Naruto and Konohamaru got into battle-ready mindsets. They knew they'd be going in under heavy fire with Obi-Wan, and - for everyone on the shuttle - brought seven crates full of Manarai food that could be reheated for the 'army of Jedi' that was being sent to Christophsis.

(Slight miscommunication, but the clones had never eaten Manarai food, right? So they would. But first they'd have to offload it onto the Endurance. Naruto and Konohamaru both agreed that neither wanted the shuttle to be damaged so she, Konohamaru, and Obi-Wan were all switching shuttles.)

After switching shuttles, the three Jedi got off in what seemed like a rare break for the three Jedi already down there.

"Naruto!" Anakin looked exhausted. "You're here!" Naruto nodded, grinning. "Alright. Fill me up."

Naruto beamed and pressed her hand on Anakin's neck. Drawing on his exhaustion, Naruto let it pass through her and make her sway a little.

"Where's Anora and your Padawan?" Naruto asked. Noticing his put-out face, Naruto jerked her hand to Konohamaru's small form. "Just got one myself."

"You got a Padawan?" Anakin asked, shocked.

"I know," Naruto grimaced. "I like him, though. I think I'll keep him. He's adorable, and I think he'll fetch when I say so." She grinned and winked at Ani, who smiled back.

"Anora's keeping watch over Ahsoka as she sleeps. They come in waves; I think there's a plant manufacturing them, but we're pinned." Anakin moved over to the display board. "I think they're coming from here, here and here. No civilians in the way - we evacuated them first, that's why we're pinned. They are in a bunker under the surface." A green dot showed where the civilians were. Naruto nodded, biting her lip.

"They also have a shield generator that's keeping our blaster fire from penetrating it," One said, taking his helmet off. One nodded at his general.

Another clone took his helmet off. "I'm Captain Rex, assigned to General Skywalker," Rex said, holding out his hand.

"Jedi Naruto Uzumaki, this is my Padawan, Konohamaru Sarutobi," Naruto responded nicely.

Anakin eyed her. "You look strange."

Naruto had kept her robes on the Endurance, instead using the authentic beskar she'd gotten from Jango. Her boots hid her lightsaber while her whip was used as a decorative belt, the handle of which was near her right hand. If she needed it, it could be whipped out without needing too many movements. Her lightsaber could be summoned with the Force, anyway, so she was good.

She also held her own helmet.

Instead of the red her armor had once held, Naruto had meticulously painted over it and made it orange. Orange was a better color, in her opinion. Random splashes of black also showed up on her armor.

"Nice armor, General," One said respectfully.

Naruto smiled brightly. "Thanks! I painted it myself!" She frowned at Anakin's 'cough'. "Let's focus on seeing if there's a factory here. Then, we'll destroy it."

~:~

"We've managed to hold back the Republic for two weeks now, Count. But supplies are getting thin, and the factories cannot produce much more before they shut down! And the fleet above us is destroyed - mostly by our own ships that were turned to the other side!" Whorm Loathsom slammed a fist on the table in front of him.

Whorm was a male Kerkoiden and hailed from the planet Kerkoida that was in Separatist space. Most of his people agreed with the ideals of the Separatist movement.

"How many Jedi have appeared?" The Count questioned.

"Six," Whorm reported. "Six Jedi have appeared - of the six, I know of four of them, one by reputation." He knew General Skywalker's tactics well by now - keep the civilians from harm, keep every inch gained and retreat only when necessary; General Kyorsk's tactics was the attack from the sides; and the child they brought seemed to love blocking the shots his droids shot.

And General Uzumaki - she was, according to some worlds in the Confederacy of Independent Systems (or the Separatist Alliance) - one of the most compassionate Jedi in this generation. Unorthodox, treated the impossible as possible, and tricked a Separatist Nemoidian commander into coming aboard her ship while she'd taken control of the other vessel.

He didn't know why they were being foolish enough to bring children onto the battlefield.

"Names?"

"Anakin Skywalker, Anora Kyorsk, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Naruto Uzumaki." Whorm saw the leader of the Separatist Alliance scowl and brush on his beard.

"Leave the planet to its fate," Dooku decided. "We cannot afford to have another battalion in the hands of the Jedi."

"As you wish, Count Dooku," Whorm bowed. The hologram vanished and Whorm turned to his tactical droid. "Load up the shield generators and let us leave this planet to its fate; we have no need to stay here."

"Yes, sir," the tactical droid droned.

"Hurry up!" Whorm bellowed.

~:~

Naruto frowned at the shuttles leaving the surface of the planet. "Looks like they're escaping," she observed blandly. "Admiral Yularen, there's several shuttles escaping the surface. Can you get it?" she asked the holoimage.

Yularen nodded. "Yes."

Naruto nodded back and disconnected. "They won't be escaping for long. Let's finish this." She swept her lightsaber in a large arc, destroying a ton of droids. Konohamaru flung his hand out, sending them flying; him and Ahsoka seemed to get along quite well.

"Konohamaru! Go to the factory and throw the explosives in it!" Naruto called, throwing her lightsaber. It destroyed an entire battalion, thanks to the fact it was her dual-bladed saber; she summoned it back with the Force, being careful not to slice her arm off.

Anakin pouted as he stopped behind her. "You're so lucky!"

Naruto didn't answer, spinning her blade.

"Should I just toss the bag in?" Konohamaru called to her. "I set ONE of the charges in here..."

"Go ahead!" Naruto replied, Force blasting a group of droids.

The factory blew up, killing the droids' connection and making the remaining droids drop.

"General!" Admiral Yularen appeared, looking pleased. "Whorm Loathsom and the other shuttles have been captured. Two tactical droids and several shield generators."

"Good," Naruto said, looking at Anakin. "We'll be down here, helping clean-up. Anakin, you go up with your apprentice and Anora; Obi-Wan, Konohamaru and I will start cleaning up. Leave us some of the troopers."

Anakin nodded, clapping her on the back. "Relief should be coming from Alderaan soon," he told her.

Naruto smiled a little. "I'm glad."

~:~

A little girl named Moegi flinched as footsteps, sounding kind of metallic, echoed.

Everyone huddled a little, until Moegi listened harder.

"- they have to come all the way down here? It's too long!"

"You are way younger than me, apprentice - but clearly you've never been to Ansion. They have the longest staircases in the galaxy."

"Are you messing with me?"

"Me? I would never!"

"..yeah, you're messing with me."

"In all seriousness, Ansion is crazy. They do have a ton of staircases... I've just never been. Now stand back." The door started unlocking. Moegi stood back.

"It's okay!" she said cheerfully. "They're not those metal things!"

"I'd hope not." The mayor of the city raised his blaster as the door creaked eerily open. There was shadows - and then someone stepped in, looking around. She was an unfamiliar woman wearing orange-striped white armor with black splashes. A tail swept behind her, and she had two set of ears - furry orange ears that seemed to twitch every which way and regular human ones she seemed to keep stuffed with cotton.

A lightsaber was held loosely in her hands, along with a helmet she held to her body with her arm.

"Hello, people of Christophsis! We made a mess outside, but that's expected seeing as we were fighting killer droids," she explained. "We moved the bodies of our dead, but we do need to find a place for a proper bonfire send off. Anyone wanna help with that?"

Moegi lifted up her hands. "My mama's farm is open," she said shyly.

"What of the droids?" the mayor questioned, his eyes narrowing.

Naruto waved her hand. "Melt 'em. They're useless - I'd keep the guns, of course; protecting yourselves from invaders might become necessary."

A kid Moegi's age (maybe a year or two older) appeared behind the older woman.

"Master, One is wondering if we're leaving tonight."

"No. We've got to burn the dead. We can't let anyone take their DNA and try to use it like the Kaminoans do," the older Jedi explained. "You can go back to the ship, Konohamaru."

Konohamaru shrugged. "Okay."

~:~

Moegi didn't see any trace of the bodies of the clones that night or the next morning when she woke up. She had a scarf that her mama was going to get rid of in her hands as she raced out to meet the Jedi woman before she left - a scarf and a wind chime, anyway. The wind chime was made of Christophsis crystal, one of the hardest gems in the galaxy (aside from kyber crystals). The scarf was for Konohamaru, and the wind chime was for the Jedi master, Naruto.

"Naruto! Master Naruto!" Moegi's cries made the departing Jedi stop and turn. Moegi blushed a little and held out the scarf and wind chime. "My mama and I thought we ought to give you and Konohamaru something - as a thank-you for defending us. I've heard of the rules of the Jedi, but... I just wanted Konohamaru to have the scarf and you the wind chime." She shoved the bundle into the Jedi's arms and waved. "Come visit us!"

Naruto granted her a brilliant smile.

"Moegi, become great."

Moegi blushed to the roots of her hair as Naruto left. Moegi was a budding artist; and as she raced home, she thought of a painting.

A Jedi with six birthmarks on her face, leading an army of clone troopers and Jedi into battle.

Oh, yeah. Moegi would become great; if only to not disappoint the Jedi who had told her to become so.