while Naruto looked around for a new way to attack. A lightbulb went off in his head as soon as he saw a small pile of rubble on the ground. He then launched a cable from his gauntlet towards the pile. The cable attached itself to a fist sized rock before being pulled back towards the fight. Naruto twirled the cable a couple of times before throwing it towards an unsuspecting Anakin. Said Jedi Knight was blocking a slash from Ventress before feeling a powerful force hit his ribs. He looked over to see Naruto standing there with what he assumed to be a shit eating grin underneath the helmet, twirling his makeshift flail.
"Really, a rock?" Anakin asked.
"Says the guy with the laser sword." Naruto replied cheekily.
He then threw the flail back towards the scarred force user, who quickly dodged and sliced off it's end. As Anakin began to rush towards him, Naruto began to improvise. Using the leftover cable as a garotte and wrapping the wire around the arm that wielded the lightsaber, Naruto used Anakin's own momentum against him by flipping him on his back.
Naruto quickly grabbed Anakin's arm and slammed it to the ground, knocking the lightsaber out of his grip. Obi-Wan, seeing apprentice was in trouble, force pushed Ventress away and leapt towards Naruto. The room resounded with loud crack as Obi-Wan kicked Naruto in the head. Said Mandalorian was thrown away, with his helmet rolling away, though his face was still hidden.
"Do I always have to end up saving you?" Obi-Wan asked, voice laced with sarcasm.
"I had that handled." Anakin replied, using the force to pull his lightsaber back to him. However, the fact that he has rubbing his arm betrayed his words.
Obi-Wan chuckled at his apprentice's misfortune before nodding in Ventress's direction.
"You deal with her, I'll keep him occupied." He ordered.
Anakin nodded and ran after the Sith assassin. Obi-Wan readied himself for a fight when he saw the Mandalorian beginning to stir.
"That was a cheap shot." Naruto growled, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.
"You should just give up. You'll be given a…fair…trial." Obi-Wan would have continued if it weren't for the fact that he got a closer look at Naruto's face.
'He…he looks just like…' Obi-Wan thought.
Ventress then provided aide to her fallen partner by using the force to throw a large piece of fallen debris at the Jedi Master. Obi-Wan was broken out of his trance when he saw the large projectile. He gripped his saber in both hands and brought it down it's middle, causing the 2 sides to fly past him. Unfortunately, he forgot about his other adversary beneath him. Naruto kicked Obi-Wan's feet out from under him, causing the master to fall on his back.
"Come on!" Ventress yelled, running to the next room.
Naruto followed suite, jumping over the fallen Jedi and used his jetpack to jump over Anakin's lightsaber swing. The Separatist pair made their way towards the main part of the library with the Jedi close behind. Ventress used the force to throw a small number of books on the shelf towards the Jedi. Unfortunately, the power of two is greater than the power of one, because Anakin and Obi-Wan used their own force powers to push the books back towards Ventress. She was knocked to the floor as a result of the barrage of literature.
Both Jedi jumped up in the air, sabers posed to strike down Ventress. She closed her eyes in fear, prepared to meet her end.
FWAASH! KRZZT! KRZZT!
Except it didn't come.
Ventress opened her eyes to see a blade of bright orange light blocking two sapphire blades. Upon further examination, Ventress saw the orange blade connected to a very familiar piece of metal which was held by two very familiar blaster gauntlet attached hands.
"Where in the blazes did you get a lightsaber?" Obi-Wan questioned.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Naruto shouted.
He then pushed the Jedi away from Ventress and slashed, causing the two to jump away in caution. Ventress then gained an idea. She sat up cross legged and placed her deactivated lightsabers in her lap. Naruto gave her a questioning glance, as did the Jedi.
"We give up." She simply stated.
Naruto literally shook his head to make sure he was hearing her right.
"Uh, beautiful? What are you doing?"
"Surrendering. It's obvious that we have the weak ground in this fight, mercenary." She told him.
Ventress nodded her head slightly towards her lap, hoping that the message she was trying to convey was getting through his thick skull.
Naruto turned his head towards where the assassin was gesturing and made the connection.
"Oh…uh…yeah. We give up." Naruto repeated, deactivating his lightsaber and sitting down with her.
Master and apprentice looked towards the pair uneasily. They both fought so hard just to give up now? Something wasn't right.
Anakin and Obi-Wan cautiously walked towards Naruto and Ventress, keeping their guard in case of a surprise attack, and fell right into their trap. Naruto and Ventress activated their lightsabers straight into the ground. Having three blades made of pure energy sliced through it caused the already unstable floor to crumble beneath the Jedi, who landed on the floor beneath them. Fortunately (or unfortunately based on which perspective), the crumbling stopped short of the mercenary and assassin.
As the Jedi dusted themselves off, they heard laughing above them. Both looked up to see that the source of the laughter was Naruto.
"Oh man, I can't believe you actually fell for it!" He said between laughs, wiping a tear from his eye.
His companion walked up next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"You've served your purpose." She said smugly.
Realizing what she meant, Anakin quickly turned towards his master. "We have to get back. Now."
"Oh don't worry," Naruto added. "Our little friend should be keeping your troops entertained back at base right about now."
"What's the plan, Master?" Anakin asked urgently.
"Bringing us here was a mistake, children." Obi-Wan began. "You've overestimated your abilities."
"Quick question Jedi. Who's side got taken down by a rock?" Naruto laughed as he and Ventress ran towards the balcony that they arrived on.
Anakin growled in frustration at the jab and both Jedi force jumped back to the upper level. Naruto used his lightsaber to slash a hole in the window leading to the balcony as Ventress used the force to blast it open.
When the two Jedi made it to the outside, they found Ventress standing on the head of and Octuptarra droid and Naruto in mid air aiming his blaster gauntlets at them. Behind them was a seemingly endless amount of battle droids, tanks, and ships.
"Come and get us, boys." Ventress taunted.
"You didn't tell us you were bringing more friends." Obi-Wan shouted back.
"Eh, this is nothing for two 'Master Jedi'." Naruto added.
The Jedi then hopped onto the legs of the Octuptarra droid holding itself to the building and sliced them off. As the droid began to fall, Naruto started to fire on the Jedi as Ventress engaged them in close quarter combat. Though this was cut short when Naruto noticed the ground beginning to approach them quickly, grabbed Ventress by the arm and fly back towards their reinforcements. The Jedi soon followed his example by jumping off the Octuptarra droid and landing on two STAPs and, after kicking off their droid riders, flew them back to their base.
Naruto slowly lowered Ventress to the ground as they began to walk up to the general's tank.
"I have to admit, you were awesome out there." Naruto said.
Ventress gained a smirk as she raised her nose a bit higher.
"As if there was any doubt." She replied.
"Glad to see that your humility is still intact." Naruto whispered.
Ventress didn't seem to here him as she ordered the general in charge to attack. As the troops began to move out, a tactical droid began to walk next to Ventress, awaiting orders.
"Tell my master of the success in holding of the Jedi at bay and also tell him… that Naruto did well."
She heard a gasp behind her and saw Naruto there with a smile that threatened to split his face in two.
"A compliment AND you said my name! This is awesome!"
Shaking her head and her new partner's childish antics, Ventress nodded her head towards the Trident in the landing bay of the base.
"Come on, we have to head towards Tatooine."
"Actually, about that. I'm still waiting for something to arrive."
"Like what?"
Republic Base-Command Center
Two identical figures wielding DC-15A blasters rushed into the command center. The first one's name was Rex, a clone captain in the grand army of the republic. His armor was the standard white color and had a kama and pauldron show his rank, as well as blue markings all over his arms and knees.
The second figure's name was Cody, a higher-ranking soldier than Rex with the title of Commander. Although he did not have a kama and pauldron, he has orange markings all over his armor that made him distinct from other clones.
Currently, Cody and Rex were on the hunt for a traitor. After the failed ambush, their Generals had ordered them to find out who the traitor was and that no one was supposed to know. Bad luck seemed to love them since after talking with the Jedi, they found a bug in the room, revealing that the traitor heard everything they said. After that, they discovered that transmissions were being sent out every few days, revealing critical information. They had narrowed down the transmissions to a single terminal in one of the barracks. Upon questioning, each soldier gave a solid alibi for when they got back, because that was when the spy had to have planted the listening device.
The last soldier questioned seemed to be the most likely suspect, until the sergeant of the barracks said one sentence that revealed the soldier was innocent.
"It's okay. You don't have to say anything else until the Jedi come back."
Only Rex, Cody, and the traitor knew the Jedi was gone.
One thing led to another, and the sergeant revealed his true colors by blowing up the weapons depot, leaving nothing but burning metal and, surprisingly, orange paint. One of the troopers nearby reported that he saw the sergeant entering the command center.
"Pretend you're Slick. What's going through your head?" Cody asked as they swept the area.
"My cover's blown, it's time to go, but I decide not to use a ship because it's too obvious." Rex replied as he knelt by some scuff marks on the floor with Cody joining him.
Looking up, Cody found a vent right above the scuff marks, and figured out exactly where their traitor was. Rex followed his gaze and came to the same conclusion as Cody.
"The lockdown." Cody began, trying to make it sound as if Slick was still hidden. "He wants to get around the lockdown"
"He's blinded us by taking out the power." Rex joined in, realizing what Cody was doing. "He could disable the entire security system!"
Cody placed his blaster down on the console as he walked towards one of the monitors.
"Yeah, but he knows we'd expect him to do that." Cody could faintly hear the grate for the vent being removed.
"Or does he? Yeah, I see what you're getting at." Rex agreed as he began to head towards the door.
"Head towards the south exit"
"What are you going to do?"
"I'll stay here; get the power back up. That'll help."
"Got it." Rex replied as he left the room.
As soon as the automatic doors closed, Cody could faintly hear feet hitting the ground and his blaster being picked up.
"Hey there, Slick." Feeling the blaster barrel being pushed into his back, Cody pulled his trump card. "Gun's empty."
To prove his point, Cody pulled out the energy clip that was supposed to be in the blaster. Before Slick could do anything, Rex appeared behind him, blaster at the ready.
"You know what's funny, traitor?" Rex began, as he gestured for slick to give the blaster back to Cody. "We knew that you would never chance the exits while they were blocked."
Following Rex's orders, Slick handed Cody the weapon, who then loaded the ammunition back in before aiming.
"Who said anything about the exits?" Slick questioned. A slight beeping drew their attention.
Cody looked down to see the comm-link built into Slick's armor glowing red.
"What's that?" Cody questioned.
"Oh that? It's just my new friends letting me know they're here." Slick answered, before quickly ducking to the ground.
Before either clone could question his actions, the roof of the command center detonated, knocking both troopers off their feet and onto their backs. Once the smoke cleared, it revealed the Kom'rk fighter that had dropped off Naruto and Ventress in hover mode above the base, undetected due to the fact that the base's power was still out.
The ship's ramp lowered, and two Shadows flew down to the downed clones. Once on the ground, one of the Shadows aimed their blaster at Cody and Rex while the other wrapped a cable around Slick's waist.
"We're secure. Let's go!"
As soon as they arrived, they left, this time with Slick being pulled up towards the ship. The fighter soon left, leaving a wrecked command center and two unconscious clones.
Trident Cockpit
"We have him sir." One of the Shadows informed Naruto on his comm.
"Great, get him back to base and begin his training, I have a feeling he's going to be a great Shadow." Naruto replied.
"Yes sir." With that, Naruto cut off the communication.
"Are you really going to have a clone in you little army?" Ventress asked as they began to take off.
"Hey, I gave him the option and he said yes. I'm more worried about not seeing the Jedi's reaction to the little 'surprise' I put in the bombs Slick used."
Ventress scoffed at the immaturity of her partner before launching their ship into the cosmos.
Do I really need to explain what animal is on Naruto's chestplate?
Hey guys!
*Sounds of booing and objects being thrown at me*
Hey! I know I said I wasn't going to make any more stories, but I. COULDN'T. GET. THIS. OUT. OF. MY. HEAD.
*exhales*
Now that that's out of the way, I have an announcement. For now, I am only going to be updating Working Again, Producing Pair, and this. Why, because right now I have writer's block for the rest of them. That's all I have to say at the moment. Remember to review and give constructive criticism. Blades out.