SHGS - Chapter Ten: Yugakure

Disclaimer: I do not own, or profit, from Naruto, Star Wars, and all associated media.

A/N

"I got a very interesting unmarked review. In response I guess reviews will come as they will. I deliberately set the timeline after the regular Star Wars continuity so as to throw more light on the characters from Kishimoto's universe. I hope that as this story reaches a higher word count more people will read it through and review."

- Darklighter

"Thoughts"

"Speech"

"Abnormal sentient thoughts"

"Abnormal sentient speech"

Terra,

Yugakure in the Land of Hot Water.

The expanding Capital City of Terra.

751 ABY

So the first round is now over. By now Osvaldus has lived on Terra for six years. Four of them openly after he had slain the Jedi Knight named Finton Stetil without his Lightsaber, and in Danzo's full view.

They had engaged in a titanic battle with Force Lightning. He had been surprised and taken aback by the intensity of the Emerald beams that the Knight had put forth, and initially he had been subdued. The glittering daggers that Osvaldus had honed over numerous killings, practice sessions, and seething meditations had been suppressed.

But the Jedi Knight had shown mercy. Bizarrely that tended to be the way with those pure ones who had never really survived an encounter with a follower of the Dark. Osvaldus had struck him down in a rage afterwards. The man's sacrifice had allowed his partner to escape with the precious War-Yacht – along with several of the natives, and he alongside Danzo's ANBU squads had been unable to stop it from happening.

Outside the city continued on its stately tread. It had the vibrancy all new habitations had when faced with a sudden influx of crowds. The sullen faces of the water country natives were by now overwhelmed by the mixed bag of citizens from the Lands of Fire and Lightning. Along with a sprinkling of enterprising souls from the other allied lands.

Everywhere there was there were Shinobi. To a being they wore the ceremonial forehead protector of the world. A simple circle divided into four quarters by straight bars of etched lines.

Still it was possible to distinguish between them by the cloth badges on their arms, and by their weapons.

Looking on through the bay windows he could see that out of all the Shinobi who were milling watchfully through the throng his own missing-nin were poorly armed.

He had no control over the Quarter master's office, and this was plain to see in the inefficient and bulky personal shield generators his own troops had slung across the back. The units were so unlike the compact and combat friendly generators that perched on the bodies of the regular allied forces.

Osvaldus was nestled in the din and clatter of it all alongside the other presumptive rulers of the world spread.

To name it city would draw away from the accomplishments of the cut throats and intellectuals who had been pulled into his net.

Long ago Yugakure had stopped being a Hidden Village, and become a trading town. The people had a long memory. They remembered Hidan from Akatsuki who he had to keep out of the city, and they remembered the suffering they had felt during recent global wars.

He was not alone of course. He was not lording it over the rest, nor was he placed in a particularly high ranking position.

The Leaf and the Cloud dominated the apex points of the council chamber, and an equidistant distant away and to the sides sat the Kages of the Stone and of Water.

The Lands of Fire and Lightning had ceded sovereign territories in order to create the new military state. The bulk of the new forces were drawn from their ranks, and the Kages of Stone and Water were treated according to the troop numbers they committed to any given cause at a time.

Osvaldus did not have a seat. All the Kage's were aware and wary of his growing power - even Danzo who had sponsored him into this position, and so they sought to humble him.

Of course the old man of the group Ōnoki. The grizzled Tsuchikage was starting to fall into true old age, but he was still a tough old warrior. Osvaldus was late to realize it but he had stopped pacing and he had been staring. He wondered if the grizzled old warrior caught the malice held in his gaze in that instant. It certainly seemed like it, for the Shinobi tightened his posture in his high backed seat, and the bald plate of his head seemed to glisten in challenge.

Osvaldus worried about him because he kept one foot in with their alliance, but persisted in taking independent contracts with forces comprised from only his Village - disregarding the censures and interstellar trade restrictions the Council had slapped on his Earth home as a result.

On the other hand he was better off than some of the smaller nations which had followed the lead of the Wind Country, and as a result were being bled dry of their populations as 'normal' people fled the strictures of their hidebound Shinobi guards, and embraced the comparative hope of the ongoing industrial revolution.

"The first reports of our activities have begun to spread to the General Nets. As you predicted," there was grudging respect in Yagura's voice - Yagura who was the Fourth Mizukage in the Water's history.

Like Osvaldus Yagura was not what he seemed to be. The animosity in his voice sprang from the other Council upon which they dueled. The infighting congregation of Akatsuki members who secretly, and to a certain extent openly, governed all the Missing-nin who had taken up the amnesty.

Osvaldus smiled at Tobi his coconspirator. On that other Council he was not ranked quite as highly as he was out here in the open where he took the humiliating seat less station the Kage had given him, and stood over them as if he were a king governing his court.

"Yes. As I have been telling you all for many moons," out here he was not dealing with the deadly machinations of Akatsuki. He could afford to be curt with Yagura.

"What does this mean for the general effort? We are still a long way off being able to mount a strike at the Hutts," A was the brimming Fourth Raikage of the Lightning.

He was young and innovative - brash even. He had quickly grasped the logic behind offering an amnesty to all Missing-nin. And in truth Osvaldus thought that in burdening him with the responsibility of caring for them A had intended to let him fail.

The Raikage had wanted it proved to the missing-nin that despite their distaste for the fact they would have to be governed by the Kage, and that they would always be second class nin when contrasted with their loyal brethren. He had attempted to use Osvaldus the upstart outsider to drive home this position.

Now A had learned his lesson. He adapted to the failure of his plan, and was the only member of the Council that truly listened to what Osvaldus said, and didn't say. He was dangerous.

"I'm not yet sure. It's hard to tell with the media corporations," he answered honestly.

"They're a bunch of squawking merchants from the way you describe it," A snorted. On some things he agreed with the polished off-world politician who he knew was a deadly as a cornered Asp in a fight.

"That they are," Osvaldus bestowed a smile upon all of them. This was where the Council, and even Akatsuki, barring the treacherous Orochimaru, had made a grave mistake. They had not acted quickly enough in claiming his unique knowledge for themselves - while he had invested much time imparting his advantage to his followers.

"But trying to predict which way the news will blow is harder than trying to divine the future. Let it be said that the increased scrutiny will play its part. We should not act the part of cowards and deter just because of it. Nothing good will come from that."

Even though his people got the scraps in the current dispensation he had already gained permission to construct the planet's sixth stellar factory to arm his missing-nin just like the others did. The Lands of Water and Stone owned one factory each. So did the Fire and Lightning – although those two greater nations shared another installment in addition.

Osvaldus permitted himself a tiny bit of happiness. The fliers and technicians under his command – pulled from the dissatisfied malcontents on planet and greedy never do wells from worlds away – who had just the right blend of slavish loyalty and aggression towards authority meshed well with the rabid missing-nin he commanded.

Together his unit was quickly becoming the most formidable one the Shinobi had to offer - especially given the eagerness of his 'normal' Fliers and Techs to prove themselves to their gifted brethren.

"I think we should begin to track all interstellar transmissions related to us and the various jobs we take. Especially those related to the traditional bounty hunting guilds. You can be sure that they will not appreciate having new players in their back-yards," typically Danzo was relentless in his drive to protect a singular thing - his planet.

"Y-yes," Osvaldus agreed hesitantly. "That would be wise."

He had expected the leader of the Leaf to be most amenable to his needs, but the man was proving himself to be an intractable foe.

Damned… but famed will of Fire…

He had to hold back an unwanted grimace. His quest to dominate this planet wasn't proving as easy as he had thought. This was Sabaac on Spice – the hands everyone held were a whirling kaleidoscope.

Konoha

It took Naruto a couple of hours to realize that they had crossed into the New Year. That it had been Four years since he left Konoha. By this planet's reckoning towards the end of the year he would turn fourteen. Time passed quickly.

The fireworks startled him, and that was why his thoughts turned this way as he walked idly. His holstered Discblades did not look out of place here where such bladed weapons were common, but Shinobi had become rare in his home town, and he feared the noise they made as he starred would scare the few passersby.

It had gone past twelve. The revelers had gathered on the bridge which overlooked one of the medium sized streams which fed the Village valley.

The wooden structure of the span was at odds with the ancient protocol droid that trotted on weary steps. It was a servitor for the young family that watched from this vantage point. Konoha was vast, but so sprawled as to give an idyllic image. There were hundreds of scenes such as this laid out beneath the forest canopy.

The buzz of a mosquito hissed at his ear and he slapped at in impatiently. His eyes trailed away from the couple and their brood of angelic daughters as he wandered on. The sharp cerulean glints lurked beneath the heavy and unadorned forehead he wore.

The mother soon spotted him, and took him for the image he wished to portray. She took in the dangerous appearance of a travelling missing-nin on his way to Yugakure to enlist with the planetary forces. She gestured abruptly to her family and they moved on quickly. Naruto decided not to pay them much notice.

Going on two years ago Terra had begun to work closely with the Chiss as their primary enforcers in the region he gathered.

Although there were a few sparse pockets of alien intelligence scattered in the various Elemental Nations there were not that many Chiss. Most of them were clustered in their embassy - which Naruto gleaned was in the Land of Hot water.

He felt naked without his Form suit - stashed as it was aboard the Aventis in the concealing cave Ship had scanned out on a beachhead in the eastern corner of the Fire Country.

The spot was inconvenient as he could not access the larger towns in his native country, and their varied department stores. Naruto had been forced to stealth his Form suit and sneak into an isolated grain-milling stead to steal clothes.

He had felt remorse for the poor appropriately sized hand - a young man who had invested in soft and comfortable boots, and an easy fitting dark brown vest and pantaloons. He had not felt like a thief when he liberated the Aventis from Mara's clutches, but he did in that moment.

Yet now he had reached Konoha. If the evidence of the changes that had come to his home planet had not been spoken about in casual presence within his earshot on the way over then he would have experienced a deeper level of culture shock.

For over three years the populace had adapted, and now in the fourth year they celebrated their achievements.

The evidence of high technology was everywhere before his eyes. Artfully concealed within the natural surroundings for which Konoha was so famed. The merchant class had prospered, and there had been a reversal of roles.

The middle-class districts which had once proceeded upon a stately march into unclaimed and virgin forest now loomed over the noble quarters which looked ancient and picturesque by comparison.

The delicate crafted wood manses of those ancient lineages were bullied by the towering skylines of the Transparisteel rises that housed the poor quarters, and the sullen behemoths that housed the kings and queens of industry.

Naruto shook his head sadly. The Kage monument had become a tourist attraction. During the daytime he heard the twisted perversion of untold foreign dialects as he tried to navigate his way through his unfamiliar home, and a part of him empathized with the put upon nobles even though they had once regarded him as less than a street urchin.

Where are all the Shinobi?

It was the one question he wanted to ask, but the one question that would draw unnecessary attention. Naruto rued his lack of interest when Traya had sought to impart the ways of the mind trick to him.

He skirted the issue in the mornings when he bartered for food at the market. Although his galactic coinage was commonplace the hagglers were the same old thieves, and they would talk easily of the great new nation arising in the North East, but they were mum when it came to military matters - as it should have been. Things hadn't changed that rapidly.

Naruto adopted a rueful gait as he walked through the night. Light shadows were cast all about as the ongoing firework display continued its predictable course. The tentative threads of his characteristic smile began to weave themselves once more as he entered dense areas.

He was dressed in the mill hand's plain clothes, and he had his Lightsaber concealed in a convenient scroll he had purchased, and wore slung at the small of his back in the characteristic manner of Shinobi the world over.

There were not many military shops and the stock that they held was limited, but Naruto had been able to purchase some fairly cheap mail links. They were made of modern light alloys, and the weight of this reached him. Modernization had infiltrated the military works quickly.

Konoha must have invested most of her arms in the Forces commanded out of Yugakure he decided. It was the only way to counter the Cloud whose Nation was less populated, but who had a higher percentage of serving Shinobi.

He was now guided within the press. It was hard enough to walk as one willed within normal crowds, but the people out here in the center of town were ready for celebration. Eventually however he was able to head up to the North Eastern gates. From here it would be a long journey on foot, but he had to stay within character.

Better the people he encountered wondered what he had done to become a missing-nin so young as opposed to their wondering what he was doing with a space craft.

Times had really changed. The guards at the gates were normal people, and they let him out without fuss.

The road to Yugakure

It was a good road he decided. Seen in the light of day after his overnight stop at a ramshackle inn it compared favorably with almost any other road he had set foot on. The way was smoothed out, and he discovered that the journey would not take half as long as he had thought. During the daytime there were large public Speeders. These ferried people on the highway, and hardly encountered any competitors in the form of privately owned vehicles – although a few of these touted their horns proudly.

The public transport seemed to rattle as they pressed through. Naruto was seated squashed up against an older lady and a young boy. The pair of them complained about the harnessed edges of his Discblades poking at them so incessantly that he was forced to remove his harness and hold the folded material on his lap.

By this time he was no longer shy of the Galactic accent he had picked up, and his words did not come out stilted from lack of practice. He did the above grudgingly annoyed to have to displace his weapons, and he gave them back as good as they got. In truth they were lucky that they did not complain about the scroll at the small of his back. His temper was running thin, and he would only regret slaughtering all within after the deed was done and it was already too late.

They rattled on. It seemed as if the transport was going to stop at every single inconsequential small town on their way through and Naruto grew bored. His gaze was inexorably pulled to the window, so he gazed out.

The hours elapsed. People got on and off. Somehow as they neared the City suburbs the crowds on the vehicle seemed to increase, and when the density was ripe Naruto felt sure that they were close to the final destination.

He was right. Civilians began to stand up with that eager air that many hold at the end of a long trip. There were a few familiar stalwart faces that had been with him on the journey most of the way. They shared impatient smiles. They were all waiting for the doors to open so that they could be released.

The doors opened. Before Naruto could stride out highly experienced travelers dominated the space, pulling down their luggage and herding their large families, he was forced to wait as they milled and struggled through, but enough of them gained the exit for him to also proceed.

It was night time yet again. Reluctantly he acknowledged his stomach rumblings. From the brief taste he was getting of the entry station he was sure that Yugakure was massive. Large enough to accommodate the bodies needed to care for the huge Shinobi army which constantly set off from the Planet's sole space-sport in the center of the city. Even now when they should have been asleep the dull boom of roaring engines could be heard as the bounty hunting Shinobi teams took their ancient trade to the stars.

Naruto longed for the familiar solitude that he had grown accustomed to whilst he was swallowed by the magnificent Aventis. He missed the calm of Sha Kalan, and the isolated intensity of Traya's homestead on Yanibar. He still did not know what to make of his home planet. There had been a part of Naruto which was expecting to be confronted with the Idyllic setting of his childhood. A very large part of him had irrationally expected that they would all remain the same, and that the secrets of the galaxy would remain with him alone.

He shifted his shoulders uncomfortably. There were ample signs showing the locations of the various hotels that had leased out space in the ground transport arrival station. He followed one at random. There was no point turning up at the recruitment center late, and he had to admit that he still needed time to reflect and gather himself.

"Nathaniel. Nathaniel Uzumate," Naruto wondered whether people tired of asking his name as much as he tired of giving it. It seemed as if every conversation he had kicked off with the pleasantry, and he was starting to get sick of it.

"You're just another missing-nin with a pseudonym huh? Let me guess. You aren't going to disclose your Village of origin, or will you?" the interviewer's hostile voice barked at him. The man was a full and loyal Shinobi, and he wore the circular emblem along with the rest of them. However from the squad marking tied to his bicep you could discern his Village. The Shinobi had taken to using archaic symbols and references on the simple kerchiefs to draw attention to their origins – although there were a few squads who were truly mixed, and boasted of symbols that harkened to the heritages of multiple Hidden Villages.

The other men and women seated with the interview were united in their dislike for him as a missing-nin. The general ranks and lower level officers did not fully appreciate having a body of troops with nothing to lose to take on the risky assignments, and they chafed at the glory that the missing-nin gained in heated battle.

"No. According to the wording of the amnesty I don't have to tell you where I hail from," Naruto said simply.

"He sounds like a Fire Nation lad, or thereabouts," one of the perceptive interviewers stated. The others turned their attention to him briefly, but eventually their focus was back on Naruto.

"It's of no great importance," his primary interviewer said finally. The man shifted in his seat. The man was originally from the Cloud, and he was eager to be done with the slightly gangly youth and be done with it. He did not appreciate the hard glint in the blond boy's eyes, and he did not appreciate the fact that his Nation of origin had labeled him a bad egg at such a young age. Usually it took quite a bit longer for one to be castigated, and he did not know what to think of his superiors who had seen fit to include such types in the planet's workings.

"You realize there will be a test? We don't admit just any riff-raff," he said in dismissal.

"Whenever you're ready," Naruto said promptly. From the way he eyed up the interviewer he left no one in any doubt as to who he was challenging. His bravado brought a few smiles to the faces of the more accepting and seasoned Jounin.

"Not with me fool! Report in tomorrow with the rest of your kind – you can identify the place from the stink of all you vermin."

"Will you give me any specifics on this test?" Naruto asked as he turned to go. He knew that the man would not help him but there was nothing lost in trying.

"Find out yourself Nathaniel," the interviewer said petulantly. The boy had knocked him off of his stride slightly. Quite a lot of the missing-nin that turned themselves in were off-kilter and wary of the amnesty all being some elaborate ruse. Many of them were glad to have been given a reprieve from the implacable course of Shinobi justice, and they acted with appropriate deference and respect, but there were some – like the young boy he watched depart- who were possessed of a confidence the match for any fully loyal ninja, and these caused them all to be wary.

Naruto did not know what irked him more; the fact that he was having to parade around the galaxy swinging his false name Nathaniel, or the fact that he was constantly being delayed. Every day it seemed like he had to… wait for the next day.

He ambled into his hotel. The owner was a whirl as the man busied himself around the place. Naruto had chosen this place because he remembered the man. Believe it or not he remembered the man and his daughter – although they did not recognize the taciturn angular young warrior who graced their table at night and lodged in an attic flat they had rented out to him for the year.

It was the guy from the Ramen shop. Naruto did not remember his name, but he had been stunned to see the same firmly shut eyes and wide square face after he had walked in dripping wet from the rain – a dozen other rejected establishments left in his trail.

It turned out that the kind sir had been one of the first people to relocate to the city, and had spent his meager saving early on a cheap plot of land that had developed into prime real estate.

He had held out, and upon being one of the last early buyers to sell he had handed over his tiny plot for a sum that dwarfed the comparative profit of quite a few early movers.

With the money he had invested in his hotel. It stood proudly at a fork in the road in the southern part of town. The buildings here were constructed in a modern style that had sprung up and was of yet unnamed. In the backyard lurked the shed where all the heavy duty machinery was kept - objects such as the washer and even space to bring Speeders in for the resident mechanic. This backyard was in truth a backyard, for the new city had imported the horticultural tendencies of his Fire folk and melded it with the cool efficiency of the Lightning Country.

The building was round and extended many level above and below. This was a city built to be defended by Shinobi, so a slab of Straight Square concrete lay on the dome of the building, and on the domes of all its neighbors.

The only drawback was its position at the crossroads. There was always a bustling crowd outside. Meat hawkers and passer-by competing with honking Speeders and animal drawn carts – the mélange was a true clash of cultures, and it grated on Naruto's sensibilities.

He was thankful that he had been desperate at the time, and that he had pressed on inside. He was shy to introduce himself properly to the man and his daughter, speak less of ask for their names, but he managed to get by with murmurs and tilting his head away from them. He did not want them to recognize him, and he was even considering sheering his long curls so as to appear different, it would not do for anyone to ask unnecessary questions related to Konoha - especially not if they were the ones doing the asking.

He graced the daughter with a rare smile. She was manning the kitchens valiantly, and her rapidly moving form was visible through the clear glass as she ordered the servitors about.

The robots hastened to react to her commands and they were serving up a steady stream of ramen. The smell of the establishment's signature dish was what had drawn him in despite the stinking crowds almost half a moon ago now. Naruto was not hungry however, and he let himself up the stairs – unlocking the door of the private way with the key only permanent residents such as he possessed.

The girl did not notice him. She was obviously very busy, and as her father welcomed new guests who were staying for shorter durations, she martialed food for the seated residents who were having splendid discussion in the spacious and appointed dining area.

The light which had flooded the stair area bled away as he turned another key and entered his room. He would rest for the moment. He still intended to make an impression, and tomorrow would mark his first chance to do so in the proper traditions of his people.

Central Training Grounds (C.T.G)

Combined arms recruitment block 142

They all stood there in a line oppressed by the vengeful sun which gave the lakes of the Land of Hot Water their name.

They stood in neat unfamiliar rows - rows that were sorted for height with the shortest at the fore. Naruto lurked about a quarter of the way from the end of his bulky box. They were all missing-nin here and the hardened faces of his companions contrasted harshly with the thin faces of the men and women in the other two lines. These were intellectuals, and criminal types that had shown aptitude for the foreign technology. They would be the ones learning how to operate pilot the machines and operate the greater tech that would allow their unit to serve as one well-oiled machine.

Naruto noticed how they seemed ill on their feet, and how they bore angry red splotches at the neck or even at the base of their shaven temples. They had all received implants such as his, which he concealed under the collar of his chain durasteel vest, and if he had not been fortunate enough to recuperate in a tank of Bacta he would no doubt feel the same pain that they were going through.

"You are all shit, and from this day forth it is my right and my right alone, my right and the right of my officers, to flush you down the drain and out of existence like the traitorous bunches of has-been you all are and will be!"

The Jounin in charge of induction had a typical bellow, but he knew how to flourish his words. Naruto enjoyed the listen although he kept his face impassive and his hands firmly to the side. He had shaved his hair earlier in the morning, and if anything he looked younger. Sixteen or seventeen years old instead of eighteen or nineteen – in truth he was even younger for he was going to celebrate his fourteenth birthday at the end of the year.

"You shits now belong to me. I will do with you as I will. Listen to what I say – turn your provincial ears to my voice and maybe, just maybe, I will judge you worthy enough to join the rest of your brothers and sisters on battlefields untold.

"The time for fighting amongst ourselves is now over brother shits! Any one of you forgets that and he's out of here in a body bag, and we won't mark the field where we lay you. This is what we've trained for. They came to Konoha with fire and blaster. I'm not from there myself, and I never thought I would say this, but it's us versus them. Never you forget that, and never think your worth more to me than my shit, and we may just get along fine."