Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars nor Naruto.

Death wasn't really what everyone thought it was.

Unless someone actually had a forest with bright sunshine filtering through as their destination after death. If that was the case, then they had Death pretty much figured out. Anakin didn't quite think he would end up like this, and in here, to say the least. It wasn't actually that bad but it was overly quiet.

His delusions immediately broke as he moved. A sharp pain traveled from the tip of his fingers all the way to his ribcage. Death is painless. Pain meant he wasn't dead. Shifting so that he could raise his head somewhat comfortably without inciting needles of pain down his spine, Anakin groaned as he took stock of his fighter in shreds alongside with a few tree branches. His legs were pinned underneath a medium-sized branch and he couldn't feel them but the remains of his cockpit encasing the rest of his body did not let him wriggle out into safety.

He was on his stomach, cushioned by a soft cover of grass and damp soil but he knew that a few hours on it would soon make it the worst thing to have underneath him. Anakin had to get out. He had to get his comm to work and contact Obi-Wan. The man was probably thinking the worst right now- Anakin couldn't even feel his former Master anywhere close, and he supposed the same applied to Obi-Wan.

Force! If word of this got to Coruscant, Padme would think the worst!

Fearing such a happenstance, Anakin renewed his efforts to free himself from underneath metal and wood. Any attempts with the Force would only bring down whatever debris he couldn't see and with his wounds, forcing such control was...dangerous and foolhardy to say the least. Normally, that wouldn't have mattered but after a near-death experience, he was willing to lay back on the dramatics.

Calm.

He sighed. Biting his lip, he settled in a way that made his shoulder blades tense and heaved, arms trying to lift a gargantuan weight. It wasn't happening. His legs couldn't even move- he had to squash down the fear of being immobilized forever and the repercussions of such a thing happening- and there wasn't anything within his reach that could help. If only-

My lightsaber!

Looking around, stubbornly trying from acknowledging what exactly made the soil damp, he was eventually forced to accept that this would only be one more reason to have another one of Obi-Wan's 'your lightsaber is your life, Anakin' lectures. There was no sign of his weapon anywhere close.

Above him, the sunlight seemed to dwindle as less and less light filtered through the dense treetops. It had already been difficult to see before, now it would be an impossibility to work through this mess in the dark. Ruusan was abandoned. He could scream and scream and there would be no one to hear. There would be no one to the rescue. Not if the Republic failed in their objective, and the Seps had retaken Ruusan for their own nefarious purposes. There was no activity in the skies so it was impossible to tell who was the victor.

However, there was something in the Force...something that expressed to him a sense of finality. It was a sense of completion and evenness, something that he struggled to comprehend and find proper words for. Not exactly a bad feeling, per se, but it wasn't a feeling he knew very well. It was alien and it unsettled him more than he wanted to admit.

For the very first time since he awoke, a stirring of unease and fear settled into the pit of his stomach. Anakin felt sick. He wasn't used to giving up, nevertheless to waiting. He was a man of action and where there was a will, there was a way. But this was something he couldn't find an exit to.

Calm. This isn't helping. Stop.

It would be so simple to lift this mess off him but he feared… No, he was sure of the danger if he did. There was something about this place. This wasn't Ruusan. Ruusan whispered with the darkness of the Sith Wars but this place, this forest, didn't whisper in the same way. The voices behind the murmurs didn't seem to communicate a sense of urgency and doom, but one of peaceful purpose and determination.

This isn't Ruusan. Then, where am I? What happened? How?

Very nearly driven with a hysterical fear, he slammed his metal hand upon the bent metal of his destroyed starfighter. It might as well have been a fly landing upon a rock for all it accomplished. Hasty breaths exploded from his mouth as he pushed back, trying to slip out from underneath with no success. The only thing he did succeed in doing was aggravating the many scratches on his hands, neck and midriff. Beads of blood dripped down, marring the already discolored paint of what had been the starfighter's port wing.

The blood only made it worse.

Blood attracted animals. Hungry animals. Savage animals that he couldn't protect himself against with no lightsaber. Anakin remembered a particular event during his childhood in which he had still been under Gardulla the Hutt's ownership, and he had watched some of the animals under her employ devour an old woman. Anakin had seen how flesh and bone gave way underneath razor-sharp teeth and the sight had caused nightmares for a very long time. Being eaten was a horrible way to go.

Stop. Breathe. Calm.

Somewhere behind the craft, a twig cracked.

Anakin bit his tongue, stifling his breaths.

Just your imagination. Stop!

The Jedi Knight was frozen in place, and as such, he did not notice that the amount of blood running down wasn't typical of the superficial wounds he had imagined himself to have. As it was, he missed the sharp tlink of an odd knife hitting metal, or the subsequent silver colored needle that barely pricked his neck. All he knew was there was something at the edge of a thick circle of trees, just beyond his sight, and that the broken glass and warped metal of his cockpit wasn't enough.

And then, for a second time, there was darkness.

The afternoon patrols on the eastern borders of Konoha were known to be the easiest patrols. There was almost never anything worth of notice, unless you counted the rare afternoons when the Shinobi Academy took out its students for a practice lesson in 'real ground.' Nevertheless, nin were always at ease when taking this assignment, despite the many warnings from both the Hokage and the Chunnin manning the assignment desk.

However, despite his words, Rokudaime Hogake Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze found himself a bit more than bored as he did his part in the western patrol. By his side, three of Konoha's newest genin attempted to curb their yawns despite the many branches and leaves that pelted them as they rushed and scanned the undergrowth under them. Naruto was going at the fastest speed he could that allowed them to remain at least three long strides away from him. Such a practice was common within the teaching jounin since it drove their genin to even up their pace, unknowingly pushing themselves and increasing their skill.

They weren't his genin but he was doing Ino the favor. Kami only knew what she was teaching them but they seemed like good kids. Then again, Kurenai-sensei's Team 8 had seemed like good kids but Hinata had sure showed them all.

In any case, the run around the perimeter was coming to a close and he was glad for that. The eastern side rarely had visitors due to the ocean on that side. Kirigakure was still recovering and so any threat they could provide was always minimal. Naruto always made sure to remind his nin to keep their wits about in the area but since the war, nobody was really feeling up for an invasion or anything of the sort.

It was all good but sometimes he wished for some excitement.

When Jun, a shy and meek brown-haired boy, called him over, apprehension in his voice, the Hokage wondered if he still had Kamis listening to whatever his mind concocted. A Shunshin and a gasp later, Naruto figured that was the last of his worries. Jun had sharp eyes and he had been paying attention, unlike the rest of them, and so the boy had been able to spot a flicker of light in a particularly dense area.

Tilting his head back, the blond caught hints of burning foliage and blood. There was very little to go on except that there was something- someone- there and moving. With every movement, the Hokage could smell more and more blood, it's metallic and pungent odor growing ever so stifling by the second. He lit upon a branch that oversaw the small clearing and what he saw was proof enough that strange things did happen in the eastern border of Konoha.

Upturned earth and broken branches littered the area but the most surprising part was the hunk of metal that lay in its very center, almost buried underneath layers of soil. There were stray pieces of metal, scrunched up sheets that looked as if a hurricane had torn it all apart. When he looked up, he noted that many of the trees had been damaged, which immediately led Naruto to believe the metal contraption had fallen from the sky.

Wasn't that exciting?

"Team, I want you to stay here and keep an eye. Warn me of anything suspicious if it happens." He eyed the metal wreckage suspiciously, having no words to describe the construct that still smoldered. "I'll go in and investigate. If anything happens to me-"

The blond Hokage noticed the genin were about to protest but he held his hand up, showcasing his full authority with confidence and will. "If anything happens to me, I want you to go back to the village and report this at the Hokage Tower. If anything happens, you will be the difference between life or death, understand?"

There really was nothing like overemphasizing to make unruly genin settle down. Confident that the children would remain in place and watchful, Naruto dropped onto the ground, making sure to keep his steps light and quiet. To his surprise, the movements within the metal contraption increased. It heard me.

He'd never been one for stealth but in a very ironic turn of events, only the most experienced of sensors could get a wisp of his presence. That he was heard indicated that whatever was in there, it was more than likely dangerous, and if so, Naruto had made the right decision in forcing the genin to remain where they were. Hand reaching for a kunai, he mentally reviewed his position and the possibilities that he would be attacked. His battle-tuned mind worked whilst he ran on instinct and so it was highly understandable when a wild thump shocked him sufficiently enough that the kunai found itself stabbed into the metal.

The throw had been strong enough that he had dented the metal but the kunai slid down onto the ground anyways. It was then when he saw exactly what 'it' was. Underneath grime and dried blood, 'it' was a young man with curly blond hair and torn robes. From what Naruto had to work with, he knew this man was in critical condition.

This could be an enemy. It could be someone Naruto would regret finding. Yet, no matter what, this was till a man who needed help and Naruto had too much of a bleeding heart to let a man die out here. With a sigh and a quick flip of his wrist, Sakura's gift senbon, coated in a very strong sedative, found its way through cracked glass and into the unprotected neck of the man.

"Jun! Go back to the village and get Haruno-san down here! Tell her it's an emergency."

With an affirmative 'Hai' the genin slipped away, disappearing into the thick foliage of the surrounding forests of Konoha. He'd have a word with Ino later about the excellent student she had in Jun. For now… "Mikoto-chan, do you have a good Doton jutsu to help me lift this thing up?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Good. Put yourself behind this thing and when I tell you, execute the strongest one. Understood?"

"Alright."

"Yuki-chan, I need you to make note of every single piece of metal in this clearing. When you are done, I want you to build a sketch of what you think the piece looks like."

Grinning at being able to apply his skills in a worthwhile manner, the quietest member of Ino's teams slinked away, rubbing his nose as his other hand struggled with withdrawing a pencil and a sketchpad from Yuki's satchel. On the opposite side of the clearing, Mikoto positioned herself so that she would have clear view of both Naruto and the metal contraption.

Naruto motioned Mikoto to begin and the genin demonstrated her skill with elemental jutsu admirably. The heavy slab of metal and the wooden tree trunk were pushed upwards and in the split second it took for it to begin descending again, Naruto proved he was his father's son. In the blink of an eye, Naruto was gone and back again, the body of the young man in his arms.

With a crash, metal and wood collapsed back to the floor, raising a light dust and alerting every bird in the vicinity. Mikoto, who had jumped back, coughed wildly, waving a hand in front of her nose to dispel some of the dust.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, Hokage-sama, I'm fine. Just a bit startled." Both shinobi looked about their surroundings, spying Yuki fiddling about with some clunks of melted metal. The young genin hadn't seemed to even notice what just happened, given that she was still scribbling in her sketchbook. "I don't think we made Yuki's task any easier."

The blond Hokage could see why; upon crashing back down, the domed glass had shattered and some of the edges of the contraption had bent in on itself. Reconstruction would be quite the puzzle. Naruto had a feeling Yuki wouldn't mind the challenge. He turned his attention to his new charge.

"He's asleep," Mikoto commented worriedly.

Smiling, he shook his head, "It's alright. This is some of Haruno-san's most potent sedatives. It has the added benefit of slowing down the body so we won't have a man bleeding to death on our watch."

"Who d you suppose he is?"

Moving a few steps away from the clearing, making sure there wouldn't be anything that could prove to be detrimental to the young man in his arms, Naruto finally laid him down of the floor and turned to Mikoto. "I don't know, and until we figure this out, no one is to mention anything of this, make sure you tell Yuki and Jun."

The young girl nodded, and just in time, as Naruto sensed Sakura's approaching chakra.

"Okay, wise up, kiddo. It's show time."

AN: I am aware that in canon, Naruto ends up as Nanadaime, however, for this story, he'll be Rokudaime.