Chapter 10: Solutions Presenting Themselves
The group follows Anakin down another street and into a hovel. They enter a small living space as Anakin calls out, "MOM! MOM! I'm home."
HK-47 looks around, and shakes his head. "Statement: The unit would rather face the sandstorm than this disgustingly cozy home."
"HK, behave, or I'll remove your targeting programs." Revan scolded, just before a woman who looks to be in her early forties enters. Upon seeing the ragtag group of individuals in her home, amongst them her son, her eyes widen briefly before she starts walking over to them.
"Oh my! Annie…what is the meaning of this?" she asks.
The boy looks at her, "These are my friends mom. This is Padme, and…and er, I don't know the others…"
Naruto snorted, while Obi-Wan's whispered "Someone's gotta crush." to Padme had the said girl elbowing the Padawan in the chest.
Revan, forced to act as the responsible adult (as usual) steps forward. "I'm Revan Namikaze. This blond lunk behind me is my husband, Naruto. Next to Padme is our friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi-"
Artoo whistled protest had Revan smiling at the eager little droid. "I was getting to that little one. And of course, our droids Artoo-Detoo, and HK-47."
Anakin pipes up, "I'm building a droid. You wanna see?"
"Anakin." His mother asked, stopping the boy. "Why are they here?"
Howling wind answers, as does the boy. "A sandstorm, mom. Listen."
"Your son was kind enough to offer us shelter." Revan said.
"Come on! Let me show you Threepio!" Anakin says enthusiastically as he leads Padme into the other room. Artoo and HK-47 follow, the astromech droid beeping and whistling at the assassin droid.
"Correction: Perhaps small meatbag could be used for target practice. Approving Statement: You are surprisingly sarcastic for such a small droid. Statement: We should get along better than meatbag Zaalbar and meatbag Mission once did."
Revan looks at Shmi and pulled out a scroll, which she then handed to Naruto. "Let my husband make dinner. We have more than enough supplies, and it will be no trouble for us to do this for you, considering you let us stay here."
"Oh…thank you." A surprised Shmi said. "I'm sorry if I was abrupt. I don't think I'll ever get used to Anakin's surprises."
Revan nodded, knowing from experience as she shot her husband a look. "He's a very special boy."
Shmi sees the look, and smiles. "Yes, I know."
"Go, sit." Naruto says as he opens cabinets and pulls out utensils, bowls and pots. "Rev, I need that other scroll."
Shmi turned and froze, seeing so many green vegetables, and-
"Is that…fresh meat?" She thought.
Naruto caught the scroll his wife threw at him. "I said go. Gossip, chat about hair styles. Do something, but I don't want to see you in the kitchen. Go on, shoo." He said, ushering the two women out before he turned around and started to slice and dice the vegetables, already working on their dinner.
XX
In Anakin's bedroom, the young lad was showing off his droid, which was lying on his workbench. Despite the fact that there is only one eye in the head, and the fact that his outer coverings have yet to be adhered to his frame, Obi-Wan and Padme are impressed, nonetheless.
"Isn't he great? He's not finished yet, though."
Padme let her approval show. "He's wonderful."
"You really like him? He's a protocol droid…I'm making him to help mom. Watch this!" Anakin says as he pushes a switch on the droid, a low hum filling the room as it sits up.
"Oh dear…I can't see." It whines.
"Whoops." Anakin says and rushes to the other side of the room, grabbing a second eye from a battered-looking bag and pushing it into the socket.
The droid shook its' head slightly, both eyes now glowing slightly as it turned its' head to regard the individuals in the room. "Oh...oh, hello. I am See-Threepio, Human-Cyborg Relations. How might I serve you?" the droid asked.
"Sarcastic Statement: Self-termination would be a start." HK snarked from the doorway.
Padme shot the droid a look before looking at Threepio. "He's perfect."
"Oh…thank you." Threepio says.
"When the storm is over, you want to see my racer? I'm building my very own podracer." Anakin says.
Padme smiles at the younger boys enthusiasm. Her attention is drawn to Artoo, who lets out a series of beeps and whistles as C-3PO stumbles forward, walking on unsteady legs due to the lack of coverings.
"I'm not sure this floor is entirely stable" he then turned to Artoo. "Oh, hello. I don't believe we've been introduced."
Artoo beeped a greeting.
"R2-D2, a pleasure to meet you. I am C-3PO, Human-Cyborg Relations."
Artoo whistled and beeped, causing HK to emit a metallic laugh.
"I beg your pardon…what do you mean I'm naked?" Threepio inquires.
Artoo beeps again.
"My parts are showing? Oh my goodness! How embarrassing."
HK-47 hefted his blaster rifle. "Helpful Statement: This unit would be more than happy to rectify that with a new procedure."
Artoo's whistles sound like laughter. HK looks down at the droid before him.
"Joyous Statement: You are not as useless as the last cargo canister Master had. Certified Statement: You and I shall get along splendidly."
Obi-Wan, who had been on the other side of the room, was wondering why he'd followed the pair. He knew he didn't like the amount of attention the boy was giving the handmaiden, but he couldn't figure out why.
XX
Revan is enjoying her time in the cozy development, talking with Shmi to pass the time when her comlink chimed. "If you'll excuse me." She rose, and went towards the door.
Stepping into the overhang, watching the sandstorm roar away outside, she brought the comlink up to her lips. "Go ahead."
She listened as Qui-Gon explained the message they'd gotten from Bibble, and the Queen's reaction.
"I've kept them from sending a reply, but-"
"It's bait. They used it to try and establish a connection trace. If we haven't ever accused them of being sneaky, these Nemodians sure are hell-bent on earning that reputation." Revan muttered.
"I sensed that it was true, though. The people of Naboo are dying, and slowly at that.." Qui-Gon said.
Revan sighed. "Either way, we're running out of time. Ask the pilot if there's a way to boost our communication range, and send a transmission to Coruscant."
"I will. I'll check back after the storm has passed. Did you find your wandering husband before you were forced to seek shelter?"
"Yeah. Found him and HK negotiating with a Dug."
"A Dug?" Qui-Gon sounded surprised.
"Don't ask, and I won't have to lie. Take it easy out there."
She clicked the comlink off with a sigh. "Something rotten in Rice." She muttered, before heading back to find Shmi watching Naruto cook and telling his tales.
"Rev-chan can't cook to save her life." Naruto said with a grin. "Give her something mechanical to fix and she's fine. Put her in a kitchen, and you'll need a new one in five minutes, as the old one is declared public hazard. What she's made from said kitchen can be used as chemical warfare."
Shmi couldn't help but chuckle.
"I thought I told you no telling tales of my mistakes dear." She said sweetly, walking towards her husband with promises of pain in her eyes.
Naruto shrugged, and went for broke. "Not a tale, dear, the gospel truth. Even Lee with his iron stomach couldn't eat your curry."
Revan pouted. "I'm just skilled in other areas."
"And I'm happy to cook." Naruto said with a grin.
"So, how long have you been married?" Shmi asked.
The pair shared a look, and both shrugged. "We've been married nearly sixty some years."
Shmi looked shocked. "H-how is that possible?"
"Both Naruto and I come from a species that's long lived." Revan said. "Not telling her that I'm over four thousand years old, and I'm definitely not telling her about the Kyuubi."
They could hear Anakin's voice, but the words were too muffled to make out. Shmi turned to the door leading to his room. "He is so proud of his droid."
"Rev's droid, HK-47, was a droid she built as well. His old body was destroyed, so she got a new one and heavily modified it." Naruto said.
"Exclaimed Statement: DIE, SUBSERVIENT TRANSISTOR!"
"HK, NO!" came Padme's yell.
"MASTER ANAKIN!" Threepio's voice, followed by a blaster shot.
Shmi paled, then went to see what was going on, but Revan stopped her and held up a single finger.
"IT'S ALRIGHT!" Obi-Wan's voice came from Anakin's workshop.
Shmi looked at Revan, who merely shrugged. "Children. You know they'll find and/or create trouble." She said.
Naruto snorted, "And to think, none of them are ours."
Meanwhile, on Coruscant...
Amongst the ever-present sky traffic, two figures cloaked in black slowly walk across a skywalk, conversing with one another as they reached a railing, looking out over the sprawling cityscape.
The light reflected off a passing skycar, revealing the red and black tattoos covering the Zabrak's face as he turned to regard the Dark Lord of the Sith. "Tatooine is sparsely populated. If the trace was accurate, I will find them rather quickly, Master."
The other figure merely inclined his head. "Move against the Jedi first. Once you have dealt with them, you will have no difficulty in taking the Queen to Naboo to sign the treaty."
The Zabrak Sith nodded, before looking out at the skyline, a smirk appearing on his face. "At last, we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi...At last, we will have revenge."
Still looking out over the cityscape, at the ignorant fools going about their daily lives, blissfully unaware of their impending doom, the faintest hint of a smile made itself known upon the Sith Lord's face. "You have been well trained, my apprentice. They will be no match for you."
XX
The storm continued to howl outside as the Skywalkers and their guests sat down around the makeshift table, to a rather large home-cooked meal. Anakin's eyes widened at the feast.
They begin to make small talk, serving up food as the droids proceeded to power down for the time being.
"All slaves have transmitters placed inside their bodies somewhere-" Shmi was saying. Anakin butt in suddenly. "I've been working on a scanner to try and locate them, but so far I haven't had any luck."
"Any attempt to escape-" Shmi was saying, but once again Anakin cut her off. "-and they blow you up….BOOOM!"
Padme looked horrified. "I can't believe there is still slavery in the galaxy. The Republic's anti-slavery laws-"
"The Republic doesn't exist out here. We must survive on our own." Shmi said.
"Add in if your wealthy enough, you can do pretty much anything. Even on Coruscant, the wealthy have slaves. Twi'lek females are prime examples." Revan said. Obi-Wan nodded as he thought of several of his fellow Padawans who escaped a similar fate by being found and taken in by the Jedi Order.
"Has anyone seen a podrace?" Anakin asked, filling the awkward silence that followed Revan's declaration. Padme shook her head no, while Shmi looked concerned.
"Well, Rev used to swoop race in her younger days. Isn't that right, hime?" Naruto said.
"Swoop racing?" Anakin asked.
"Before your time." Revan said with a grin. "Before they added those big engines. When it was more about skill than the power of the engine. Where the swoop bike and rider were the only thing that mattered."
Obi-Wan speaks up. "I saw one once, as well as my Master. They have podracing on Malastare. Very fast, very dangerous."
"I'm the only human who can do it." Anakin boasts, while Shmi looks askance at her son. "Mom, what? I'm not bragging. Its true. Watto says he's never heard of a human doing it."
Revan smiles. "You must have Jedi reflexes if you race pods."
Anakin beams, and is about to say something, but his gesture whilst doing so knocked his cup from the table. Naruto, who is next to him, reaches out, his hand a blur as he catches it without spilling a drop. He puts it back next to the sheepish boy.
"Or ninja reflexes." Naruto shoot his wife a fox-like grin.
"Or ninja reflexes." Revan admits.
"Careful, gaki. It's better to be calm and enjoy things at a pace when you can." He said turning and giving Anakin a wink.
Anakin looks at the blond next to him, then at Obi-Wan.
"I…I was wondering…" he began.
"What?" Revan asked with an encouraging smile.
"You're a Jedi Knight, aren't you?"
"What makes you say that?" Obi-Wan asked.
"I saw your laser sword earlier. Only Jedi carry that kind of weapon." Anakin states.
Revan leans back from the table, a slow smiling filling her face as she shares a look with Naruto.
"Perhaps we killed a Jedi, and stole it from him." She offered.
Anakin shook his head. Revan was amused by his convictions in his beliefs. "I don't think so. No one can kill a Jedi Knight."
Revan got a far away and distant look. "I wish that were so."
Anakin, being his youthful self plowed on, unaware of Revan's thoughts.
"I had a dream I was a Jedi. I came back here and freed all the slaves. Have you come to free us?"
Revan snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not-" she started to say, but Anakin cut her off with "I think you have. Why else would you be here?"
Revan and Naruto share a look.
"Well love?" Naruto sends across the bond.
"He's a more annoying, younger version of you...you know, if that were even possible." Revan fired back as she thought.
"I can see there's no fooling you, Anakin. You can't let anyone know about us. We're on a diplomatic mission to Coruscant, the central system in the Republic. It's a very important mission, and must be kept a secret."
"Coruscant? Wow." Anakin said, his eyes widening. "But…how did you end up here in the Outer Rim?"
"Our ship was badly damaged." Padme said. "And we're stranded here until we can repair it."
"I can help! I can fix anything!" Anakin said excitedly.
Naruto shot Revan a look.
"Now he sounds like you, love. Did we have a child you didn't tell me about?"
Across the way, Revan rolled her eyes at her husband. "No, I'm still on birth control. I will admit though, the gaki does grow on you."
"I believe you can." Naruto said to Anakin.
Obi-Wan added his own thoughts. "But we need to acquire the parts in order to fix it."
"And nothing to trade." Padme said with a sigh. "These junk dealers must have a weakness of some kind."
"Gambling." Shmi said with a frown. "Everything around here revolves around betting on those awful races."
Revan saw the look on the woman's face. "Greed can be a powerful ally, if used properly."
Anakin spoke up "I've built a racer! It's the fastest ever…and there's a big race day after tomorrow, on Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod. It's nearly finished-"
"Anakin, settle down, and you know Watto won't let you."
"Watto doesn't know I built it." He looks at Revan with big pleading eyes, "You could make him think it's yours, and you could get him to let me pilot it for you."
Revan sees Shmi frown. "I don't want you to race, Annie…it's awful. I die every time Watto makes you do it."
"But mom…I love it. And they need help…they're in trouble. The prize money would more than pay for the parts they need…"
"That's enough squirt." Naruto said. "And we're not in that much trouble." He stood and bowed to Shmi. "I am sorry if our discussion has caused you any pain."
"But-" Anakin said and then looked at his mother.
"Your mother is right." Revan said cutting him off. "Do you know of anyone friendly to the Republic out here who might be able to help us"
Shmi shakes her head.
"Mom, we have to help them! You said that the biggest problem in the universe is no one helps each other…" Anakin whined.
"Anakin, don't…" Shmi began.
"I'm sure Revan doesn't want to put your son in danger. We will find another way." Padme said.
Shmi sighs, thinking hard, before looking at Revan. "No…Annie's right, there is no other way. The Hutts control everything here. I may not like it, but he can help you." Her voice lowers, until it's merely a whisper. "He was MEANT to help you."
"Is that a yes? THAT IS A YES!" Anakin whoops, while outside the storm continues to rage.
"Well?" Anakin asked as he showed them the pod the next morning, after the sandstorm passed.
Revan looked at the pod, looked at the sky. "This is Tsunade's revenge, isn't it?" she muttered.
Naruto looked at it, and scratched his head. He looked at HK. "And that's…"
"Comedic Comment: Little Meatbag believes that is to be a racer." The droid said.
"HK." Revan said.
"Yes, Master?" the droid stood straighter.
"Do you have a thermal detonator?"
"Joyous Statement: But of course I do, master! Eager Inquiry: Can I frag the little meatsack now?"
Everyone froze.
"No." Anakin looked at the droid in surprise, while Padme and Obi-Wan breathed sighs of relief. "But I am tempted to send you to talk with Watto for me."
"Joyous Compliance." The assassin droid said, and proceeded to head in the direction of Watto's Junkyard.
"Freeze." Revan said. "That was not an order, that was me being annoyed."
Naruto smirked, seeing the droid's skeletal shoulders slump. "Look at it this way HK, while they work on the pod, you and I get to thin the surrounding area's excess criminal population."
The droids eye sensors seemed to glow as it unslung the assault rifle. "Barely Restrained Eagerness: READY, MASTER!"
Revan sighed. "Go. Play. Stay out of jail." She said with a resigned sigh.
Naruto whooped and rushed up, kissed her, then grabbed HK-47 before the pair vanished in a shushin.
"How did he do that?" Obi-Wan and Anakin asked at the same time.
Padme looked shocked, and Artoo was next to Threepio, beeping that they vanished from his sensors.
"Its one of his many skills. Now, tell me about the engines." She commanded Anakin as she pulled off her robes, standing there in a sleeveless top and pants as she began to pull tools from her hip pouch.
XX
Naruto smiled as he looked at the datapad. "Bounty Hunting is easier than I thought it would be." He muttered as he looked at the information.
"Side Comment: Master, I am experiencing an abundance of overjoyed sentiments." HK said, as they returned to the bounty office for the sixth time in the last hour.
The scruffy human behind the counter saw him coming. "You keep this up kid, and we'll both be out of business."
Naruto shrugged and put the sack with the bounty's head in it on the counter.
"You don't want the live bounties?" the man asked.
"Nah, don't have time nor desire to haul them all over. I need cash, and fast."
"Got a bounty on your head I should know about?" the office worker asked as he counted out the credits.
Naruto smirked. "Nope, but anyone dumb enough to come at me gets to deal with him." Naruto jerked his thumb towards HK.
"Heartfelt Sentiment: Master is too kind. Statement: This unit cannot wait until you inform Mistress that you installed new weapons-learning software."
Naruto smirked. He knew Revan wouldn't mind, and the shuriken launchers on the droid's arms would be a nice addition to the droid's weapon arsenal.
"Nice droid, by the way. How come it isn't fitted with a restraining bolt?" the office worker asked.
"Doesn't need it." He looked at the bounty wall noticing a rather large bounty that everyone seemed to shy away from. "Hm…Sand People."
"Warning Statement: Mistress would not be pleased." HK reminded the blond.
"I know. But its better than putting all our eggs in one basket with that stupid race."
"Race? You mean the Boonta Eve Classic?" the Bounty officer asked.
"Yeah. What do you know?"
"I know to bet heavily on Sebulba." The man said.
"Sebulba?"
"A Dug. He's one of the dirtiest racers, but he's won the last nine races in a row."
"Dug? No, it couldn't be?...Could it?"
Shaking his head, Naruto grabbed a bounty off the wall. "Come on HK, we have a Rodian to track down."
"Bring this one back alive!" the officer said looking at the bleeding sack. "He's too good at this." The man muttered.
XX
Revan got the mental message from Naruto and she smiled, knowing her husband was right. "Now, to talk with Watto."
Entering the shop, she sighed seeing the Toydarian hovering by the counter arguing with the boy in Huttese.
Watto noticed Revan. "The boy tells me you wanta sponsor him insa race. You can't afford parts, how can you do this? Not on Republic, credits I think." The Toydarian finishes with a laugh.
"My husband has acquired enough for the entry fee doing some bounty work." Revan said with a shrug. "And if its not enough, then our ship will be used." She says, pulling out a small holo emitter from a pocket and a hologram of the Naboo spacecraft appears.
Watto studied it, before shrugging. "Hm…Unless your husband is Jango Fett or Aura Sing, then he won't get enough credits in time to matter." His big yellow eyes look at the hologram again. "This however...not bad, not bad. A Nubian."
Revan smirked at the greed in the creatures eyes. "It's in good order, except for the parts we need."
"Hm…but what would the boy ride? He smashed up my pod in the last race. It will take some time to fix it."
Anakin looks at the ground embarrassed, but steps forward. "Ah…it wasn't my fault, really. Sebulba flashed me with his vent ports. I actually saved the pod…mostly."
Watto laughs. "That you did, eh." Looks back at Revan. "The boy is good, no doubts there, eh?"
She nods in agreement. "I have…acquired a pod in a game of chance. I'm told it's the fastest ever built."
Watto looks thoughtful. "I hope you didn't kill anyone I know for it." He laughs. "So, you supply the pod and the entry fee; I supply the boy, we split the winnings fifty-fifty I think."
Revan mentally rolls her eyes. "Fifty-fifty? If its going to be fifty-fifty, I suggest you front the cash for the entry fee. If we win, you keep all the winnings, minus the cost of the parts I need. If we lose, you keep my ship."
Watto hovers there in the air and thinks it over, while Anakin looks like he's trying very hard not to be nervous. Revan adds the clincher. "Either way, you win."
"Deal." Watto says, and slaps hands with Revan, who leaves to make preparations.
Watto looks at Anakin as Revan leaves. "Yo bana pee ho-tah, meedee ya." (Your friend is a foolish one, me thinks.)
XX
Later that day at the Skywalker hovel, Revan is on the comlink with Qui-Gon, having not had a chance to return to the ship with the errands she ran.
"What if this plan fails?" Qui-Gon's voice comes over the communicator. "We could be stuck here for a long time, then."
Revan smiles. "A ship without a power supply will not get us anywhere. There is something about the boy we've encountered as well…"
Revan pauses, before promising to call him back when they have more information. She turns as Shmi comes out onto the porch. The two women watch as Padme, Obi-Wan, and Artoo help Anakin work on the engines of the podracer below in the courtyard.
"You should be proud of your son." Revan says with a grin. "He gives, without any thought of reward."
"He knows nothing of greed, despite being surrounded by it. He has…"
"He's special." Revan says.
"Yes." Shmi answers.
Revan watched as the boy was hanging half in and half out of the engine. Her own fingers were itching to tear into the heap that lay about the yard. "He can see things before they happen. That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It is a Jedi trait." In the back of her mind she could almost hear her husbands voice say 'Ninja too, dear.'
"He deserves better than a slave's life." Shmi says softly, her own eyes looking down where her son was.
"The Force is unusually strong with him, that much is clear to anyone. Who was his father?"
Shmi looked embarrassed, "There was no father that I know of. I carried him, I gave birth to him…I can't explain what happened." Her eyes looked up at Revan, pleading. "Can you help him?"
Revan let out a breath. Qui-Gon had been very clear on this subject to her. Her ears were still ringing from his lecture.
"I'm afraid not. Had he born in the Republic..."Or four thousand years ago." Revan added mentally, "The Jedi would have identified him early, and he would have become a Jedi, no doubt. He has the aura about him. But now…now its too late for him. By the council's standards he's too old."
"Bunch of blind fools." Revan added mentally.
She'd seen several kids around Anakin's age, heck even older, grow up to have incredible abilities. Abilities that sometimes far surpassed ones who grew up sheltered in the Temple. She didn't know what was said, but she could feel the boy's emotions.
Oh, frack. He's strong, and at nine years of age. This is not only Tsunade's revenge, but I bet my diamond-plated lightsaber hilt that Vrook is laughing at me from the heart of the Force as well.
"Excuse me, Shmi." Revan said and rushed down the steps.
XX
"OH, YOU DID NOT!" Naruto roared as he looked at his jacket, which now sported a lovely new smoking hole in the side. If he hadn't spun, it would have pegged him in the gut. Instead, he did a little aerobatics, and it now had a lovely new addition to his already dust-covered new jacket.
"THAT'S IT!" His hands went to the familiar cross seal. "TAJUU, KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" The rundown cantina was now filled with thirty shadow clones. Naruto's lightsaber activated in his hand and the clones pulled similar laser swords. "GET'EM!"
HK-47 had just finished blasting the hired guards when his optics focused on his original master's mate. "Amused Statement: Impressive destructive capabilities. Sincere Statement: You are worthy of my master, Naruto."
"RASENGAN!"
HK-47, if he had been able to, would have smiled as the blue orb slammed into the Rodian. Naruto had explained that the attack ground and pulverized the insides of a target, therefore, it seemed like a technique that HK would most certainly love to use, if he was able to.
HK noticed a miniature humanoid, an Ugnaught, attempt to sneak up on Naruto from behind. The assassin droid brought his assault rifle up to take aim, but even before he'd brought the weapon to bear, Naruto, after years of sensing danger, spun around, turning the tables and catching the porcine humanoid with his guard down. A well placed rocket kick, and the small humanoid became a new fixture in the cantina's ceiling.
"Statement: Most impressive, Master." HK said, as his optics focused on the midget dangling from its' neck in the ceiling. "Most amusing décor you've developed."
Naruto smiled as he put a foot on the Rodian as it lay on the ground groaning. "Shut up. I didn't hit you that hard."
"Gleeful Statement: You can do it again, Master."
Naruto smirked. "I could, but the meatsack at the bounty office asked for this one alive."
"Weary resignation: Very well, Master. Perhaps we can hunt a Krayt Dragon, or even a couple of Sand People next?"
Naruto thought about it. "As long as we don't tell Revan."
"Compliance: Very well, Master."
"I don't think this was the plan Master." HK said as they backed away from the Krayt Dragon.
"Hey, you're the one that said there was a Tusken Raider encampment around here." Naruto said, as he sent a Juha Sho at the giant lizard, watching as it simply reflects off its' hide.
"Obvious Statement: Things change in four thousand years, Master." HK opened fire with the assault rifle.
The crested a sand dune, and Naruto swore. There were a group of Sand People sitting on the other side of the ridge with their Bantha mounts. HK, while they'd been hunting, explained about the known species on the planet that Naruto bet Gaara would have had a field day on.
The giant lizard roared, and the Sand People promptly scattered.
"They are easily frightened master, but they'll be back, and with greater numbers." HK warned, as the droid continued firing at the dragon, its' hide deflecting the blasts.
Naruto slid the blaster the droid had been teaching him how to use back into the thigh holster and growled.
"Enough of this shit."
He bit his thumb and his hands flew through the hand seals he'd learned when he was twelve years old. Maybe getting pushed off a cliff into a gaping crevasse was a good thing, after all.
"KUCHIYOSE: YATAI KUZUSHI NO JUTSU!"
HK stopped firing, and couldn't believe his optics as a giant toad appeared out of thin air, and landed atop the Krayt Dragon, crushing it under several tons of amphibian.
Naruto grinned a huge fox like grin. "That, my cybernetic friend, is the Summoning Jutsu, and this particular one is the Toad Summoning Jutsu: Food Cart Destroyer. I learned it from my master when I was fifteen, and we were traveling at the time I learned it."
HK looked from the smashed form of the Krayt Dragon that had taken explosives to take it down last time, to the giant toad that landed on it from a hundred foot drop.
"Awe-Filled Exclamation: You are my hero, Master." HK said, its vocal patterns registering the awe.
Naruto went and pulled his lightsaber, dispelling the toad before starting to slice the hide from the bulk of the creature. HK, remembering something Revan had done last time they encountered a Krayt Dragon, extended its' sawblades and proceeded to slice into the neck of the creature. Finished cutting a decent-sized hole, he reached into the creature's neck and pulled out a set of pearls.
"Offering: For you, Master. Mistress found them valuable last time we hunted one." Naruto used a basic Suiton jutsu to clean the blood and gore off them, and looked at the stones, whistling. He slipped them into a pouch, and hid that inside his shirt.
"What are we doing, master?" HK asked twenty minutes later as Naruto sliced another section of the dragon's hide off.
"Getting material. This stuff was able to block blaster bolts. I was thinking of a pair of boots, gloves and vests, belts and such for Revan."
HK nodded his metal head. "Corrective Statement: Mating ritual. Understood, master."
Naruto smiled. He was really getting along with the droid, and he was happy to see it had an odd sense of humor.
"HK, try those other wrist blades I installed. I believe Rev said they were coated with a material that could block a lightsaber…cortosis, I think. Let's see how they do on cutting meat. We'll cook some of this, smoke it for later."
Naruto set up a fire while the droid continued to work.
He could tell through the bond with his wife that she was annoyed.
"What's wrong, love?" he sent.
"UGH! If we ever have children, remind me to never let them act like this little brat."
Naruto wondered what the Skywalker boy had done to piss off his wife, when he felt a disturbance in the force.
"As much as I'd love to talk, it seems HK and I are about to get in a fight with Sand People."
"Sand People? Where are you?" Revan's telepathic voice demanded.
"Um…in the desert with HK. Talk later, love." Naruto said, and closed the connection to his wife.
He could feel her knocking, but decades of being married to the Jedi-Sith had taught him when not to pick up, and when she was annoyed, and at him, he knew best to stay away until sunset.
"HK, we've got company."
The droid stopped its butchery, the blades retracted with a SNIKT, and the assassin droid un-slung the assault rifle. Naruto heard it power up. "Joyous Statement: READY, MASTER!"
Naruto smiled as he saw the droid arm the grenade launcher.
"Oh, I fear the Sand People are going to find we aren't helpless as their usual fare." He said, activating his lightsaber with a SNAP-HISS.
"And I so need to work off tension before getting yelled at by my wife...again."
XX
"UGH! MEN!" Revan said as she glared at Obi-Wan, who was backing away from the very pissed off Jedi Master.
"I'm sure the boy didn't mean it, Master Revan." He said.
"Oh, he meant it." She snarled as she finished getting dressed by pulling on her robe and looking to where the said boy had retreated. "You get the parts?"
"Sorry, Master, but Watto claims if the pod isn't running, he's not fronting the money."
"Damn it to the black pits." Revan bunched her fists and for a moment considered joining her husband amongst the dunes to help decrease the surplus Sand People population.
She looked at the Padawan. "You guard that door while Padme is taking her own shower. If that little sneak gets close, hang him upside down and bolt his ass to the ceiling."
Grabbing a brush, she wanted her husband and growled as she brushed her hair. "This is one reason I hate fucking Tatooine. Sand is coarse, rough, and gets everywhere." She thought as she brushed her long hair.
She sat in the living room brushing her hair, every so often she'd hear the blasted boy move about his room.
"Can I come out now?"
"No. You're grounded." Revan said. "Shmi lets him run feral. Well, not while I'm here." She considered turning him over her knee for some of his smart-assed comments while they were rebuilding the engines.
"Oh, he's good for one so young, but by the Force, I've been building machines since long before he was even a glimmer in his mother's eye."
Shaking her head, she began to braid her hair. Her eyes snapped to the door as she heard the door to Anakin's room creak open. "GET THE FUCK BACK IN YOUR ROOM!"
SLAM!
Revan sighed. "Brat needs a good spanking, and manners to go with it." She muttered.
Artoo, who was sitting off to the side, whistled.
"You said it. We need a vacation, all right."
XX
Padme sighed as she allowed the cool water to rush down her body. It wasn't like a shower at the palace. "But I do have my very own personal Jedi guard." She thought with a smile.
"There is something about Obi-Wan, he's kind, shy, honorable…" she smiled as she rinsed her hair.
"And he's standing right outside the door." She smiled. She knew Sabe and the others would be disapproving, but there was something about the Padawan that she found soothing in his company.
"And he gets all tense whenever Anakin gives me a compliment. Granted he's bumbling, but for nine years old, he's trying awfully hard to flirt."
All morning, the younger boy had been trying to impress her. She laughed as his engine blew up, even more so when he lifted his goggles, and there were marks where his goggles had been. The rest of his face was covered in soot.
Granted, Revan had been less than happy, and down right pissed when the boy mouthed off to the Jedi Master, claiming it was all her fault, and that if she hadn't been messing around with his engine, it would have worked just fine.
"His mother's off working and he's trying to act like a big shot." Padme thought. She hadn't necessarily agreed with Revan when she activated her lightsaber when she'd caught the boy peeping on her in the shower, but she did agree that the boy needed to nip that in the bud now, before he grew up and became a total pervert.
"If her husband was here, I think he'd have fed him to that droid of theirs." She thought as she toweled off. She reached for clothes and blushed. "Oh, darnn." She muttered, realizing in her rush to get to the fresher and use the shower, she'd left her fresh clothes on her bed.
Biting her bottom lip, she made a choice, knowing it was either this, or rush out there in nothing but a towel.
"Obi-Wan?" She called through the door.
"Yes?" his voice sounded startled, and she could imagine him blushing on the other side of the door.
"I…this is embarrassing, but I left my clothes in my room…could you get them for me, please?"
Silence, then. "Uh...YEAH-er, I mean, yeah, I can do that. J-Just a moment."
She heard his soft footsteps carry him away, and she continued to towel off. She thought what it was like for him at the Jedi Temple. They'd talked about it a bit last night, and she couldn't fathom some of the rules and regulations he had to deal with. Master Revan's snorts throughout the conversation told her the Master didn't agree with quite a few of them.
"Obviously, seeing as she's married. Plus, she uses her emotions, while Obi-Wan said that the Jedi in his age group were trained to suppress them, or control them to a greater degree."
Lost in thought, Padme didn't hear the door open. She heard a sharp intake of breath and turned. In doing so, she flashed poor, sheltered Obi-Wan, who dropped her clothes to the floor, his face turning as red as she'd ever seen, and was blown backward by a massive nosebleed.
Padme blushed heavily, secured the towel around her, and rushed to make sure that he was okay.
XX
Revan watched from her position on the bed as Obi-Wan entered the room where they'd all slept. She'd not been happy with the arrangements, as she wasn't allowed to sleep properly with her husband (aka, nude).
"Well, we could have maybe given the Padawan a proper education, and see how well the 'handmaiden' holds up." Revan thought, smirking.
She looked up to see Obi-Wan knock on the bathroom door and open it. A second later, she watched as he was blown back with a massive nosebleed, and Padme rush out wrapped in a towel.
"I guess he's not as institutionalized as I first thought." She thought with a grin. As Padme cradled his head in her lap, Revan started to giggle at what THAT would do to the already flustered Padawan.
Standing up, she walked over. "I suggest you go and get dressed 'handmaiden', before he wakes up. It would be…" Revan paused. "Funny as hell. Oh Kami, I've been around Naruto way too long."
"Go get dressed." She finished.
"But Obi-Wan-"
"Ben will be fine." She said, shooing the younger girl back to the bathroom. Once the door was closed, she lightly kicked the Padawan.
"Up and at 'em, Benny boy. You can wank off later when no one is around."
The flushed face told her that he had been near consciousness. "Oh, what can I do with this information? Our sweet little Padawan has a crush on the handmaiden."
Obi-Wan was on his feet before she could blink, and Revan saw he had managed to wipe his beard and nose clean. "It really is a gift. All that blood and not one stain. Of course, that's the only time that power comes to life…Heh, Naruto called it part of the whole Man-law thing."
"I…er…she…I-"
Revan laughed. "Relax, Padawan," the door hissed open, and Padme stood there for a moment.
"Now, we have an engine to finish. The race won't be run by pushing the damn pod."
Revan headed for the door. "Skywalker, come with me." She called. The boy looked out the door, and then rushed to the woman's side. Once they were gone, Padme and Obi-Wan were left alone, one blushing and the other a nervous wreck.
"This is weird." Padme muttered. "Of course I can't tell Sabe and the others that he saw me naked…they'd kill the poor man." But the situation had inserted idea's in the young teens head that involved a certain brown-haired Padawan. Most of them included both parties in rather...compromising positions.
XX
Revan took the money that Naruto had collected, and bought some of the parts needed on the cheap side. "Stupid junk dealers. Its junk, not cortosis." She muttered as she handed another part to the boy behind her.
"But its junk that people need, thus it's valuable."
Revan looked at the boy. "And on any other planet, they'd be shot." She looked over another series of parts. With a grunt, she led him back to the slave quarters.
"We're rushed for time, so we're going to cannibalize the engines." Revan told him.
"But they-"
"But nothing. If you hadn't tried to show off for your friends and to impress the Handmaiden, we wouldn't be in this mess."
"I wasn't showing off." Anakin pouted.
"What the frack would you call it?" Revan fired back. "That stunt set fire to one engine, and cracked the other. Your lucky they didn't explode."
"I knew what I was doing." Anakin said.
"No, you didn't. You didn't have the power distributed properly, and you had no safety protocols in place. If you'd have been racing, you'd have been a smear on the ground and ashes in an urn atop the mantle in your mothers home." Revan said, turning to look at the boy.
"You are beyond reckless. I'm sure you have some skills, but with no discipline and no control, you're a menace to not only those around you, but yourself. If Obi-Wan hadn't used the Force to deflect that outer casing, you'd be head shorter."
"I get it, I messed up…" the boy yelled at her, his eyes narrowed. Revan could feel the anger flowing off him.
"And your emotions-"
"WHAT DO YOU CARE?" Anakin snarled, and stormed back to the house.
Sighing, she palmed her face. "...And Tsunade wanted me to have several of those…" Revan said and followed after the stomping child.
XX
Later that night
Anakin is sitting on the balcony rail outside the hovel as Revan tends to a long cut on the boy's arm. "You need to pay attention to what you are doing." She says. Anakin makes a sound as he leans back and looks up at the vast blanket of stars in the sky.
"Keep still and let me clean this." She mutters.
"But there are so many. Do they all have a system of planets?" Anakin looked up. Obi-Wan had been talking about some of his adventures with his Master Qui-Gon during dinner.
Revan nodded. "Most of them, or they used to at any rate." Thinking about it, she needed to update her knowledge of the known systems once this mission was over.
"Has anyone been to all of them?" Anakin asked.
Revan snorted. "Not likely, unless they were very long living." "Like me." She thought.
"Then I want to be the first one to see them all-OW!" Anakin winces, and looks at Revan, who wipes a patch of blood off Anakin's arm. "There, good as new." She really wanted to use some of the Jedi healing arts or some of the jutsu she knew, but something in the back of her mind was telling her to be careful, and not show off too much. "Like that mental warning I got around the Uchiha." She thought.
From, inside Shmi yelled out. "Annie, bedtime!"
Revan, seeing Anakin is distracted, wipes some of the blood onto a chip.
Anakin sees it, however. "What are you doing?" He asked curiously.
"Just going to check your blood for infections." Revan lied with ease.
"I've never seen-"
"Annie! I'm not going to tell you again!" Shmi yells from inside.
Revan prods him. "Go on, you have a big day tomorrow. Goodnight."
Anakin rolls his eyes as he runs into the hovel that was his home. Revan slips the bloodstained chip into her comlink, then calls Qui-Gon.
"Master Jinn…"
"Revan?"
"No, another person with a comlink to your personal communicator." She snarks. "Listen, I need you to make an analysis of this blood sample I'm sending you."
There was a pause, and she knew she'd woken the other master up. She grinned. "Getting up there in years Qui-Gon?"
"Not all of us are blessed with your youth and beauty, Revan." He shot back.
She laughed. "Why Qui-Gon, I'm flattered. Should I tell Naruto I'm leaving him for a younger man?"
Laughter was her answer. "Its things like that, my dear, that remind me you both are older than I, and Master Yoda."
Revan laughed, "And I'm still prettier."
"Without a doubt." Qui-Gon said and Revan smiled. "Ready, you charmer?"
"What is it?" Qui-Gon asked.
"I need a midi-chlorian count. Yoda told me about them, and I want to test something."
A pause. "Alright, got it."
"What are your readings?" Revan asked.
Silence for several beats. "Something must be wrong with the transmission." Revan tried a signal check.
"Strange. The transmission is in good order, but the readings you asked for are off the chart…over twenty thousand."
Revan bite her lip. Then prepared a new chip. "Try this one."
"Okay, this is weird…whose is this?"
"Mine." Revan said.
"Its approaching forty thousand and it looks like its climbing." Qui-Gon sounded amazed.
"Don't worry about it."
"But Revan, Master Yoda doesn't have a midi-chlorian count as high as the first one, and yours is double that!"
"No Jedi has, I bet." Revan muttered. "I'll send you Naruto's later…as soon as he gets back."
"He's out again?" Qui-Gon's voice sounded concerned.
"He and HK are out amongst the Dune Sea." She said. She knew he was fine as she could feel him, he just wasn't answering her link.
"I'll contact you later. Go back to sleep, old man." Revan said teasing.
"Younger than you. Goodnight, Revan."
The Jedi Master sighed and looked up to see Shmi standing in the doorway watching her, an embarrassed look on her face, before she turns and heads back to the kitchen. Revan looks back up at the stars, wondering what the Force had in store for them.
XX
Sunrise…
Padme exited the hovel, and looked out over the city. "It looks so peaceful." She thought, as she looked down to see Artoo putting the finishing touches on the paint job to the pod.
"Nearly finished?" she asks the astromech droid.
Artoo whistles positively. She turns, and sees Anakin must have snuck out during the night, as he was sleeping against one of the remodeled engines.
Obi-Wan came up from behind her, touching her shoulder lightly to indicate his presence. "He's been here for three hours." He said softly. They turn to see the boy Kitster, that Anakin introduced to them yesterday, riding towards them on a strange camel like creature. He is leading a second one behind him.
Padme moves towards Anakin. She notes he looks very vulnerable as he sleeps. She studies him for a moment, then touches him on the cheek. He jerks awake at the contact, then yawns and gives her a puzzled look.
"You were in my dream." He says. Padme raises an eyebrow at this.
"You were leading a huge army into battle."
"I hope not. I hate fighting." Padme says. "You better go inside. Your mother was looking for you. Best clean up, cause we have to leave soon."
Anakin stands and stretches, just as Kitster arrives.
"Hook 'em up, Kitster." He then looks at Padme while Obi-Wan goes to help Anakin's friend. "I won't be too long. Where's Revan?"
Padme smiled. "She left already. I think she went to meet with Watto at the arena."
XX
Race crews mill about the large building with over a dozen podracers being readied for the race. Alien crews and pilots rush about, making last minute adjustments on their vehicles.
Revan strides through the activity with Watto flying near her shoulder.
"…And I want to see your spaceship the moment the race is over." Watto said.
"Patience, Toydarian. I assure you that you'll have what you deserve before the suns set, and we'll be far away from here."
Watto snorted "Not if your ship belongs to me, I think…I warn you now, no funny business."
"You don't think Anakin can win?" She paused, and looked at the Toydarian.
Watto was stopped from answering by a new voice. "He's bet on the Dug to win."
Revan turned to see a grinning Naruto, and HK-47 standing nearby. She took in her husbands appearance: clothes covered with sand, some minor tears and burn marks. She also noticed a pack slung over his back.
"Don't get me wrong. I have great faith in the boy, he's a credit to your race, but Sebulba is going to win." Watto says, pointing to an orange racer off to one side where they see a Dug having his shoulders and neck massaged by twin Yobanas.
"Why?" Revan asked.
"Because he always wins." Watto said then laughed. "I'm betting heavily on Sebulba."
"I'll take that bet." Naruto says.
Watto stops laughing, and looks at the blond. "What? What do you mean?"
Naruto steps up. "I'll wager this shiny Krayt Dragon pearl against…say…the boy and his mother."
Watto's eyes widened seeing the pearl, as did Revan's, which then narrowed as she realized what her husband and droid had been doing in the desert.
"I don't know." Watto said, a greedy, yet contemplative look on his face. "Perhaps just one…the mother maybe…the boy isn't for sale."
Naruto shook his head. "The boy is small, he can't be worth much."
Watto shakes his head.
"I had this appraised, it's worth more than a starship. More than the Nubian you were asking for, at least" Watto shakes his head again.
"For both, or no bet." Naruto said, narrowing his eyes.
Watto sighed. "One gem, that I have not seen appraised, is worth two slaves? Not by a long shot. One slave or nothing."
Naruto looked at Revan. "The boy, then."
Watto pulls out a small cube from his pocket.
"We'll let fate decide. Blue, it's the boy. Red, his mother…"
"How about this: Blue, the boy and his mother. Red, just the mother."
Watto shakes his head. "I said a jewel not appraised in my presence is not worth two slaves."
Naruto grins, and pulls out a second pearl, getting his wife's eyes to boggle, and Watto to nearly salivate.
"Fine, then. You're not happy with one, how about two. Blue, we get both mother and son. Red, we get neither AND you get both these pearls."
A deal this good, with Krayt Dragon Pearls thrown in, would make even a Hutt lose its' composure.
"D-deal!" The Toydarian gets a grin and nods, before tossing the cube.
It skitters across the floor, spinning on one of its' rounded points as all eyes are on it. Revan lifts her hand, but Naruto catches it, pushing it back down.
Revan turns an alarmed look to her husband, not caring if the Toydarian sees, considering its' greedy eyes are locked on the cube.
"What are you DOING, Naruto?" she whispered angrily.
"Just watch, hime. Just watch." he replied.
Revan arched an eyebrow. "What are you up to?"
Naruto grinned. "Remember when Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Anko always took me to casinos whenever they'd gamble?"
Revan nodded, before an understanding look crossed her face. "That time at Tanzaku-Gai, when Tsunade cleaned house? That was you?"
The cube slows, barely rotating, before landing on blue.
Naruto's grin widened. "That was me."
Watto's eyes widen. "I-impossible." he whispered to himself.
Turning to the two, he can see that there have been no 'Jedi Tricks' played, so he has nothing to go on, except that he lost a bet, fair and square."You won the small toss, outlander, but you won't win the race, so it makes little difference." The Toydarian huffs, before fluttering away.
"You were about to cheat, and if he'd caught us-" Naruto began to say, turning to looking at his wife. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "What were you doing hunting Krayt Dragons…WITHOUT ME?"
Naruto scratched the back of his neck, and looked to see the others arriving. "Oh, look Ben's here." He said, praying he could get out of it for now.
Anakin and Padme enter the hanger on one of the Eopies, pulling an engine. Kitster is on the other pulling another engine, with Threepio walking alongside. Artoo is behind pulling the pod with Shmi sitting on it and Obi-Wan walking next to her.
Watto passes Anakin as he leaves.
"Bonapa kessa pareeso, o wanna meetee chobodd." (Better stop your friends betting, or I'll end up owning him, too.) Watto flutters off laughing.
Anakin looks at Revan and Naruto. "What did he mean by that?"
Naruto smirks as he looks at his wife. "We'll tell you later, gaki."
HK approaches the droids, Artoo beeps and whistles, and Threepio steps back as the assassin droids optics focus on him.
"Confirmation: Master has shown this unit many things since our last meeting. If the sissy protocol droid would come closer, this unit would be more than happy to demonstrate. Amendment: Of course it would be more interesting in the vacuum of space."
Obi-Wan off to the side shudders at what the droids were talking about. He noticed a gaffi stick strapped to the droid's back and looked to see Naruto, pretending to look innocent as his wife glared at him, while Padme was looking at Anakin and Kitster in disbelief when they let it slip that Anakin had never won a race before, and hadn't finished, either.
"You'll do it this time." Kitster said.
"Of course he will." Revan said. She looked at Naruto, and the blond grinned. She wondered what her husband had in store for the race. Regardless, knowing him, it would probably spell disaster for the Dug, and anyone else who got in Anakin's way.
Dang, that was a long chapter. 17 pages. By the way, I didn't manage to get to the fight, but I am planning on getting to it next chapter. We should be far enough along that we'll reach it by then. Anywho, this may very well be my longest chapter yet, and considering the extra dialogue I added in, I'd say it's closer to cannon now, so I'm happy about that. It's ironic how you can pop in Episode 1, and pretty much follow the story word-for-word with the movie. Extra parts, such as Naruto and HK-47 are add-ins, obviously, but I think it makes the story a little more interesting.
One individual asked in an earlier chapter if I was going to do The Clone Wars (the animated stuff, not the second movie. I will be doing the second movie, though, so don't panic.) I still haven't decided, but I am leaning towards adding it in, seeing as some of the missions in it could very well be good material. I am not 100% sure, though, so don't go expecting it to happen, only to get disappointed if it doesn't.
-Sgt. Assassin