AN: I don't own Naruto, or Star Wars

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38 BBY – Current Year (Naruto is still eleven years old)

Chapter IX:

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Plagueis looked around from his vantage point in the hideout at all of the Naruto's that were in the room and working on a variety of projects. The shadow clones were divided up into groups and each group was working on a specific technique. One group was working on chakra flow and putting it into a weapon. Another group was doing various chakra control techniques for medical ninjas from information obtained from Amachi's mind. Several giant shuriken were being telekenetically moved around one area of the hideout by at least three clones. Each clone was controlling two shuriken at once in preparation for a pair of new weapon that another Naruto was designing. The last group of clones were reading through a large number of scrolls that were copied from the library.

So far, their plans for getting back to the known galaxy were coming along faster than Plagueis had anticipated. For the most part, he had stepped aside to give Naruto more leeway in making decisions and gave him occasional tasks to test him as well as advice. As long as the ship remained safe then everything would be fine and he made sure that nothing major had happened to impede them. Plagueis expected far more complications and bigger mistakes by his student but nothing had been a set back for them. Naruto made plenty of mistakes but all of them were minor and he had learned from them.

It was a tactic that he used when teaching Sidious. He would normally severely punish failure and mistakes but he was far more lenient with Naruto than Sidious. Plagueis was also unable to do much with his current condition and punishment was out of the question anyway. The last thing he needed was his newest student plotting against him. Plagueis could also tell that there would come times in the future where Naruto would be on his own or separated from him and it was best to make sure that he could plan and work separately but for the same goal.

Turning his attention to the real Naruto, who was meditating nearby and coordinating the clones, Plagueis had many thoughts concerning the 'ninja' of this planet. From the information and observations that he and his student had gathered, Plagueis found himself with many more questions than answers. He was still trying to figure out how Chakra worked and changed the world around a ninja as well as influenced the body.

While jedi could make themselves faster with Force run, ninja seemed to become just as faster or faster and sustain it for longer while also possessing far more stamina than he believed humanly possible. Plagueis still wasn't sure just how strong they could become either. He had Naruto undergo many different training methods that even included attaching weights to his arms and legs but it never seemed to produce a cut off. Naruto just kept adjusting to the weight and getting stronger. It made Plagueis question whether there was a limit. From what he learned at the academy, the Yondaime was apparently so fast that he became a yellow blur of motion and Senju Tsunade could destroy rocks and buildings with a single punch with her chakra enhanced strength. It made him wonder where the physical limits of the body stopped and chakra took over to augment and produce the desired results. How fast and how strong could a ninja be without using any chakra?

Strength on that level was something that a jedi could never do. They couldn't enhance their strength with the Force. They could augment the body for a brief period but Plagueis had never heard of a jedi using the Force to increase their physical strength to lift heavy objects. This was something that he had recently starting working on with Naruto and a group of clones in another room of the hideout had already been allocated to that task. Plagueis found it very interesting that the more he found out about Chakra, the more he questioned what was possible with the Force.

The jutsu from the Scroll of Seals were incredibly interesting and Plagueis was impressed with how many different 'kinjutsu' that ninja had developed. At this point, Naruto had only learned the jutsu that they would need or that they both wanted to investigate. They had only managed to examine a portion of all the techniques that the scroll had to offer.

Fuinjutsu was also something that greatly interested him as it was slightly similar to Sith runes. They could both do incredible things but their appeared to be little overlap between the two. Sith runes couldn't seal objects into a temporary pocket dimension to hold them there until called back by unsealing the item. Such a simple technique used by ninja everyday was still hard to grasp for Plagueis. It was so archaic with the paper and ink, yet on the other hand it was an incredibly advanced dimensional and time-space technique that was made completely simple and for everyday use. It wasn't even technology but created from simple materials and some chakra, yet it trumped anything that the rest of the galaxy possessed for storage purposes. The whole process intrigued Plagueis to an incredible degree as it pulled together several of his interests. The more they discovered about fuinjutsu, the more interested Plagueis became.

Medical ninjutsu was another interesting discovery, especially when Naruto absorbed the knowledge from Amachi. Plagueis was intrigued at how Chakra could be used to heal as it was more advanced than what could be done with the Force. Healing with the Force could be rather tricky and only a few were able to use any healing techniques and they didn't seem as versatile as with Chakra.

Looking toward a nearby clone Plagueis watched as that Naruto looked over the maps and memorized anything that might b useful for his journey to Wave Country to find Gatou of Gatou Shipping Incorporated. The plan was rather simple and made even easier by Gatou himself. The billionaire shipping tycoon had isolated himself on a country that had no ninja and only a small population. The country itself was barely noticeable on a map and Plagueis had a feeling that he knew why the rich man was there in the first place.

The reason for the planning was the lack of information about the location they were headed. The mission itself didn't require a large amount of planning but it was always good to have a backup plan and escape route if things went bad. The escape route was rather obvious as the ocean would provide Naruto all the cover he would need with the ninjutsu that he possessed. While most countries had detailed maps, Wave Country was barely marked on most maps that Naruto could get his hands on and a detailed map of the Wave was impossible to find in Konoha. The best that Naruto could do was a map that detailed the eastern region of Fire Country and that had the most detailed view of Wave that could be found. Only a single town in Wave Country was marked with a dot and it didn't have a name. Wave didn't appear to be rocky and seemed mostly flat. On the best map they had, Naruto counted around twenty islands that were all very close to each other and on the other maps he had looked at so far, it was always drawn as a single island instead of multiple islands that were close together.

Plagueis noted a change in his real student meditating near him and knew that his student had just received information from one of his clones and now the process of absorbing all the collective training would begin. Naruto assumed a meditative position and one by one, each group stopped what they were doing and disappeared in plumes of white smoke.

Although Naruto had his eyes shut, Plagueis could see the rapid eye movement as the effects of Force Comprehension did its work. The Force ability was used to absorb and interpret large amounts of information in a short amount of time by speeding up the person's neural processes. A caveat of this technique was that the user had to have some knowledge of whatever they were comprehending and they couldn't absorb knowledge they knew nothing about. However, since Naruto was absorbing the knowledge directly from his clones, that problem was avoided because his clones were him and therefore he could learn anything using this method.

The process was finished and Naruto opened his eyes and they quickly refocused on the hideout he was sitting in. Naruto went to get up but wavered and collapsed back to the ground. He was still conscious but disoriented. Plagueis merely shook his head as his student should have known by then that the mental fatigue from his shadow clones would take a little while to wear off. The first time it happened, Naruto had used a very large amount of clones and had them dispel all at once. He was unconscious for three hours and that was the reason why Plagueis had imposed a limit on how many clones could be created at once.

Naruto had gotten a short break from missions and would be taking Plagueis to Wave Country the following day. He would be leaving a shadow clone in the village but it wouldn't last for more than a few days so there was a small window of opportunity for completing the mission.

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Nearing Wave Country, two days later

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Naruto arrived at the coast exactly where he had planned. Standing on the shore, he instantly noticed the bridge that stretched a portion of the distance from Wave Country to Fire Country. 'That wasn't on the map or in anything that I heard about.' Naruto thought and Plagueis added, 'This country seems to be so far off everyone's radar that they don't have regular contact with it or really care what happens. This should help us.'

Naruto agreed with his master's thoughts and proceeded to move out past the waves of the shore and to steadier waters. Once there he was quickly swallowed by the water. Why run on top of the water when he could move unseen by traveling through it.

While Naruto moved through the water, he never saw a small boat that had just disembarked from Fire Country for Wave Country. Two people were on board. The taller one carried a very large sword on his back.

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It took only a few minutes while in the main town of Wave Country to find where Gatou lived. The shipping mogul lived near the docks in a large mansion that was well guarded. Gatou apparently built numerous warehouses and enlarged the port in Wave to accommodate his larger ships. Naruto bypassed all of the workers and hired guards as he made his way into Gatou's compound.

The mansion was rather easy to break into as it had many rooms and all but a few were currently occupied, nor did it seem that they were ever occupied. Naruto felt the life-signs in the area and made his way to the only group of them in the building. Walking up to the door of what he thought was the study, Naruto waved his arm at the two samurai standing guard at the door and said, "I have an appointment. Stand aside." and both guards put their swords back fully in their sheaths and replied "You have an appointment, we'll let you pass." and Naruto did just that but not before saying, "I was never here and you should both take your lunch break."

Walking into the room, Naruto immediately caught Gatou's attention, "Who the hell ar..." but he was silenced by Naruto's use of Force Grip. Whiling holding the frightened man with one hand, Naruto moved to him and then reached out his other hand to begin the first part of the plan.

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"This appears to be the place, Zabuza-sama." stated Haku while they both looked at the compound in front of them. Zabuza merely grumbled a response. This was the only job that he could secure that would provide protection form the hunter-nin of Kiri. It was isolated and considering how few people ever came to the country, they likely wouldn't encounter another ninja. He and Haku had come to make the final arrangements with the client and the Demon Brothers would follow shortly.

They were expected and walked through the gate. Both ninja kept their eyes out for any sign of trouble or a double-cross which could be very commonplace to a missing-nin for hire. Nothing was out of the ordinary until they passed two Samura that walked out of the front door of the mansion. Neither swordsman seemed to be really paying attention and just walked right past Zabuza and Haku without really noticing.

Zabuza was instantly on guard as he knew that something was wrong. His first thought was that the guards had been put under a genjutsu since they seemed rather unresponsive and he glanced at Haku. She nodded and they both got their weapons out as they moved inside the mansion with haste.

It was still possible that it was a double-cross or a trap but it was even more likely that it was an assassination of their client.

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'Someones coming.' stated Plagueis through their link and Naruto opened his eyes and abruptly stopped the drain knowledge technique. It had only been a few moments since he started and someone was coming? It didn't make sense and using his own sense, Naruto found two signatures that were almost on top of him. He briefly wondered how he had missed their presence but he remembered that his master's sense was lessened because of his condition and he himself was distracted with the technique. 'It looks like we will have to do things a little differently, Master.' Naruto said over the link.

A moment later the door burst open and two Kiri ninja entered. Naruto removed his hand from Gatou as the standoff started. The ninja looked at him and Gatou and he stared at them. Before Gatou became lucid again, he knocked out the short man and had to dodge several senbon the next moment. With a large burst of smoke that concealed part of him and Gatou, Naruto stood with his sword unsealed but instead of staying to fight, he jumped out the window.

The larger ninja ran after Naruto while the shorter masked one checked Gatou's vitals to make sure he was alright, then left through the broken window as well. In the chaos of the situation, neither Kiri ninja payed much attention to the metal pyramid-shaped object that sat on Gatou's lap.

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Naruto ran on the roofs of the warehouses through the dock area. From the bingo book, he believed he recognized the ninja chasing him as one of the seven swordsman of Kiri. Naruto had never fought such a strong opponent before as the man was listed either at A or S-rank in the bingo book and he couldn't help but wonder how he would manage against him. He had yet to face such a strong opponent in any combat situation.

As part of the escape plan if things should go south, Naruto changed direction heading away from the warehouses and to the ocean. If anything happened, he would make sure that he could get away. He frowned however when he realized that the other ninja was catching up fast but that also meant that his Master would be able to complete the mission.

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Before Gatou woke up and after making sure that the ninja were gone, Plagueis's spirit form came out of the holocron. This was not something that he had expected his apprentice to do but it also presented an opportunity and meant that he could have a larger role in their plans. Concentrating for a moment, Plagueis's spirit condensed and then swiftly moved into Gatou's body.

Said man woke up in a silent scream before he passed out again. Originally the plan had been for Plagueis to use his mind control on the shipping magnate and Naruto would occasionally visit Wave to give Gatou further instructions and orders. That way Naruto could remain in Konoha and no one would ever notice he had been gone. Draining the man's knowledge would also give them all the information they needed on Gatou's operations.

Plans change though, and now Plagueis was going through the process of possessing Gatou. It wasn't transfer of essence but merely his spirit overriding control of the man's body and pushing aside Gatou's mind and will for full control. Plagueis wasn't sure how long it would last until the body started failing from the strain as he had never tried to possess any before, especially not someone without midi-chlorians. He had been curious for quite some time to see if possession was possible on someone of Naruto's planet by a Force user like himself; considering the differences in energy and the fact that chakra repelled the Force on some level. Plagueis had been hesitant to try it on someone in Konoha, especially a ninja with larger chakra reserves, and risk being discovered or have another unexplained death in the village.

However Gatou wasn't a ninja and only had civilian amounts of chakra that were never used and Plagueis could inhabit the body while not effecting his already limited Force power that he had in his current form. He would have to channel the Force from his spirit, through Gatou's body, but it was possible. Checking the progress, Gatou's mind was being pushed asdie to make room for his own and it seemed the process would be successful.

'This should work out nicely. After the process is complete I will need to set up communication with Naruto and deal with the two kiri ninja.' thought Plagueis as he started looking through Gatou's memories to figure out everything he would need to know in order to impersonate the short man and take over the shipping company as well as the criminal activities.

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Naruto jumped to avoid the thrown zanbato as it spun past him and embedded itself into the wooden pier of the dock. Zabuza's figure appeared in a burst of speed and stood watching Naruto from the handle of his sword. They were each sizing the other up, Naruto on the surface of the ocean and Zabuza on his sword. Naruto ignored the killing intent coming from the swordsman and could feel the second Kiri ninja hiding in the piers. He thought that they were waiting for him to let his guard down or see if he was affected by the killing intent so he made a seal under his cloak and created a water clone under the water and it swam over the second person's location.

Zabuza stared at the short cloaked assassin and wondered not only who he was but how he was able to shrug off the killing intent being projected onto him. He would have thought the brat was around ten years old but the he didn't seem that afraid of facing him. The heartbeat was slightly elevated but not terrified and besides being noticeably tense, Zabuza could find no other signs that the ninja in front of him was afraid or not prepared for a fight. He also noticed the interesting sword that the boy had and wondered if he could even wield it properly.

Naruto watched Zabuza and took an opening stance of the Form VI of lightsaber combat which was called Niman. Both hands were on his ninjato that was held in front of him with the blade downward at the water. Naruto found that he always moved toward that style of swordsmanship more than any other style that was taught to him by his master. It had no strengths but no weaknesses either and was created to be used with two swords/lighsabers which is eventually what Naruto wanted to wield. He couldn't give up on his ninjato but he also wanted a lightsaber so Plagueis had started working more on Niman which was a combination of four of the other styles of lightsaber combat.

Zabuza raised an eyebrow at the stance and jumped down to the waters surface while taking his sword with him and putting it on his back. Forming a single handseal, he said, 'hidden mist technique.' Naruto watched as mist came over the water and then enveloped the entire area of the harbor that they were in. Perhaps it was arrogant but he wanted to test his abilities with his sword as this was the first real chance that he had since its forging to face off against an experienced swordsman. He could have used the Force to surprise his opponent and possibly even finish the fight but despite the risk, he wanted to fight with his sword as much as possible to test himself.

Naruto didn't move from his stance and instead felt as well as listened to his surroundings. Using his ability to sense life-signs through the Force, he could tell exactly where Zabuza was. The opposing swordsman didn't seem to be moving either and Naruto wondered why.

A moment later his hearing picked up an attack heading straight for him and he ducked as a familiar zanbato emerged from the mist. Naruto struck back and moved under the man's guard to to cut him in half. His ears were greeted with splashing water and he realized that he was facing water clones, which explained why he couldn't sense them with his life-signs ability as they didn't have any and were just water and chakra.

Naruto killed several more water clones in the same fashion and noticed that the real Zabuza was on the move towards him. Closing his eyes, as they were currently useless to him in the thick mist, Naruto focused using his Force Sense and basic Farsight techniques taught to him by his master. Naruto quickly dodged Zabuza's swing but found upon retaliating, that his opponent was able to equally anticipate and block his attacks. Zabuza was both faster and stronger than him, but Naruto was able to keep from getting killed or maimed because of his master's training and his small size.

After being pushed back and narrowly avoiding strikes from Zabuza and from a waiting water clone, Naruto created a few water clones of his own to distract his opponent. he used this time to work on a different strategy. Zabuza had the advantage in blade length but that could be changed. Putting chakra in the vibration components of his blade, Naruto went back on the offensive.

Cleaving through another water clone, Naruto was forced to dodged as Zabuza swung to decapitate him. He quickly ducked under the slice but stuck his sword up, perpendicular to the water to catch Zabuza's sword on the swing. A horrible sound of grinding metal followed and he was thrown back by the force of the man's blow but was rewarded when he heard a 'plop' sound in the water which indicated that his strategy had worked, Zabuza's sword was now much shorter.

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Zabuza wince slightly at the sound of the blades grinding against each other and was about to wonder what had happened before he noticed that upon completing his swing, his blade felt lighter. The realization didn't hit him until he heard the sound of something dropping into the water. Retreating slightly, he moved into an area where the mist wasn't nearly as strong and examined his blade.

'SON OF A BITCH!' he mentally raged when he saw that the top third of his blade was missing and he noted several notches on the rest of the blade from the battle. 'How the hell did that happen!?' he questioned but then thought perhaps his opponents blade was destroyed as well.

Of course at that very moment Naruto emerged from the thicker fog and Zabuza could clearly see his undamaged sword and it seemed to be sparking with lightning.

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Naruto cautiously followed his opponent through the thick fog and into an area of the edge of the technique. His opponent was standing in front of him and when Zabuza looked at his sword and the feeling of the surrounding area changed. It became far more oppressive than it had been and Naruto could see a visible 'demon' appear over Zabuza that was directed at him.

Naruto had never felt such killing intent before and froze where he stood. This was much worse than what Zabuza had produced before and it felt like a weight was pressing down on him. He opened his eyes and could only watch as Zabuza charged at him with his zanbato readied for a bisecting swing. The figure of a demon above Zabuza never dissipated and Naruto couldn't understand what it was he was seeing. Genjutsu, some other kind of illusion, or was it all in his head? If he could figure out what it was, then he might be able to break the technique that was being used against him.

As Zabuza neared him, Naruto felt like he wasn't going to be able to live past that moment, but then something happened. He felt a sharp pain travel through his hand and up the arm that was holding his sword. The pain brought him back to the battle and he narrowly ducked under the blade that sliced the air over his head. Naruto however wasn't prepared for the follow up low kick that sent him skipping and then skidding across the water to a stop in the thicker fog. Managing to keep himself on top of the water, Naruto was back on his feet and aware of his surroundings as well as the pain in his chest from the kick.

A moment later, Zabuza pressed his advantage and tried to create an opening to finish Naruto off or deal any blow that he could.

Naruto was getting more and more angry as the fight continued. He still couldn't believe that he froze. It if wasn't for whatever his sword did, then he would have died. 'All the training and I nearly died in the beginning minutes of my first real battle.' he thought while evading the heavy and fast strikes of his opponent. Naruto had yet to use any offensive Force powers but he wasn't thinking about that. He wasn't about to die there as he would fail his master and ruin their plans and his dream of seeing the galaxy.

Channeling his anger, Naruto tried to hold his ground as best as he could. Zabuza still had many advantages over him except when it came to weapons. Naruto now knew for a fact that his sword was much better than his opponents. With successive attacks, he was making cuts and notches in Zabuza's blade and had already taken another sliver off the end. It was at that point that Zabuza started becoming more defensive as he was losing more of his sword to Naruto's ninjato and stopped his advance while retreating back. Naruto didn't think it was odd and pressed Zabuza even more.

Zabuza jumped back and increased the distance between them but Naruto wasn't about to let him use any handseals and using the Force, he pulled Zabuza towards him with the intent of cutting him in half with his blade.

Zabuza was surprised when he was yanked forward by an unseen force and was unable to block as the ninja cut through his blade and body. It was at the point where Naruto finished the swing that Zabuza's body turned into water and he heard something from behind him. "Water prison technique."

Water came up from beneath Naruto and formed a spherical prison around him. The water was much harder than normal and filled with Zabuza's chakra so it prevented him from escaping. Placing his hand into the sphere to keep it stable, Zabuza was about to gloat when he heard someone behind him.

Quickly jumping into the air, Zabuza was shocked when he saw the same technique that he had just used, try to capture him. The boy he had captured, turn to water as the clone and sphere of water lost consistency. Zabuza didn't jump very far and just enough to escape the technique. He had been using the technique for years and knew that it did leave the user open so as soon as he landed on the water surface, he charged his opponent.

Naruto was still standing where he had been and holding the handle of his sword in his teeth with his hands in the final handseal for the prison technique. Rather than trying to dodge the charging former Kiri ninja, he did something that Zabuza didn't except and jumped into his own water prison technique. No sooner than he was inside, then Zabuza's blade clanged against the steel like water.

'Clever little brat.' Zabuza thought and considered what he should do next. He wished he knew some lightning jutsu but that was not the case and had to think of another option or he would just wait until the boy ran out of air or chakra and was forced to end the technique.

Siting inside his protective sphere, Naruto considered his options. Looking to his sword he noticed for the first time that it was sparking with electricity which was odd considering he wasn't touching it, it was suspended in the water next to him, and he hadn't been channeling lightning chakra into it. The strangest part was that the short sparks of lightning weren't spreading that far through the conductive water or electrocuting him.

Deciding to investigate this later, Naruto continued thinking of his next move while he noticed that Zabuza was patiently waiting outside the sphere for him to come out for air. Despite the mouth coverings on the man, he could tell that Zabuza was smirking. Sifting through possible next moves, Naruto's mind came up with a plan seconds later and he went into action.

Standing outside the sphere, Zabuza smiled as he thought the boy had backed himself into a corner or sphere, so to speak. He wondered what would be the next move as he noticed the boy who was in deep concentration and then his eyes widened when the cloaked boy went through handseals and he had a foreboding feeling. 'Two techniques at once?' he thought and wondered how it was possible or what training the boy must have gone through to be able to perform a new technique while still holding the original.

Zabuza didn't recognize the sequence of handseals for the technique but could tell because of the bird handseal at the end that it was likely a water jutsu. The effects of the jutsu took hold when water not only started to gather from the surrounding air but it was pulled forth from below and created a large vortex around the sphere of water. Zabuza didn't know exactly what was going on but he knew to move away from the technique as fast as possible.

'Water release: water shockwave.' thought Naruto inside the techniques and water gushed out from the top of the vortex creating a huge wave a that chased after Zabuza.

'SHIT!' Zabuza thought as he glanced back to see a gigantic wave of water chasing him. He wasn't able to outrun the technique and even if he had gone under the water, he still would have been taken by the effects of the large wave. The wave crashed into the docks and Zabuza managed to latched himself onto one of the wooden piers holding up the docks. Underwater, he watched as many of the other piers gave way under the power of the wave but his post held and he wasn't washed away across the harbor.

A few moments later the water subsided, leaving a good portion of that area of the docks destroyed. Bruised but not too badly harmed Zabuza moved out of that part of the docks as he dodged the falling timber from the still collapsing sections. His fog had lifted as it started dissipating when he used the water prison technique. 'The brat's gone.' he thought but experience told him differently. The large water technique must have been a distraction to hide and perhaps even lower his guard by making him think his opponent had left the area.

The water was still agitated from the technique and Zabuza's hearing was unable to find any sound of the boy he had been fighting. Looking down below, he sent some chakra into the water to see if anything was down there. It was similar to using sonar but he didn't find the brat swimming underneath him.

"I know your still here." stated Zabuza to his surroundings but the sound of the choppy waves was the only response.

In an instant, Zabuza swung behind himself with the flat side of his blade and was rewarded with a thud and the weight of striking someone. Naruto grunted in pain and was thrown back by the hit. He tumbled and then skidded to a stop on the surface of the water near the collapsed area of docks.

Naruto used a brief medical jutsu underneath his cloak on his arm and side of his chest to see what was wrong. He didn't have the chakra control to treat the problem but he could still use the basic medical ninjutsu. The diagnosis was that his arm was broken and his ribs were bruised. If he had been struck any higher on his body with the flat side of the blade, then he might have been knocked unconscious with that hit.

Naruto tried not to let the pain get to him or show that he was injured to his opponent but he could instantly tell that Zabuza already knew how injured he was, 'I guess this isn't the first time he's bludgeoned someone with his sword.'

Zabuza smiled and chuckled at his opponent. For a young brat, the kid had some amazing skill and training. His swordsmanship was excellent and his jutsu was certainly more advanced than nearly anyone else in his age-group would be. This had been the best fight he had in a while and much more interesting than fighting hunter-nin from Kiri. He thought about stopping the fight as it wasn't often he came across someone of this skill and at such a young age but a part of him wanted to see how the brat would fight with an injury. The cloaked brat didn't seem like the type to just run away.

With one arm gone, both fighters knew that Naruto was at a greater disadvantage as he had only been able to stand up to Zabuza with both hands on his sword when he was fighting. Zabuza decided to take the fight to his injured opponent and charged.

Naruto knew he didn't have time to go through handseals with his broken arm. Zabuza was not that injured from the ninjutsu he used, but was noticeably slower in his charge. Preparing for the attack, Naruto grit his teach and put his sword up in a defensive stance of Niman but noticed again that the blade was sparking with electricity but more than before. 'Its as if its telling me something,' he thought.

Zabuza was soon on top of him and Naruto braced himself with the Force and chakra to withstand whatever attack but something happened which he hadn't counted on. His sword reacted and released two arcs of lightning that struck Zabuza in the chest. The missing-nin was pushed back a good distance from Naruto and the effect was likely compounded by the fact that Zabuza was still wet from Naruto's ninjutsu.

Naruto stared at the effect and his sword as Zabuza cursed and got up from the attack. 'I didn't use lightning nature chakra, which means that was Force lightning. But I don't know how to use Force lightning.' he thought and he searched his feelings for an answer. He hadn't channeled lightning through the sword or used Force lightning, the sword itself had produced the Force lightning.

It made sense as this was the first time he had used the sword in an extended battle and he really didn't know what all it could or could not do. Unfortunately he didn't have time to further examine the situation as Zabuza was now up and looking rather pissed as well as smoking and singed from the lightning.

Instead of attacking with his sword again, Zabuza started quickly going through handseals and Naruto put his sword handle in his mouth again while trying to produce seals with his broken arm. He managed to get the seals created but he was much slower than Zabuza.

Interestingly enough, both produced the same technique at nearly the same time and Zabuza was surprised because Naruto had used far fewer seals and yet had managed the same water dragon technique. Zabuza noted that Naruto's dragon was also bigger and was surprised a second time when it managed to push back his water dragon. Dodging, Zabuza got out of the way of the striking water dragon but it coiled and lashed out striking Zabuza and sending him into the destroyed docks.

Naruto let go of the sword handle in his mouth, caught it with the hand of his good arm, and charged toward his downed foe. This would likely be the end of the battle and he could go back to his Master before heading back to Konoha.

Naruto was nearly at the downed Zabuza when he felt an attack coming and tried to dodge. He was unable to dodge it completely though and several senbon pierced his body. Three in his leg and two in his broken arm. He grimaced at the pain and remembered the hunter-nin that was traveling with Zabuza. Evidently his water clone had been destroyed and now he stood facing the new ninja.

His arm was more useless then it had been as now he was having trouble bending it and knew from looking at the location of the senbon that it would be useless unless he removed them and waited for it to heal. 'I won't be able to use ninjutsu now, I'll just have to rely on the Force then.' he thought and studied his new opponent.

Instead of fighting, the hunter-nin went and helped Zabuza up while keeping his or her eyes on him. Naruto thought the fight would continue but a voiced stopped the fight.

"You might as well stop. I've seen what you can do Zabuza, there is no reason to go any further." stated 'Gatou' from the top of the undamaged area of the docks.

"Furthering the fight would only destroy more of my docks. Come, we have much to discus and you can leave." stated Gatou while looking at Naruto and secretly giving him instructions through their mental connection.

Gatou walked off and was followed by the two Kiri missing-nin. Zabuza was being supported by the other ninja. Plagueis had successfully possessed Gatou and given Naruto the instructions on what to do before leaving. He had been told to go back to Konoha and given instructions to build something. Naruto smiled slightly as the impromptu plan had been a success but he was disappointed that the fight had ended. Even against a fresh opponent he thought he still might have had a chance to win.

Pulling out the senbon, he then sealed his sword into the storage seal on the working arm. Naruto had one task to do before heading back to Fire Country as he was still working with a limited time period to complete this mission and needed to get back to the village before he was discovered missing. Before leaving Wave, he went to one of the many warehouses that had been built in the new docking area. His master told him where it was and what to look for inside it. It wouldn't take long as he only needed a few of the items inside so he pulled out an empty storage scroll.

x-x

Back at Gatou's mansion

x-x

"Any chance you can inform us what's going on? Otherwise I might just leave." threatened an aggravated Zabuza as he didn't like being in the dark about something. Gatou seemed perfectly fine for a man that was likely about to be killed by an assassin and Zabuza wanted to know what was going on and who the brat he just fought was and if he worked for Gatou.

"That was simply a test. Ninja are so hard to trust that I had to know you wouldn't back out of the deal or try to take advantage of the situation. It was also to test your skills. Rumors about strength and prowess in battle tend to get exaggerated and I wanted to make sure you're as good as I've been told." stated 'Gatou' while walking down the hall of his mansion to his study. He didn't seem fazed by Zabuza's anger or killing intent at all or was good at not showing it.

"So you pitted me against someone just to test me. What would have happened if I killed the little brat?" inquired Zabuza and he received a curt answer from Gatou, "Then I wouldn't have had to pay him."

Zabuza frowned slightly and he wanted to know more about the cloaked kid that was apparently on Gatou's payroll. Before he could say anything Gatou said, "We can discuss your employment later. Dinner is at six in the dining room, it would be best for you to come. You can stay in any room in the south wing." and with that Gatou entered his study and shut the door behind him leaving both Zabuza and Haku standing there.

Looking at the door, Zabuza narrowed his eyes but left with Haku to find a room. Gatou wasn't exactly how he heard him mentioned, which was a greedy and cowardly bastard. The short man seemed very calculating and manipulative. There would be time to get more answers later and he intended to find out more about his new employer and the boy that worked for him.

x-x

Plagueis entered his study and looked into the mirror on the wall. His frown turned to disgust at the reflection that looked back at him. This body was nothing like his original. His Muun body was tall, long-limbed, and graceful while this body he was possessing was short, stubby, and unbalanced. The features reminded him of an Ugnaught which was a pig-like humanoid and the thought made him cringe slightly.

Going to his new desk, he started getting his papers and files in order. He didn't have time to look at anything earlier as he wanted to make sure his student survived the encounter with the two ninja. He knew that Naruto would likely fight and not try to get away as it had been some time since the boy had a battle. Plagueis had arrived just in time to see Naruto's sword discharge Force lightning.

It was disappointing that he had missed most of the battle due to the body of Gatou having such stubby legs and being so out of shape. However, seeing the swords ability more than made up for it. The ability he witnessed was one that he had heard of which could be associated with Sith swords. During a battle, the sword would absorb the energy and conflict which caused it to build up a charge that could be released as Force lightning. Plagueis had been wondering for some time if the sword possessed any ability beyond what he already knew about it.

Naruto had yet to show any ability in Force lightning so it was a valuable power for the sword to have. Getting up and browsing through the nearby filing cabinets, Plagueis looked for all of the information on Gatou's business and holdings. He had access to the man's memory but Gatou didn't remember everything and Plagueis was filling in the gaps and looking through the company records, holdings, and accounts.

His students idea to possess Gatou was much better than just using mind control, although Plagueis was still less than thrilled with the body. With control of the entire business, Plagueis could gather, build, or create all that they would need to further their plans. He could also look into other interests that he had with Gatou's money. In short, he could now accomplish all of his secondary goals that he had come up with that didn't involve his student.

Before that, the main task he had to accomplish now was to setup communications with his student. Unfortunately, communicating with Naruto from Wave to Konoha was too far for him using their connection and telepathy. Usually distance didn't matter with the Force but that didn't account for his limited abilities as a spirit since, without a body that possessed midi-chlorians, his Force power diminished greatly the farther a person was away from his spirit or holocron.

Possessing a body allowed him to separate from his holocron but even then his Force ability diminished the farther he got from his holocron in his new body. This meant that he needed an alternative way to communicate with Naruto and had come up with just the method while heading to the docks earlier.

Finding the correct papers in the drawers of his desk, Plagueis pulled them out and started looking through them. He needed to familiarize himself with the operations of his new company as well as connections with the world of crime. Looking over to his desk, he frowned at the placement of his holocron. The device was sitting on top of his desk where he had left it earlier and though he was loath to admit it, the metal pyramid made an excellent paper weight and was more inconspicuous that way.

He frowned slightly at the thought and the fact that Naruto had to return to Konoha before someone noticed he was missing. He would need his student to place a storage seal on his new body the next time he visited Wave and then seal the holocron into it. In the meantime he would leave it on the desk as it was less noticeable there. It would look strange for Gatou to carry around the metal object with him wherever he went so he would not stray too far from the mansion or the holocron on his desk. Fortunately he had recently acquired a large group of pawns and even with limited Force ability, he could get them to do anything he required.

x-x

Back in Konoha, two days later

x-x

Naruto sat in the hideout behind the Hokage faces and unsealed the scroll he filled while in Wave Country. When the smoke dissipated, several devices and piece of technology were revealed. Naruto had taken a radio, computer, camera, television and a few other things that he would need. He was currently in his workshop area of the hideout where he kept his tools and pieces of technology from the ship as well as items that he had found on the planet. He already 'procured' a good sized satellite dish at an earlier point and now he could use it in something.

Getting his tools out, Naruto started disassembling the larger pieces he had taken from the warehouse, which had been full of crates to ship to different parts of the elemental nations. Naruto started meditating while he went through the boring tasks of taking everything apart. He removed the outer casings of the larger hardware and then took everything apart piece by piece. It took a little while but he used that time to think about what had happened since Wave Country.

His arm was healed and he had regained full use of it. Earlier he had examined both his memories and his sword to figure out what happened. He couldn't use Force lightning with it whenever he wanted and he assumed it had to do with the fighting with Zabuza as that was the most he had ever fought at one time with his sword. It had also been two days without any contact from his master. That was the reason he was in such a rush to disassemble the pieces before him and create a communications device to contact his master. He believed that in Wave Country, his master was likely building a very similar device.

Naruto once thought that he was alone in village. He only had a few people such as the Hokage and the Ichiraku's to talk to and even then it was limited as he couldn't spend all day with them. When he met his Master, things had changed. It was true that he no longer talked with the Hokage very much or the Ichiraku's but he always had his master with him or close by. Despite losing people to talk or be near, he had a single person that he was even more close to and that offered him more than he could ever imagine. Since the time he first discovered the ship, his ties with the village had been all but severed. It didn't really phase him which it probably should have since he used to dream of being the Hokage. However, when compared to the thought of seeing a galaxy he once knew nothing about, the title of Hokage seemed trivial at best. Plagueis knew everything about him and was always there when he needed help or guidance. He also told him everything that Naruto had wanted to know and which no one else wanted to tell him. That he was aware of, Master Plagueis had never lied to him, which was more than he could say for the rest of the village.

Thus he had never been truly alone, that is, until now. His master was miles away and they hadn't been in contact for several days. Now he was completely alone for the first time in his life. Even when the villagers hated him and looked at him like they did, it didn't compare to the crushing loneliness that he had always felt. That had gone away when his master found him.

'No it didn't go away completely, it got pushed aside but it was still there and now its back.' thought Naruto as he let his hands remove the last components from the computer and start on the television.

In the past few years he had a lot to deal with. The stolen items that he kept hidden, not making a mistake or getting caught while furthering their plans, and living a secret life known by no one but his Master. Through it all, Plagueis was always there for him. His Master had taught him so many different things and needed his help. No one else in the village really needed him or wanted his help and for that, Naruto was grateful. Even if he was being used to help further his Master's plans, someone was finally paying complete attention to him and didn't care about the Kyuubi. The village didn't need him or want him and never stopped giving him those looks.

Naruto had never been truly able to control all his emotions or feelings, he just put on a mask and hid everything. He was the student of a Sith Lord and he himself was a Sith so he should act like one. His master was counting on him and he finished disassembling everything. Examining all of the parts that he had, Naruto started work on putting together a makeshift communication device. He would use a small power generator that was on the ship to power the device. Normally the generator was used to charge up power cells or other items but it would more than serve his purpose.

The stress and loneliness seemed magnified now that he was alone. His Master had been training him for this by giving him numerous choices and letting him make his own decisions but Naruto hated the loneliness. Just sitting alone in the hideout was starting to get to him and he dove back into his work. He had most of the device assembled and was putting on the camera and attaching the monitor so that they could see and talk with each other. Naruto would use the satellite dish to amplify the signal and he had to make sure that the village wouldn't be able to pick it up.

He idly wondered if he should find others or at least someone else to talk to now that his Master was gone. He had given up several chances to form new bonds with people in the village, most of which were at the academy. There were people all around him when he was in the village but he didn't want anything to do with most of them. It was hard considering what he had done in the village. He heard people couldn't be friends if they kept secrets from each other. Ironically the closest people he had to friends were his two genin teammates and they were spies for another village. It was a sad thought but completely true.

"Perhaps I can find people in the galaxy. Its so big, I doubt I would be alone forever. Now that I think about it, perhaps I can still find people like that here.' he thought. It was just him and his Master right now but would it always remain that way? Eventually he would leave the village and perhaps people outside of Konoha and Fire Country would be different and he could make friends. The thought brought a sad smile to his face. It was at that point that he finished connecting all of the wires and turned on the generator. The screen flickered and he adjusted the dish and the signal to be the same as the one his Master was using. He wasn't sure how long it would take for Plagueis to create a similar device in Wave Country.

Naruto pushed down all of his useless emotions inside himself that he had started letting loose while working on the device. He pushed them so far down that his Master probably couldn't feel them and perhaps he himself couldn't feel them either. Naruto, like he had been training to do, used emotions when he needed them and he had been learning to wield them along with the dark side of the Force to great effect. There was no need for many of the emotions that he still had though, but he did still have them so he merely hid them as best as he could considering that didn't seem capable of getting rid of them entirely. It was a weakness that could be exploited by an enemy that was adept with the Force which was why he hid them. Once he was done, his features became an emotionless mask and his eyes looked alert, cold, and uncaring.

He would only need to wait for his master's transmission and he wouldn't be alone anymore. He had a feeling his Master had much to tell him and there would likely be updates to their plans and further planning to be done. Naruto idly wondered if his master had seen his fight and if he was proud or thought Naruto did well against such a foe. Pushing those thoughts aside, he started working on the plans for his new weapons and wondered when he would get the chance to make them considering what happened the last time he used a furnace in the village. He also had the plans for the fusion reactor for the ship nearby. Lists of all the parts and materials they would need as well as machinery were nearby as well but he still didn't know where they would start working on the reactor.

Wave Country didn't seem like a very secure or safe place. It was isolated, which was something they needed, but it was so close to Konoha that even a single ninja mission to that country could get them discovered. The place looked rather destitute when Naruto was there, he could feel the sadness of the people that he passed while getting information on Gatou's whereabouts and it was not a place he wanted to return to. He still had some trouble keeping out the thoughts and emotions of others when he was in a crowded area where strong emotions were present.

Naruto looked around at the hideout and thought that he might miss the rocky lair that he had helped discover, expand, and fortify.

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