Chapter 25

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Star Wars.

AUTHORS NOTE:

Wow, over 24,000 views. Thanks everyone for continuing to support this story.

Last time:

….He hit on Temari for a while until Temari turned and gave Shikamaru a searing kiss and said, "I'm taken."

Keil was silent as he watched Temari drag Shikamaru to the sleeping area of the ship for some privacy. Then he sighed "Are all kunoichi so beautiful and strong? They are like precious flowers in my eyes."

Neji and Jiraiya wondered if Keil was dropped on his head too many times as a child. From what Naruto had told them this guy actually liked to be smacked around by strong women which is why he was pining after Samui. They both shook their heads at the eccentric Jedi and hoped he didn't antagonize Temari too much. Of course, Temari made her relationship situation blatantly clear so maybe Keil would wise up in her case….but probably not.

Sand Castles

Temari embraced Gaara with tears in her eyes. "I can't believe it's really you Gaara! I never thought I'd hold my baby brother in my arms again. I'm so happy!"

Gaara gently returned his sister's embrace. "I'm so glad to see you too nee-chan. I thought I'd be alone out here forever." he said shedding a single tear. Gaara turned to Shikamaru. "I guess I have you to thank for helping to bring my sister back to me Nara. I am eternally grateful to you."

Shikamaru shrugged, "It's no problem Gaara. Since I'm fucking your incredibly hot sister every night I figured she could do with a little extra happiness. By the way, she's a real wildcat in bed. If I'd known what I was going to be getting I would have been banging her like an animal in our first lifetimes as well."

Gaara's head seemed to pivot mechanically towards his sister who was blushing and then back to Shikamaru who suddenly felt sand constricting around him. "Any last words Nara?"

Nara Shikamaru spoke out his final, poignant words as his last will in testament. "Troublesome…."

Gaara clenched his fist and said "Desert Funeral!" as he snuffed out the Nara's life forever….

….Shikamaru opened his eyes and slowly looked around him. 'A dream?' He was onboard the Flameblade with Temari sleeping in his arms. He looked down at her sleeping there contentedly and remembered how passionate last night was. It was mind blowing what they had done….only for him to have a really troublesome dream about Gaara murdering him as a result. 'Note to self, break it to Gaara gently that I'm with Temari unlike in that dream.'

He felt Temari stir as she mumbled, "Mmmm….Shika-kun…." She opened her teal colored eyes and looked into his brown ones. She smiled deviously. "Hmmm, who'd of ever thought my lazy boyfriend could be so energetic? I love you Nara Shikamaru." she said as she reached up and kissed him passionately.

Shikamaru thought 'How troublesome' as he felt her tongue caress his own. 'Now I have to reveal I love her too.' The kiss slowly came to an end and she smiled at him nose to nose. He sighed and said, "I love you too my Suna hime. You may be a troublesome, bossy woman but I'd never choose anyone else."

She hugged tight him and said, "You'd better love me after last night. That was ten times better than anything we've done before. You know what? I feel like being lazy today like you always are. Let's just cuddle for a while Shika-kun. The others can make do without us today."

Now it was Shikamaru's turn to smile. "I'd like nothing better." With that, the two of them snuggled up and fell back to sleep; this time with nothing but pleasant dreams….

Planet Pristiq

Naruto's party came down the boarding ramp only to be greeted by a rather large group.

"Welcome to the Isis Enclave Lord Naruto and company. We're so honored to have you here. I am Ameer Isis, the head of the Isis clan," said a silver haired man who appeared to be in his fifties. "….and this is my lovely daughter Amara who is my heir." He said motioning to a very pretty brunette girl with the patented Shamshir gold eyes. She looked to be in her teens or twenties.

Naruto's gut reaction was to look around and see who Ameer was addressing. 'Who would be honored to see me?' he thought. Then Hinata gave him a gentle nudge and got Naruto's thoughts back on track. Naruto bowed and said "Thank you for welcoming us in person Lord Ameer, we really weren't expecting such a warm reception. I am Uzumaki Naruto and this is my wife, Lady Hyūga Hinata. Hinata and her sister Hanabi will be examining the children for you."

Hinata smiled and said "Thank you for welcoming us."

"So these are the special eyes we heard about," spoke Amara. "I was told they were white but you and your sister have eyes like pearls in the oceans here on Pristiq. They are lovely."

The Hyūga sisters smiled at the compliment and were soon being shown around BlueShield. Unlike Steelhaven, which somehow retained the rustic sense of a village, BlueShield was sleek and ultra-modern while being surrounded by the natural beauty of the oceans. It was like being in a giant aquarium to the newcomers.

Ameer led them down to his spacious office pointing out a few things along the way. He called a member of his staff to escort Hanabi, Konohamaru and Doc to the quarters they would be residing in the next two weeks. In the meantime he addressed Naruto and Hinata. Daca stayed as he already was acquainted with her. "Please sit down and relax," said Ameer as he seated himself. His daughter Amara stood at his side. "I see you are upholding the Isis name well Daca, I'm pleased."

Daca bowed her head. "I'm honored you let me adopt the name, Lord Isis."

"Of course," Ameer said. "I must confess this whole chakra business has me a little confused. I've read Lady Damasca's reports and they say you can do things like defy gravity or create copies of yourself? It is a bit difficult to believe. Could you demonstrate something please? If some of our children are to undergo your tutelage I want it to be worthwhile to the clan."

Daca looked slightly offended. "Do you doubt Lord Naruto and thus Lady Damasca's words Lord Ameer? She would not be pleased. Have you even gathered the candidates per Lady Damasca's request?"

Amara looked scandalized. "Know your place, HRD! Father may let you use our name but-"

Hinata quickly said in a placating tone. "There is no need for anger, we will happily demonstrate some of the lesser abilities of chakra and if you don't feel it's worthwhile then we will leave." she said. "This…." Hinata vanished and reappeared behind Amara faster than the woman could react. "….is the body-flicker. It can be used to move rapidly for transport or assassination." Then Hinata leaped up and struck to the ceiling with chakra. She stood up (upside-down) and walked across the ceiling and down the wall to the floor. She returned to her seat and sat down. "That was the wall walking exercise. We use it to infiltrate places that others cannot reach."

Amara and Ameer sat there wide eyed. Amara croaked out, "You could break into anywhere and spy on or kill anyone without them knowing…."

"Exactly." said Naruto, "We are ninja after all. Assassinations are our forte. Lady Kasumi was one of us. Let me demonstrate the shadow clone and the henge." He created two shadow clones wordlessly. "Let's pretend Hinata-chan just assassinated you two. How would we escape?" The two clones henged into Amara and Lord Ameer.

The Amara clone said in Amara's voice. "You see, the real Naruto and Hinata-chan could walk out of here without any evidence and the perfect alibi.

The second clone said while picking up Ameer's tablet from the desk and imitating his voice and form said, "We could be anywhere at any time. When we're done we just vanish." As the two clones dispelled the tablet dropped into the real Naruto's hand.

Naruto finished motioning to the tablet, "….And we could take any items or files we needed along the way. Doesn't the Isis branch specialize in espionage? I would think you could see the potential applications."

Lord Ameer was totally floored. He asked shakily, "You could teach our children these skills?"

Hinata nodded darkly and stated, "If the children have inherited chakra coils from Lady Kasumi then it is possible." She pointed at her byakugan. "With these eyes I can see within their bodies and tell if they have chakra coils. In all of Steelhaven there were only two so it is exceedingly rare." Then Hinata gave a beatific smile and said "That is why we are here. Do you still wonder if it is a waste of time Lord Ameer? We have a schedule to keep and will be on our way if you still have doubts."

Ameer shook his head quickly and "No, no! Any and all trace of doubt has been completely erased from my mind! I will assemble the possible candidates that Lady Damasca requested. We will set up a time for you to view the children in the next two days. Would that be acceptable?"

Naruto nodded. "Of course Lord Ameer."

Ameer called for another staff member to take Naruto and Hinata to their room but asked Daca to stay a bit longer to 'catch up.' After everyone left Ameer sat facing Daca with Amara at his side. He spoke gravely, "I trust this little indiscretion on my part won't be reported to Lady Damasca, Daca?"

Daca's eyes narrowed "I suppose I can let it slide Lord Isis. I do owe you for the name after all. But I think me not reporting this little tidbit should be enough to let me claim the Isis name without any risk of it being removed by your future clan heads." she said glaring at Amara. "It's no secret you daughter holds me in contempt for besting her in combat all those years ago."

Amara looked ruffled but said sweetly, "Now Daca, I assure you that matter is the furthest from my mind. Actually, I was curious about the ninja in general. Would you have time to talk?"

"Just tell me what information you want and I'll tell you if I can reveal it." Daca said ignoring the honey sweet sounding voice Amara was using.

Ameer was concerned about what his daughter was up to. She was absolutely loyal to the cause and serving the Shamshir can but the girl had a lot of ideas he wasn't too keen on. Just like her late mother had….He quickly spoke up. "This conversation will never leave this room. Am I understood ladies?"

"Of course father." was Amara's sweet reply.

Daca reacted with an "As you wish Lord Isis."

Amara decided to broach a topic that Ameer wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. "I wasn't informed that Lord Naruto was married, is he available Daca? If we don't have any chakra using children he could provide us with some. So could his 'wife.' After all, I'm a product of selective breeding. It wouldn't hurt to continue that trend as long as it strengthens the clan."

Daca wanted to growl. She should have known the scheming, devious girl would try something. "As I recall you take after your dearly departed mother. Lord Ameer told me they actually performed a paternity test to make sure you were actually his daughter. It seems you like men as much as your mother did."

"Seduction is a tool in espionage." said Amara haughtily. "Some of our best agents are products of superior breeding such as myself. Just because the main family doesn't practice eugenics doesn't mean we shouldn't. Each branch has their own practices after all."

Daca retorted "Lady Hinata is Lord Naruto's wife in all but name. I have no doubt that if you tried to seduce Lord Naruto she would kill you in a heartbeat, consequences be damned. Also, Lord Naruto reacted very badly to the idea of any ninjas being 'bred like cattle' as he put it. Your ideas of breeding 'superior' people wouldn't over with him at all. But, I would guarantee that if you bring up the subject with him you'll be on his bad list the rest of your life. So by all means, feel free to visit with him about it. You'll see I speak the truth."

Ameer was sweating bullets. His daughter brought up a subject he tended to avoid at all costs. A few generations ago the idea of eugenics was put into practice but quickly fell into disfavor because it was destroying family unity. The idea of producing offspring for superior qualities instead of for the sake of love and continuing the family line was distasteful to him. His late wife had been a product of it and a proponent of it but while he'd loved her he always wondered who she was sleeping with or if she truly loved anyone but herself. Ameer had truly doubted that Amara was his child. Her mother's death ten years later was almost a relief to him. It was sad. His total disillusionment with his wife by that time had left him sad and bitter about his marriage to her in the first place. He hadn't looked for a wife since and that was twenty years ago. Now his lovely daughter was following in her mother's footsteps….

"What about the other two?" asked Amara.

Daca ground out, "Hanabi and Konohamaru are also married in all but name and are Lord Naruto's in laws as a result. This won't go your way Amara; give it up."

Ameer Isis was nursing his headache. He intervened at this point. "This discussion is over." he stated in a commanding tone. He paged someone to show Daca out after thanking her for her patience with Amara. The clan head turned to his daughter and said, "I love you my child but right now I don't want to be near you because of your views. If it weren't for the fact some families still practice it I would ban selective breeding in a heartbeat. Go while I make arrangements to get the child candidates together." Amara went to say something but Ameer held up a hand to stop her. He said in a tired voice, "Go on, this discussion is over daughter."

Amara stormed out in a huff….

On the Flameblade….

Keil Shamshir perked up as the Flameblade exited hyperspace and entered the Tatoo binary star system. The trip had been quiet. The lovely Temari was spending all her time with Shikamaru while Jiraiya and Neji showed little interest in his tales of his adventures. He had to content himself playing video games with the ship's computer after finding out the ninjas were some kind of insane genius Pazaak players and were fleecing him for hundreds of credits. He had never been beaten that badly at gambling before and decided to cut his losses when he still had some money left.

He went back to the hold area of the ship and announced they had arrived. Everyone stopped what they were doing and he brought up a holographic map of Tatooine. It took nearly three days to sift through the data to find an area in the northern hemisphere where they could actually see signs of life. They suspected they were either Ghorfa or Jawa settlements. The Flameblade sat down on a plateau near the area labeled the Jundland Wastes. It was a hot, dry, rocky area that had stable enough ground to support the weight of the ship's landing without any shifting. Once they landed Keil started sending out communications in the area while the others explored the vicinity for any signs of life. They did find footprints of some kind of flat sandal (no doubt to support one's weight on sand) but didn't find much else. When the ninjas returned from reconnoitering the area Keil was waiting for them with news.

Keil said cautiously, "There's an auto distress signal six miles to the northeast. I suspect it's from a battery because I can barely pick up the signal from here. I think we should check it out but it's deep in those rocky areas. It will all have to be on foot."

Temari spoke up. "It would be better to travel by night to survive the heat but we don't know what kind of creatures live here. We'll set out at dawn tomorrow so we have some light but before it really heats up."

The five of them set out the next morning in silence. They struck to the shadows to stay cool and stopped from time to time when they heard noises of an unfriendly variety. They saw a pack of creatures called womp rats prowling around but the rats left them alone. They also saw what the thought were children hiding among the rocks here and there but according to the data-computer that Keil had they were actually some of the native Jawas. The Jawas seemed apprehensive and fled if they knew they were seen by the ninja group so with Temari in the lead they slowly made their way through rocky wasteland. After a couple of hours they found what was sending the signal. It was a droid wedged into some collapsed rocks.

"Well, what do you think Keil?" asked Jiraiya as Keil examined the wrecked droid they partially unburied.

Keil replied, "This droid is a total loss but the memory bank is intact. Judging by the state it's in and the fact there is still battery power I'd say it arrived here a few months ago. I can remove a lot of unnecessary parts but we're going to have to haul it back to the ship for me to do any work on it. As for the droid itself, it fell from up there in a rockslide just like you said. I have no doubt about that."

"Well, Neji and Temari are up there looking around so we'll see what we hear from them." said Shikamaru. "In the meantime let's get this wrecked droid as light as possible so it's not such a drag to carry it back."

Temari's voice crackled in over the communicator. "Shikamaru, do you read?"

"Go ahead Temari." replied Shikamaru.

"We've found what's left of some kind of fighter up here." she responded. "It's a complete wreck. It looks like it landed safely but someone vandalized the hell out of it. We'll need to get Keil up here to see if anything can be salvaged."

The Nara said, "Troublesome. Keil needs about ten more minutes to cut the wrecked droid loose and Lord Jiraiya can seal it in a scroll. We'll bring him up after that. Was there any sign of who wrecked it?"

Temari transmitted "No, but the heat's rising. No one would normally be out this time of day. Whoever did this probably was around here at dusk or dawn. It's been torn up several times. Some areas of damage are fresh but others are months old."

"Alright, see you in a few minutes." said Shikamaru as he signed off. He looked over and saw Jiraiya was unfurling a scroll to seal the droid in. "Done already?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yes, we have to move that droid carcass down here so I can seal it. Get up there and help Keil move it, Nara." motioned Jiraiya.

'What a drag.' thought the Nara heir as he and Keil dragged the droid's remnants down to Jiraiya.

When they finished wrestling the wreck down Jiraiya instructed them to place in the center of a sealing array with a large scroll in the middle. Five minutes later the sealing was done and Jiraiya had the scroll marked 'droid' in his backpack.

Afterwards, Jiraiya hauled Keil up the cliff wall to where the wrecked fighter was. Keil dug around in the sad wreckage for a while until he found a flight recorder and the ship's registration plate. By then it was mid-morning and getting very hot. Pronouncing the rest of the single seat ship as a write-off the four ninjas and one Jedi descended back down into the canyon like area and backtracked their way to the ship. By noon they were back inside the Flameblade sitting under the cool and comfortable ship's air conditioner.

"Damn! This place is hotter than the Suna desert!" said Jiraiya as he gulped down some fresh water. "Is everyone okay? I don't want anyone getting heat exhaustion."

As expected, Temari was fine but everyone else but Jiraiya was worn out. Neji complained that his eyes were sensitive to the excessive solar radiation but Keil luckily had a visor Neji could wear that would protect his eyes next time.

It seemed their stay on Tatooine was going to be a long and uncomfortable one….

Planet Pristiq

Amara was watching Hanabi and Konohamaru as they wandered around looking out at the oceans through the transparent panels that were all around BlueShield. Amara was listening to them as they pointed out various sea creatures to each other. She was curious as to what Konohamaru had going for him as a potential sperm donor but she found that he and Hanabi were totally in love with each other and virtually inseparable so that idea was dashed quickly. That damned Daca had been right….

Then she heard Hanabi's voice, "It's rather rude to spy on others Lady Amara. Why don't you come out from behind that pillar and tell us what it is you need." Hanabi said it in a peaceful manner but there was a certain edge to it.

Amara was surprised she been detected and Hanabi was facing away from her! How did she….?

"These eyes see everything." said Hanabi. "I can tell by the surprised look on your face and your body language you thought you were completely concealed." Hanabi turned around and Amara saw the blood vessels around Hanabi's eyes were bulged. "I can see 360 degrees and right through that pillar you are hiding behind. I thought you were just curious about us and would come out but after 15 minutes it became rather apparent that wasn't the case."

Amara was shocked. 'What an incredible ability!' she marveled in her mind. Regaining her composure Amara said, "Forgive me but after seeing Lord Naruto and Lady Hinata's amazing abilities I was very curious about your own."

Hanabi was studying Amara's body language. It was obvious that Amara wasn't telling the whole truth but interrogating a clan head's daughter at kunai point probably wouldn't go over well. Besides, Amara probably was a force user and that made her dangerous. Hanabi deactivated her eyes and said. "What did they show you?"

Amara described the body flicker, wall walking and the henge and clone techniques to them. Konohamaru nearly rolled his eyes. He said "Those are all basic abilities that almost any ninja can use even fresh out of the Academy. Naruto has abilities that can level a square mile of forest in one shot. I can blow through security doors with ease using the rasengan jutsu. You've seen nothing."

Voicing her own opinions, Hanabi interjected, "We have ninjas among us that can control water and lightning. Kono-kun here has the fire release. It is very destructive if it needs to be or can be used for something as simple as lighting a campfire. I myself am a practitioner of the Jūken fighting style which can cause severe damage with the slightest touch. It damages internal organs with lethal efficiency."

Amara was fascinated with these abilities. "Could you give a demonstration? I'm sure the whole Isis clan would be amazed to see such things."

"Giving you that information is quite enough Lady Amara," said Hanabi in a business like tone. "We ninjas are entitled to our secrets, don't you agree?"

"Yes, yes of course! I didn't mean to pry." said Amara in a placating tone. "I am curious about one last thing though, why is Lord Naruto your leader? It sounds like you have many impressive abilities of your own."

The young Sarutobi smirked. "You mean aside of the fact he's overwhelmingly powerful? Naruto has the ability to lead and help others. He even makes enemies into friends. He wasn't called 'The Child of Prophecy' on our homeworld for nothing after all."

Another set of eyes down the hall widened at the phrase 'The Child of Prophecy.'

"Well, we have to meet up with Hinata and the others for lunch, Lady Amara." spoke Hanabi. "Good day to you."

Hanabi and Konohamaru left down the hall. With nothing else to do Amara departed as well. After Amara left, Daca slipped out of the shadows.

"It seems you were right Daca." said Naruto appearing from nowhere beside her. "Amara is up to something. We'll have to keep an eye on her."

Daca turned to Naruto wondering how the hell he got there but tried to act unflustered. "Of course I was right. The girl is always up to something. What's this 'Child of Prophecy' business?" she asked trying to sound merely curious.

"It was bosses' greatest failure." was the sad reply. Then the shadow clone poofed out of existence.

Daca was confounded again. 'It was just a shadow clone? Well, whatever. Lady Damasca will need to hear about The Child of Prophecy she's been looking for.'

Planet Tatooine

It took Keil a bit of time to remove all the useful parts from the droid and unlock the flight recorder. The fighter sized ship's registry plate was indeed from planet Pexeva and its last flight was from Pexeva to Tatooine. It turned out Keil was very competent and it impressed the others when he wasn't bragging on himself. After two days later the droids memories that remained were online and Keil brought them up on the main screen.

The audio was mainly shot but it showed Gaara getting in the ship and him speaking to Gai and Kakashi. Whatever Gaara said to them made them a bit depressed and Gaara spoke to the droid. The screen seemed to shake as if the droid was quivering but soon the ship lifted off. The audio cut in and Gaara's voice muttered something "….They are both competent ninja and I could deal with one or the other but both of them together is just too much insanity to stand…." The screen cut out and the view changed to Tatooine. Gaara was beside the ship and said, "I'm heading that way." pointing in the direction the ship was facing. "You are free to do whatever you want." The droid seemed to shiver again before the memory cut out. The last scene was the droid traveling away from the fighter and seeing Ghorfa's tearing the ship apart. The screen jolted suddenly and the droid obviously was falling over before the recording ended.

Keil spoke up "Well, that must have been when our droid friend was caught in that rockslide and fell over the cliff. I'm guessing those savages tearing the ship apart were Ghorfas. They don't seem too friendly."

Temari was a bit emotional from seeing her brother. She asked, "How old are these recordings Keil? The ship was facing towards the Dune Sea according to the map."

"The dates correspond to about nine months ago. I have no idea why he would want to head out there though." answered Keil.

Shikamaru answered Keil's question. "Gaara has absolute mastery over sand. He can control and manipulate it at will. It would be easy for him to travel through the desert or even live in it if he wanted. He and Temari's home village was in the middle of a desert so there's no reason he wouldn't at least explore the possibilities. What do you think Temari?"

She took a thinking pose. "Well, if there was even a small oasis nearby he could probably survive indefinitely give how attuned he is to sand. We need some way to scout the desert and see if there's anything out there. Otherwise we'll end up wandering aimlessly which is suicide in a desert of any appreciable size. Could we take the Flameblade up and map it?"

"I have a better idea Miss Temari," said Keil. "I have about eight little probe droids that could go out and map the Dune Sea for us. They are small enough that they won't disturb the natives. It might take a few days but better that than dying of dehydration in this hellish place."

"Alright, let's map the western part and see what we find." suggested Jiraiya. "Everyone agree?" All of them gave their consent and the little ball shaped droids were sent out a few hours later. Now all they had to do was wait for some results.

It took an additional three days during which Temari was impatient and irritable around the other except Shikamaru. Having seen images of him, she was chomping at the bit to head out into the desert and find her little brother Gaara. Soon the data came flooding in. The Ghorfas had a settlement at the opposite edge of the Jundland Wastes near the Western Dune Sea and seemed to follow paths to notable oasis points which weren't that far off. They seemed to have some sort of religious pilgrimage to one particular oasis so the ninjas were naturally curious about that one. In spite of that it was the furthest of four in the area and the ninja decided it would be the last of the four they visited due to sheer distance. Besides, if the ninja ran into some sort of sacred holy ground they didn't want to end up in a pitched battle with the Ghorfas on their own turf.

They considered taking the Flameblade out to explore these points but given how unstable sand dunes were to land on the group decided to head out on foot. The last thing they needed was the ship to get damaged and the idea of being marooned on Tatooine didn't appeal to them at all. So after packing two weeks of supplies for travel, the group set out at dawn to pass through the Jundland Wastes. They planned to set out at dusk through the Dune Sea to the first oasis. The passage through the Jundland Wastes wasn't that bad considering how dangerous the terrain was. It wasn't until they got close to the Ghorfa camp that they ran into trouble.

Neji had carefully been observing the Ghorfas from afar. He knew they were watching the ninjas but Ghorfas didn't seem to be making any moves to ambush them. Then he noticed a split in the trail ahead. Zooming in with his byakugan his noticed several moving behind the ninjas on the cliffs. Neji signaled the group to stop. He pointed ahead to the left passage. "That way is a narrow passage with overhanging cliffs. It's a perfect place for an ambush. We should take the right but I'm almost positive they are gearing up for an attack. We-" They heard a rumbling in the distance behind them. "Damn!" Neji swore. "They're herding a pack of those womp rats straight at us. We're going to be torn apart by those oversized rodents!"

"Everyone get ready!" said Jiraiya taking command. "All of you get behind me and Temari. Temari, will your wind cutter jutsu work in this passage? I'm going to slow them down with a Swamp of the Underworld."

Temari nodded. It was a sound plan to deal with the immediate threat. "Alright, Jiraiya." she said. "Cast your jutsu and get behind me. I'll cut them down."

Needless to say Keil didn't know what was going on. Shikamaru and Neji pulled him back a few paces as Jiraiya waited for the rats to come into view.

He didn't have to wait long. The rats came barreling around the corner into the straight passage they were in. When they got close enough Jiraiya called out "Swamp of the Underworld" and the womp rats started slipping and sinking in the miniature swamp that was created. Jiraiya dived out of the way as Temari's fan was already glowing with wind chakra.

The last of the rats piled up and were howling and squealing at their predicament. Temari took her stance and yelled "Wind Cutter!" a massive blade of wind surrounded by dozens of smaller ones hit the pack of womp rats head on and cut them to pieces. They shrieked in agony as they perished. There was not one left alive after the slaughter. Temari said satisfied, "This new battle fan kicks ass! It worked even better than I expected. The Shamshir weapons smiths do good work." She folded up her fan and looked at Neji. "Any other problems?" she asked.

Keil and the Ghorfas were staring slack-jawed. First a swamp appeared (which was gone now that Jiraiya cancelled his his jutsu) and then Temari swung her fan and cut all the rats to tiny pieces. The whole passage was slick with blood and remains of the rats. On top of that she didn't even act like all this carnage was a big deal. 'What have I gotten myself into?' thought Keil. The Ghorfas were having similar thoughts. The three Ghorfas that had been herding the rats in to attack with torches were staring at the ninjas from across the sea of rat's blood. After a moment of staring they threw down their torches and fled in terror.

Neji reactivated his byakugan. "It seems that scared the Ghorfas off. Let's take the right passage before they regain their wits about them."

"Good work Temari," said Shikamaru. "That fan was a good investment after all."

She smiled and nodded, "Thanks Shika-kun."

With that the ninjas quietly moved as quickly as they could to avoid more contact with the Ghorfas. They made it out of the wasteland and headed towards the Dune Sea only to run into another group of Ghorfas. The obvious leader of the Ghorfas stepped forward in challenge. He was wielding a gaffi stick. The ninjas looked on as the leader carried on in his own language and pointed his gaffi stick at them threateningly.

"He seems to want a one on one challenge with our leader from what I can tell through the force." said Keil. "I will defend our honor."

Jiraiya held Keil back and said, "Let me take care of this." as he entered sage mode. The power Jiraiya was throwing off didn't go unnoticed by the Ghorfas. Jiraiya stepped forward and made a 'come on' motion with his hand. The Ghorfa leader charged as the sannin took the toad stance. The leader was very skilled with the staff but wasn't as strong as Jiraiya. When the Ghorfa brought his gaffi stick down on the sannin, Jiraiya caught it. The Ghorfa leader was sent flying by a low powered rasengan that was in Jiraiya's other hand. He didn't get up for a few minutes and laid there hacking and coughing. After a few minutes the tribe leader came up to Jiraiya and gave him the universal salute: the finger.

Keil didn't know what it meant but the ninja sure did. They were trying to stifle there laughter a Jiraiya defeating the guy only to get flipped the bird. Keil spoke, "He wants you to salute him back Master Jiraiya."

Jiraiya flipped the guy off and handed him back his gaffi stick. The Ghorfa chieftain turned to his people and then they all flipped the ninja off. After the ninja and Keil returned the rude gesture the Ghorfas seemed very friendly and talkative. The groups didn't know what the other was saying but it was obvious the Ghorfas were inviting them back to their camp as friends. The leader in particular was friendly to Jiraiya and sat him down at the main table at the Ghorfa settlement and sent others to get all of the ninja something to eat. Jiraiya was at a bit of a loss but the ninjas managed to eat what was offered to them without getting sick as the Ghorfas entertained their guests. It was a few hours later that Jiraiya decided throwing Gaara's name into the conversation wouldn't hurt.

The chieftain responded "Gaara?" in a tone of great reverence. When Jiraiya nodded the Ghorfas all spoke quietly among themselves for a moment. The chieftain hushed his people and pointed out towards the Dune Sea. "Gaara-" and the rest of the language was incomprehensible to them.

The ninjas turn to Keil. "I think he's going to take us to Gaara. They seem to hold Gaara in great reverence like a deity."

Jiraiya nodded enthusiastically at the Ghorfa leader who then offered them a tent for the night. Figuring they would leave the next morning the ninjas waited patiently for morning to come.

It was indeed before dawn when a group of Ghorfas awoke them to head out. After a (barely) palatable breakfast they gave the ninja extra robes to wrap around themselves to head out on their pilgrimage to see Gaara. Wrapped in identical robes about ten Ghorfas joined then to lead the way. They had three Banthas with them to carry supplies. As it turned out most of the "supplies" were offerings for Gaara. Shikamaru couldn't believe that Gaara was being worshipped as a god and could only think of how troublesome it all was. He imagined a great temple with Gaara's emotionless face carved into it.

Temari couldn't have been happier. Her brother was alive and the Ghorfas were taking them to see him. She grabbed Shikamaru's hand and held it in hers as they walked along. They moved at a sedate pace with the banthas (which stank like hell) and eventually set up camp around mid-morning as the desert heated up. They took a light meal and rested until dusk when it had cooled off again enough to travel. They travelled until late evening and stopped at an oasis to camp until morning. The next day they travelled to the distant oasis the ninja group were all wondering about and found a sort of sand fortress that looked a lot like a house you'd find in Suna.

The Ghorfas rang a ceremonial gong and a disgruntled looking Gaara came out of the house. Temari called out, "Gaara?" and ran to him. Gaara was completely in shock at this revelation. The two talked for a few minutes before Gaara came out to talk to the Ghorfas in their own language [You have done well bringing my sister to me. Stay at my oasis tonight.] The Ghorfas praised him in joy and Gaara greeted the other ninja.

Jiraiya asked, "So what's it like to be a deity?" with a smile on his face.

Gaara looked a bit embarrassed. "It's a long story….Come inside my house and we'll visit. Oh, and Nara….I'm glad you realized my sister's feelings for you. Please make her happy."

Shikamaru had a flashback to the dream he had on the Flameblade and about what not to say to Gaara. Then he said, "I plan to make Temari happy the rest of my life."

Temari pulled Shikamaru in for a kiss and said "That's all I could ever ask for." as she led him inside by the hand following Gaara.

POSTSCRIPT:

And done. This chapter ran a bit longer than expected but I wanted to get Temari and Gaara reunited. Next chapter we'll follow up on the comedy of errors that led to Gaara becoming a deity to the Ghorfas on Tatooine. There will also be some more subterfuge and machinations going on around Naruto and company on Pristiq. Blue out. 3/8/14

This chapter was retooled as of 4/11/14.