Author's Note: Hello! I am super sorry about the wait, everyone! There is still a bit of buzz going on in this story, so I hope that I can keep it going! I love hearing all that you have to say! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Warnings: Language, OOCness and un-beta'd.
Word Count: 4,542
Itachi - now Revan - quietly pilots his ship to Dantooine, with the coordinates provided by Kreia. It took them almost a week and a half to get there and it was almost like Kreia wasn't even there. They all made sure to stick together, rather than risk being alone in case Kreia tried to do something fishy to them. But she didn't make any sort of aggressive actions towards them. She remained in one of the side rooms for the duration of their trip.
Revan, being the pilot, didn't leave the cabin much. He may have the knowledge of people who have flown across the galaxy a hundred times before, but he personally hadn't and wasn't going to take the risk of making some kind of miscalculation. That, and perhaps he didn't really know how to face Kreia and her cryptic words. He spent a lot of time over the duration of their trip to Dantooine thinking about her worlds.
Everything that she said. The pain inside of him that almost swallowed him - the sickness he had until recently? - how he didn't know where his home was, how he lost everything - even himself, she had said - and his name!
"You hold onto a name as if it is significant, all the while, hating it for what it represents." That is what she said. He could try and will away everything that she said, but that was the only thing he honestly couldn't ignore. To some degree, he really did hold onto his name - his family name, mostly - out of a sense of honor to his family even though he was a disgrace to them, but he hated what it made him think of.
It reminded him of how they were going to betray the Hidden Leaf village. How they were going to turn his home into a warzone. He wanted nothing more than to never have to fight again, but such wishes were unreasonable in the world that he lived in. He was a ninja, he head to fight. Especially since there was someone innocent in the world now that relied solely on him and his power, to keep them safe.
Sasuke.
With Itachi's parents planning on betraying the Hidden Leaf and putting Sasuke's life in danger, Itachi was the only one who would have the power to protect him. Even if he used that power to kill his entire family except for Sasuke. Itachi hated his family for what they did. Or, at least, what they were planning on doing. He hated that they would forsaken everything; their collective honor, overall peace and event he stability of their home village, and for what? A little respect?
No, Itachi hated his family for the choices that they made, but he couldn't hate the name. Uchiha still meant something. Perhaps not so much to Itachi, but to Sasuke and to the people of the Hidden Leaf. The Uchiha could still be great, and Itachi believed that it was only possible with Sasuke as it's leader. The Uchiha name would have been scorned forever if Itachi had stayed.
It was right to leave Sasuke behind. Much hardship lies ahead for him, but it isn't something that he can't stand up to.
Or, at least, Itachi had thought. When the Mandalorians appeared they changed everything. The very fabric that Itachi laid down was all torn to shreds.
But that didn't change who Revan was. Or would be. Right now, Revan was little more than an idea. He was someone who had no past beyond the beginning of this journey and he had six companions and a ship to his name. His new name.
"We are close now," Revan says, pulling himself from his thoughts to see the planet of Dantooine come into view. The planet itself was beautiful. If Revan had to picture what his own would have looked like, it would look something a lot like Dantooine. It made Revan immediately like the planet, but he knew that it wasn't his own.
"We're here?" Fuu asks, jumping up from the co-pilot seat next to Revan, pushing away her notebooks and pencils filled with Twi'leki. She has been eagerly learning from him for whenever she runs into her friend again, who is a merchant that goes around the worlds. Before they left Fuu made sure to speak to her friend, Auzak'fifi, that they were going to Dantooine and would be there for a while. If Revan recalls correctly, the young woman promised to go there next so that they can see each other again.
So Revan has continued teaching Twi'leki to Fuu for when they do meet again. And honestly, it's a good idea to learn as many languages as possible to become more knowledgeable about the words, their people and their society. Just knowing alone is a powerful teacher.
"Yes," Revan says.
"Good," Kreia says, making Fuu yelp in surprise and stare suspiciously at the old woman standing at the entrance to the cockpit. "I'm sure the Masters here have already felt you coming. Once we land, I will go and speak to them, and then they will want to speak with you."
Revan nods slowly, not saying anything. He waits for her to turn and leave before returning his attention to landing the ship without killing any of them. He may know how to do it, but this is the first time he's doing it in real life. Revan is meticulous. He's going to do everything right. Or, perhaps 'right' isn't the correct way to put it. It is impossible to get everything right, but the idea is to at least do it to his own level of satisfaction.
He's not sure on the person he's going to become - how these worlds and experiences will change and mold him - but it's going to be someone that he can be proud of. Or at least acknowledge. For so long, he had no idea who he was - in any sense - and after he killed his family, he didn't really think he had much time or even the right to figuring it out. He had done so much wrong - especially then - and now no longer was able to do the soul searching necessary to figuring himself out and so it seemed moot at that point.
But now, not so much. Now he has an entire slew of new chances that he never thought would be before him and he's not so certain he knows what to do with them other than help them forge who he will become.
Beneath everything else, despite this journey and the people he'll meet and the things he'll do, he is a ninja at his core. The arte of deception is key to not only their survival, but their way of life. As much as Revan wants to be the good guy that can help everyone, save everyone, but he's well aware that isn't the case. He knows who he is, and the lifestyle and choices he's chose, being the token hero just isn't really an option.
Well, Revan can't see into the future, despite what people believe and what his family wanted people to believe, so he will just have to live this life to the best of his abilities and be the person that these worlds help forge him into and hopefully one day this journey will lead him back to his home. Back to his little brother. Because no matter how much he may come to like who he is, he will never like himself more than he loves Sasuke and should the opportunity ever present itself, Itachi will reappear and return home without a second thought.
Revan walks out of his ship with his companions, all of them looking around at the lush green and life that surrounds them. Like Revan suspected, it did remind him of his homeworld. There was differences, which is to be expected, but it definitely wasn't a Tatooine, which served Revan and his companions fine.
Fuu gasps loudly, turning full circle, eyes wide as she looks around, reaching over and grabbing onto Han's arm. She gives it a few yanks, a big smile spreading across her face. "Wow! Look, Han! Everything is so green!"
Han nods slowly, more interested in eyeing the people, rather than the scenery. "It is."
"It's nice to be able to see something that isn't sand," Mabui says, bringing a hand up to shade her eyes from the early noon sun beating down on them.
Kakashi's sharp black eye scans the people, noting all of the merchants that have set up shop around them. The children traveling in groups of two or three, and even the groups of children following after adults. "Yes..." Kakashi says slowly, watching as every one of the adults dressed in long, unfamiliar robes turn sharply to look at them. Children, teenagers and adults alike all turn and look at them with wide, curious or narrowed eyes.
These are Jedi, Kakashi thinks to himself, shifting a bit closer to Mabui, who placed her hands onto Fuu's shoulders to calm the excitable girl down a bit.
"The fuck you all staring at, huh?" Hidan snaps, making Kakashi, Mabui and Han jump at the loudness of his voice, especially in Mabui's ear.
"Hidan!" Mabui snaps, glaring turquoise eyes at the lilac eyed man.
"Hey, shut the hell up!" Fuu yells back, hands flying to her hips as she glares up at the white haired man. "You're making a big ol' scene!"
Revan steps off the ramp and next to Hidan, casting him an annoyed look, but is actually thankful that whether they knew it or not Fuu and Hidan were now arguing in their own language, which no one other than they knew. Hidan knows galactic basic, but doesn't appear to like speaking it. He uses it to understand what people are saying and if he needed to, communicate with them, but he rarely needed to say anything back and he seemed to thoroughly enjoy being able to speak a language no one but a handful knew and watch as people stare back at him confused, not understanding.
Kakashi lets out a long winded sigh, shaking his head and turning away from the two bickering comrades to continue to survey the people around them. Revan and his comrades, if they weren't already the center of attention, they were now. Revan didn't really mind. He was used to people staring at him, and he knew that Kakashi felt very similar, but it was something that was to be expected where they lived because of who they are.
This is different.
They are not home. They are with strangers. People who are from entirely different worlds from them with entirely different morals was something that they ad to adjust to on Tatooine, and now again on Dantooine. This was definitely not the same place and way of life that they grew used to on the desert world. There it was a dog eat dog world. One either adapted and lived, or didn't and died. It didn't really feel that way here.
Revan was no Jedi, but his ninja sense were keen enough to alert him to the power of this world. He could feel it flowing around him. He wasn't sure what exactly it was about this place, but there was definitely something here that was very powerful. This place really did remind Revan of his own. Or, Itachi's home. Perhaps Revan didn't really have a home. This was all about new beginnings.
"Stop it, you two," Mabui says, putting her hands on Fuu's shoulders and steering her away from Hidan.
"Knock it off, Hidan," Kakashi says sharply. Hidan glares at him, but doesn't respond. On Tatooine, Kakashi has already shown that when he gets a certain tone to his voice, that Hidan better pipe down because Kakashi isn't going to take his shit. It's as simple as that. There was one time a few months prior that at every turn Hidan was antagonizing all of them, living up to his reputation for being a wild card and when it got to be insane, Kakashi and Hidan went out into the dunes. When they came back, well, all that was clear was that Kakashi was no longer going to take Hidan excessive crap anymore.
Most things, he'll let go. But go too far and Kakashi will give him that look or change his tone and even though Hidan looks disgruntled about it, he usually obeys. Then mutters something obscene about Kakashi under his breath that Kakashi would saintly ignore, which only seems to aggravate Hidan more, that Kakashi also ignores.
Which usually only serves to annoy Hidan more.
Revan turns his attention toward Kreia, who is walking out of the building in front of them. She doesn't hesitate for a moment once she exited the building to walk toward them with purpose. All of their attention turns to Kreia as she stops in front of Revan.
"The Masters here wish to speak with you," Kreia says. "When you are ready, come and speak to me and I will take you to speak with the council."
"You have been very illusive," Kakashi says. "Who is this 'council'?"
"They are Masters of the Order. Here they can provide training," Kreia says. "if they agree to take you on as an apprentice."
Revan raises a thin, dark eyebrow. "If?" he echoes. Could this be another dead end? In the back of his mind, Revan had hoped that this would be the ultimate avenue that would lead him back home and to his brother.
It wasn't like this was a waste of time, really, since it was come to Dantooine to follow this strange lead or wonder aimlessly through the universe to hopefully find any Mandalorians that could possibly know their way back to Revan's homeworld. Anything to see Sasuke again.
Anything.
"They can feel you," Kreia says, looking at Revan. "It would be blind ignorance if they do not accept you for training, but you will get training nonetheless. There is a path you must walk and learning the ways of the Jedi is one of many events, I think, that will assist you on your journey." Revan had so many questions. So many things he wanted to ask. He still wasn't sure what he thought about this whole Jedi thing, but he wanted to get home. If by meeting with these so called Masters and receiving some training is going to help him do that. Revan will do just about anything.
"How will I receive training if the Masters here turn me away?" Revan asks, tilting his head to the side. He had his suspicions but wanted Kreia to say it herself.
"I will train you," Kreia says simply.
"Why?" Revan asks.
"It shouldn't surprise you," Kreia says, tilting her head a bit, eyes still obscured beneath her brown hood. "I went to Tatooine's surface to find you. I feel great power in you. Because of closed-eyed Masters many students that are not found at the precise age are turned away even though they hold such power and promise. Destinies denied because of old men's foolishness," Kreia tuts, shaking her head. She crosses her arms over her chest. Obviously something in the past rubbed her the wrong way when it came to this. Curious.
Revan opens his mouth, about to ask another question when Kreia holds up her hand to stop him. "We have spoken enough of this now. We shouldn't keep the Masters here waiting much longer."
Revan wanted to ask more, but decided that there would be time later for those, and nods his head in agreement. "Okay." He looks over at Kakashi, one black eye meeting the other, before Kakashi nods ever so slightly and Revan turns his head back toward Kreia. "Very well, Kreia, lead the way."
Kreia turns around without a second thought and heads back toward the building. Revan follows after her. It's not a front door that they go through, but rather a ramp that descends down to a landing that levels out. It wasn't ominous though, like Revan originally thought it would feel. In fact, there was a yearning. It was a tug at his gut. A strange feeling that he can't seem to place.
There is... power in this place, that he can sense. It's strange. He usually senses power in people, rather than places, so this was exceedingly strange to him, but he's not sure if it's his own sensing abilities vamped up by his good health now, or it has something to do with the Rinnegan. Or, this place is so powerful that even someone as numb to the senses in places like Revan could feel it. Which is a strange thought.
The large - hall? Front door? - leads to a courtyard with two strange, small trees in the center with thick trunks but small branches. Revan pauses a moment to stare at them curiously before going to the left to keep up with Kreia who didn't even pause for a moment. Revan makes it to her heels and slows down, looking around at all of the old and worn out walls. He's not used to the building structures for it isn't like home or Tatooine but it is obviously very old.
They take a left and then an immediate right and into an open room with four men waiting on the other side.
Revan knew power.
He knew when he was standing before someone more powerful than him, especially if they aren't even attempting to mask such power from him. Revan is smart enough to be able to tell that someone has more power than him. These four men, and Kreia alike, were powerful. They were stronger than him, especially together, but there was something strange about their power. At least about the four men in front of Revan. There was something limiting about their power. Shackles that bound them in a way that Revan didn't understand. They were probably not easily bested, but their flaw was apparent, but not in a way that Revan's limited knowledge of Jedi could easily identify.
It was just... odd.
The flaw the four men before him had - or perhaps weakness is a better word for it - wasn't something that Revan could sense in Kreia, which made her more interesting, and deadly to the teen.
"So this is the boy Master Kreia has spoken to us about," A black man says, tipping his head a bit as Revan stopped next to Kreia in front of them.
"What is your name, son?" The red twi'lek asks, tilting his head a bit. His purple eyes were wide and clear, there is something about him that Revan immediately liked.
"Revan," Revan says slowly, looking down at the strange alien before him. Unlike the twi'lek, he did not recognize the smallest of the Masters. He couldn't be more than two and half feet tall with thin white hair over a light brown skin and green eyes. He had three fingers on each hand and feet. There was strange ridges to the bridge of his nose and his eyes were uncannily wide. He wasn't the strangest alien Revan has ever seen, but he was by far the oldest, Revan could tell. His eyes were very wise and his skin belied a long life.
"I am Master Dorak," the black man says, offering a kind smile, that appeared very genuine.
"I am Master Zhar," the twi'lek says, offering another nod.
"Master Vandar," the small, strange alien says.
"And I am Master Vrook," the bolding white man says, frowning a bit.
Revan takes a moment to look between all of them. Standing before all of them now, it was obvious that they all had some great power, but it was different from the power that he was used to. He didn't know how to compare it to himself. He didn't know, in terms of battle, who would win in a battle. Himself or one of these masters.
"What now?" Revan asks, looking at each man in turn with his single, dark eye.
Zhar looks over at the other Masters, being on Revan's far right side. "There is great power in this one. The Force flows around him, and through him, like a tidal wave. It is unwise to ignore someone this powerful right before our very eyes."
"I agree," Dorak says, being second to the left. "There is obvious power here. Trained, to a degree, but there is still a long way to go for him. What he needs is not something that can come with time. He may be older than what we would usually take in, but we have made exceptions before."
"None have ever been this promising," Vandar says, blinking one eye out of sync with the other. "The power here is tremendous."
"He may still be young," Vrook says slowly, "but he is already very powerful."
"Such power must be honed," Dorak says. "If left untrained, even untapped, it is a misfortune to the galaxy and himself."
Revan glances over at Kreia, wondering if it was natural for the Masters to speak about someone as if they weren't even there. She shakes her head very slowly before turning back toward the other men.
"I felt Revan through the Force a great distance away. I followed it all the way to Tatooine. Him being there breathed a form of life into the world that visibly faded when he left," she says simply. Now that was news to Revan. She hadn't mentioned anything like that before.
"Perhaps," Vrook says, sounding unconvinced, and looking it too, "but that could be many different factors."
"You cannot ignore how even Dantooine has shifted since this boy's arrival, Master Vrook," Zhar says, looking at the human displeased. "The Force flowing through this world is vibrating in a way that I have never felt before." A pause, then, "What about you, Master Vandar?"
The old foreign alien stares up at Revan with wide green eyes. "You eye, Revan, is it injured?"
Revan shakes his head. "No. I hide it because it scares people."
"How so?" Vrook asks, as if that was such a preposterous thing to hear. To even believe.
Revan hesitates, wondering how to explain it. He knew that he had to be careful. He knew that he had to watch what he said and did around strangers but his Rinnegan eye was simply something that couldn't be avoided. He figured, going into this, that he would have to reveal his eye to everyone. They didn't have to know everything about it or where it came from, but he couldn't avoid them seeing it. Not everyone, and not all the time. It was best to just get it out of the way.
Revan reaches up with his left hand and pushes the thin hair aside with the back of it, letting the pressure of the Rinnegan shine through. Vandar is the only one who doesn't outwardly react right away but it's obvious by Vrook and Dorak that they feel it, their bodies tensing up, while Zhar takes a physical step back, purple eyes wide.
"There is great power in that eye," Vandar says. "The Force flows through it as if it was a separate entity than you. Interesting."
Revan drops his hair back over his eye, using it to dampen the pressure that leaks out of the eye with the thin strands of hair. The men start to relax again, but they do eye Revan wearily, which he can sagely understand. He's come to learn quickly why Pein was so feared. He was very powerful, there is no doubt about that. While Revan didn't know much about his one-time boss, he couldn't deny the power that radiated off of him in the handful of times that he was in his presence but it was getting obvious to Revan now that a lot of that monstrous power also stemmed from the godly optics that he possessed.
It was very interesting to Revan. What he wouldn't give to be able to go back in time and talk to Pein about it - if having such an informative was something that would have even been possible at that time - then he would. He would love to sit down and learn all the things that Pein knew about the optic. Not to learn about his one-time bosses weaknesses but to just learn about the optic, itself. Zetsu didn't have much to say about Obito, Madara or Pein, other than what he said when they were first kidnapped by the Mandalorians, but he did talk about the Rinnegan a lot. At least everything he could. Or, perhaps, willing is a better word for it.
"So," Revan says, glancing over at Kreia, feeling her heavy gaze on the side of his face, "where does this lead us?"
"Your power is... undeniable," Zhar says slowly. He casts a sideways glance at the other Masters, Kreia included, to ensure his words were part of the group consensus. He must have gotten the feeling that they all agreed thus far, because he turns his eyes back to Revan and continues, "And it would definitely be within our best interest to take you on as an apprentice."
"I'm in?" Revan asks, dumbly, blinking a single black eye rapidly. For some strange reason, he thought that there was going to be a lot more hoops that he would have to jump through in order to get it.
"We agree to take you on as an apprentice," Vrook says, sharply. "How you proceed from there is of your own power and ability. It will not be an easy task set out before you."
"Apprentices far younger than you have a tough time grasping the concepts of our Order when they are far more open then your own, who is at least twice the age we would usually allow," Dorak warns.
"You must be prepared to learn and accept truths beyond your natural belief," Vandar says. "Our way of life is different from the one you were raised in." Revan couldn't agree more. He knew very little about the Jedi other than that they were keepers of the peace, which was the exact opposite of the world he was raised in, and had to wonder how he would be able to adapt and overcome.
And if he couldn't, how well he could fake it.
For the Reviewers:
1. 2ndUzukage: Thank you! I just thought that it would be an interesting slide into how his story as Itachi Uchiha would link to Darth Revan. :3 And, it's not one of the main temples, but the one in charge of the training of young potential Jedi, the Enclave. There will be more on that in the next chapter!
2. kautilya: Thank you very much! I appreciate it!
3. alexc123: I knew that the story couldn't rely too heavily on the things of the past just yet, and so for now there is a tentative peace between them. Kakashi is undoubtedly a smart man and left to observe unhindered, it's understandable that he would be to start seeing things that were perhaps skewered before. There is no more trust amongst them than what is required for a situation like this. All that Kakashi meant in that chapter was while he still didn't trust Itachi, he didn't exactly believe that Itachi was all bad. And that perhaps there was more going on than what he was seeing. Thank you!
Reader: You are right in assuming that by walking the path of Revan, his chances of crossing the Mandalorians is far greater, and more impactful, than if he was just being Itachi. The Mandalorians were the ones who found Gaia, so they are the only ones who know how to get back. But it's not going to be as easy as simply finding the Mandalorians and returning home. A lot of people are going to have to die first.
5. DBZx Skyfall: Thank you so much! Alright! One for Meetra, noted! See, I was thinking about that for a while, but I didn't know how to keep Itachi getting more and more powerful and still be able to keep the storyline in tact. I may bring up Obito's eyes again sometime in the future, but for now I have already passed the point where bringing him in is impossible, at least for now. Thank you so much for your input!
6. RadioPoisoning: I'm a big fan of the other characters. I really am. I like Naruto well enough, but it's hard to write a good Naruto that is so out of character. It's a bit ridiculous to me. It is possible, I'm sure. I'm just not a talented enough writer to be able to do it, myself. So I stick with other characters. Ones that I love dearly and watch more closely to be able to play off their smaller character traits, simply because I love them. :D I'm glad that you like the idea, a part of me was a little worried that people wouldn't like it. As for the Force, it's going to be a major player in this story - besides the obvious reasoning - and we will learn more about that later, but I can say this; no, the Force isn't specific to just Itachi. All of the others could probably use it, Itachi just had a lot more going for him, which is what drew Kreia to him.