Hope is still Alive

Hey guys. Thanks to those who reviewed. Sorry but it will only be a Naruto/Aayla pairing. I like the idea of him meeting up with other Jedi though. And as for Naruto's left eye, well that's a surprise. Review please the feed back helps more than you think.

Ch2: Painful Reminders and Survivors?

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Hyper-space, Aboard the Forward onto Dawn

Bly and Aayla were surprised when they arrived in the cafeteria. It had enough room for around thirty people. The ship looked big, but they didn't know it could hold that many people. As they sat down to eat the meals the droids made they enjoyed the silence.

That was until a blue blur flew right past them and crashed into the kitchen. Bly grabbed his blaster and Aayla drew her light saber. They cautiously approached the room as more crashing sounds eminated from it. Aayla nodded to Bly and they charged into the room.

A blue...thing, with what looked like scales all over it was feasting on the food. It stopped and looked at them as they did the same. An uncomfortable silence settled over the room. Then the...thing, grinned at them with razor sharp teeth.

"It seems you have met Samehada." The calm voice shook them from their stupor. They saw Naruto leaning on the doorway gazing at the now identified Samehada. The big blue thing then gurgled something at Naruto who just jerked his head lightly towards the droids preparing food. It took off again after the food.

Naruto turned to them and spoke in his usual monotone voice. "It's impolite to stare." Bly looked at Samehada while Aayla blushed slightly and looked at the floor.

'Why do I feel this way? Is it him that is making me feel like I am?' Aayla thought in utter confusion. Naruto only raised an eyebrow at the blush and turned to watch Samehada as he spoke again.

"Samehada is a sentient sword. It chooses it's own master. The name translates roughly to 'Shark Skin Blade' in basic." Aayla's eyes widened when she heard that the sword was sentient, Bly just looked confused.

"Now hold up. What do you mean 'Sentient'? I might not be the brightest crayon in the box but that shouldn't be possible." Aayla nodded her head uncertainly. This had never happened before, well at least not according to the Jedi archives. Naruto continued to stare at the monsterous blade for a few seconds and then he asnwered the question.

"It's an ancient sword, over five thousand years old. It was said to have been made from a turtle demon's hide. The sword itself is alive. Many who have tried to take it as their own were eaten by Samehada because they weren't worthy." Bly looked slightly disgusted at the last part while Aayla outright frowned at the sword's bloody past.

Aayla pushed those thoughts from her mind and decided now was as good a time as any to ask him about his abilities. She still wondered how he was able to sense Barriss's death.

"So now that we are in a safer location, are you going to explain to us about your powers?" Bly tore his gaze from the blade and focused on Naruto. Naruto felt both of their eyes on him and he sighed. He was starting to miss when it was just him and Samehada... Scratch that. The damn sword was annoying.

"People from my planet have the ability to harness an energy source called chakra. Chakra is the base of all life in the universe. It is a combination of phyisical and spiritual energies. Those who have trained to sense it can feel the life forces around them." Aayla and Bly were confused when he said this. But they held their questions until he was finished.

"We used chakra to manipulate the elements to use them in battle. We were able to create blades of wind and Dragons from water and fire. We could move the earth itself." Bly noticed how he kept using past tense and was only more confused. Had something happened? He had never heard of a people who could do such things, so something had to have happened.

Aayla came to a similar conclusion but she voiced her questions. "What do you mean could? I've never heard of a species able to preform such feats. Either your lieing or something happened. Which is it?" Naruto was silent for what seemed like forever. Then he turned and started to leave the room. He spoke one last time before he left.

"War."

This caught both Bly and Aayla off guard. A war that wiped out an entire planet? It had happened before, but only in the earliest years of the Republic. Bly felt he was pushing to much. The way Naruto walked and talked...It was similar to that of an old veteran. Aayla however wasn't statisfied and followed him to the bridge. Bly sighed and sat down to finish his meal, but before he could he heard a whine.

Bly looked up and saw Samehada with a pout, begging for more food. It was really disturbing, especially with it's teeth. He put on a stern face and prepared for the worst.

"No, bad sword."

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Bridge, Forward onto Dawn

Naruto was sitting in the captain's seat. He didn't know why, but he felt the need to trust the beautiful Twi'lek. He couldn't be falling for her. He had just met her and he would only be hurting himself in the long run. His peace was disturbed when said woman walked in. She had a stern look on her face with her arms crossed. He raised an eyebrow at this. It felt like he was a child being reprimanded.

"Tell me the whole story of how your people were destroyed. I've never heard of any people able to do what you said." Naruto was starting to get annoyed. He wanted to tell her but his heart had been hurt too many times for it just to be that easy.

"Why do you care? This isn't any of your business." Aayla was angered by this, and all of the pent up feelings she had been building were let out. First she felt the masive blow in the Force from all of the death, then she was being drawn to him for some reason. And he had the gall to say what he did.

"Why do I care? I don't know honestly! For some reason the Force is pulling me towards you and I've never had these feelings. It's so confusing and then...oh Force, all of the death. I felt each of them become one with it." Then she turned into a blubbering mess. Tears streamed down her face and her words were jumbled as Naruto sat there shocked. Bly was outside the doorway, unseen, with a grim face.

Before she knew it, Aayla was enveloped by some warmth. When she opened her eyes she saw Naruto hugging her, not saying a word, but he was comforting her. Something that had become foreign to him. She felt right, like this was the way things were supposed to be. She just stopped thinking and started to cry into his chest, getting his coat wet with her tears.

Bly gave a small smile outside and started to walk back to the cafeteria when his path was blocked by Samehada with the same disturbing pout. He shivered and just gave up. The damn thing was too much trouble to deal with right now.

"Fine, let's go get some food. Be quiet though." If it heard him Samehada didn't give any recognition as it bolted towards the cafeteria.

Naruto didn't know why he did it. Hugging her just felt right to him. For the first time in years, he felt happy, content. He was at some form of peace. Then a dark voice from the past crept up.

"You know kit, I could make it so you could stay with her." Naruto's right eye widened then narrowed.

'What do you mean Kurama?' He asked back in his mind. He never let go of Aayla because it would alert her.

"I mean if you mark her as your mate then she would only die when you die. And if she died then you would die. Just think about it." And the Demonic fox retreated back into the depths of his mind.

Naruto was shocked out of his mind. He was really angry at the bastard for not telling him sooner but he could talk to him later. Right now he just wanted to enjoy this moment.

Aayla felt her heart skip a beat when he first made contact with her. She knew what the feelings ment. She was falling for him. He saved her then comforted her in her time of need. She felt at conflict with the Jedi code but the feelings made her feel at peace with the galaxy.

When she had stopped crying she still held on to him as if he were the pillar holding up her world. Naruto spoke in a soft tone with warmth in it.

"You wanted to hear the story of my people? Well listen good because it's a long and sad story." Aayla blushed so much her face was turning bright red when he picked her up and sat down in his seat with her in his lap. Her arms were around his neck as she snuggled into his chest.

Naruto was slightly uncomfortable with this, but that came with ignoring your emotions for years.

"It all started on the day I was born..."

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Hours later

Aayla was shocked. No shocked wasn't the right word. More like overloaded. Bly wasn't fairing much better as he was back outside leaning on a wall as he listened to the story.

Naruto was five thousand years old. A demon sealed inside of him kept him from dieing. His world was destroyed by cataclismic war after war. He was the last of his people left in all of the wide galaxy. His left eye was something called the Sharingan, which was given to him by a dieing teacher. He could manipulate the elements to his command. Not to mention that he had several swords that could hold up against a light saber.

Aayal could tell it was no lie. The haunted look in his eye told her that much. And he had shown her his Sharingan. Naruto sighed before lifting her as he walked towards the room he had given her. Bly started to freak out and struggled to make it to his room before they reached him. Naruto walked into Aayla's room and laid her down and started to walk out.

She wimpered a little. "Please could you stay with me tonight?" She asked in a whimper after he had set her onto her bed. Naruto raised an eyebrow and Aayla blushed.

"Not like that you ass. I just don't want to be alone tonight." Naruto nodded and took off his coat and his boots. Aayla blushed slightly when she saw his muscled form, but what took the cake was when his mask came off. He had an angular face with no scars, but he had these strange whisker marks. He laid down next to her. Before he could roll over and face the other way she clung to him and buried her face in his chest. Her lekku were curled in content.

It took Naruto quite a while to get comfortable.

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The next morning

Ayala woke feeling better than she had the day before. She hugged her warm pillow tighter until she heard a small groan. Her eyes snapped open as she saw Naruto gazing at the ceiling. He grunted and spoke in a gruff voice.

"You sqweeze in your sleep." She blushed and tightened her hold again. This resulted in another grunt and she smirked before laying her head back on his chest.

"Pillows don't talk." Naruto had a small smile as he hesitantly hugged her back. Someone cleared their throat, snapping the two out of their relaxation. Aayla blushed like crazy while Naruto looked mildly annoyed. Bly had a smirk on his face as he leaned against the door frame.

Bly had forgone his clone trooper uniform and armor. Now he had on a black armor plated chest with camo fatigues on underneath that. He also had on several armor paddings around his joints and black boots on. Naruto lazily raised an eyebrow at that. Bly snorted at the look he was getting.

"You said help yourself and I did. I can't go around in my old uniform anyway. The monitor said we'll be reaching where ever we're headed in about three hours."

Both looked at Naruto expectantly as he got back into full gear. Aayla was already dressed so she didn't need to change since she didn't have any spare clothes. When they reached the bridge Aayla had had enough.

"Well, are you going to tell us where we're going?" Naruto looked up from the controls and spoke with a small smirk on his face.

"All you had to do was ask." Bly's eye was twitching and Aayla muttered ass. Naruto smirked for a little longer before getting serious.

"There is a safe haven for some of your younglings on one of Madalore's moons. We're going to get them before the Empire does." Bly nodded and went to the Armory to check out some more weapons he wanted to try out.

Aayla stood there while Naruto spoke again. "You want to know how I know this?" She nodded and looked expectant. Naruto however didn't miss a beat.

"I happen to have a very good spy network. That's how I knew about Order 66 and this particular safe haven." Aayla gave in to his logic. Being around as long as he has been, well you tend to pick a few things up.

"I figured you might want to make sure they were alright before we moved on." She gave a small smile at his thoughtfullness. Aayla had a small blush as an idea came to her head. Before he knew what was happening Aayla had given him a peck on the cheek and ran out of the room. Naruto couldn't but let out a smile at that.

Things were looking up for him. Finally.

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Jedi master Shaak Ti nad her Jedi Padawan Maris Brood had escaped the purge that was Order 66 and had been watching over twenty two younglings since it had happened. ShaakTi herself was a Togruta and Maris was a female Zebrek.

They were on one of Mandalore's moons which was never used or visited very often. All they could hope for was a miracle.

So when a ship started to descend towards them that was armed to the teeth, well they were very cautious. Shaak Ti turned to her padawan and started to give orders.

"Maris, take the younglings inside. If something happens then run. I'll hold them for as long as I can." Maris looked ready to object to her master's order but the look she was giving her left her with no choice.

As she went inside the cave Shaak Ti ignited her green light saber and prepared for the worst. As the ship landed the hatch opened and when it had fully descended a female figure was walking down the ramp.

Her eyes widened when she saw who it was. Aayla bowed to her and spoke in a happy tone. "Master Ti, it is good to see you. I was rescued on Felucia and my rescuer told me of this place. I had hoped we would find you before the Empire."

"What do you mean your rescuer?" Shakk Ti asked in a cautious tone. Aayla spoke quickly as to relieve her of he doubt.

"He saved my life from the clones that almost killed me. He is still on the ship but we have enough food and provisions for as many as you may have." Shaak Ti wasn't totally trustful but if Aayla trusted him then she really didn't have a choice.

"Maris, bring the younglings. We're leaving." Maris was shocked but didn't question her master and started to heard the children into the space ship.

When they were on board Shaak Ti turned to Aayla and spoke in a neutral voice. "So who is the one who rescued you?"

"That would be me." A voice said behind her.

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Well hoped ya liked it.

Read, Review, Flames will be used to roast marshmellows.

Cya this is Razor.