Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Star Wars
Hiruzen stared at Naruto, rubbing his temples as Kakashi held the unconscious boy. Looking at his close confidant, he slowly leaned back in his seat. He'd had a break when the Yondaime had taken office, but now he was forced to feel the weight of his age once again.
"It's not your fault Hokage-sama." Kakashi said, lifting Naruto gingerly. "You did what you had to do."
"Regardless, it is not the sort of thing that we could've left unanswered." Kakashi said, shaking his head slowly. "So, he doesn't know."
"It appears not." Hiruzen rubbed his forehead, trying to ease out the headache he'd built up. "I let myself go to much for that. I…"
Sighing, he glanced around. Making a covert gesture, he waited for Kakashi's response. Surprised, Kakashi moved over and set Naruto down before giving his signal. "All clear."
Hiruzen scoffed silently at that. They both knew better than to believe that, but for security's sake they'd have to allow it. "Danzo lied to me."
The words were not uncommon for Hiruzen, but voicing them was. For the first time in a long time, he could have the truth before him and know with a certainty that Danzo was lying to him. Why, and for what purpose, he couldn't answer. But then, that was all part of his game. Hiding in the underbelly of Konoha, drawing in poison to kill the tree so that their leaves wouldn't flourish. Oh he spouted about the 'safety and security of Konoha' but his actions spoke otherwise. Why else would he have worked in the dark like this for so long?
He'd had to storm in and drag the man down deeper to get him to realize that he was done with this game before Danzo had acknowledged him. Leaving Danzo in charge may have not been the wisest choice, but then he'd hoped that the threat of reveal and of liquidation of his forces would've been enough to remind him to stay in line. Clearly Danzo still thought he held some edge against Hiruzen's throat.
There was a reason he was called the God of Shinobi – a reason that had involved many such people believing similarly, only to find that he would not be held by anyone.
"Kakashi, take Naruto down to the cells."
"Hokage-sama?"
"He needs to realize that he's done wrong." Hiruzen said, idly rolling the cylinder that had been on Naruto's person. "Entering another village without going through the gate, attempting to spy on our people…if we can even prove that he did. The woman isn't talking, and her interrogators are becoming more impressed than frustrated."
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Kakashi managed something of a smile behind his mask. "Well, they always were impressed by people who could last beneath their varieties of torture."
Hiruzen nodded solemnly, running his finger along the edge of the cylinder before pausing. Kakashi was smiling? After all that had happened, and after all that they'd gone through, he had somehow managed to break out of the damaged shell that he'd built up and smiled for the first time in years. Staring at him, he tapped his finger on his desk for a moment before finally relenting. "What's got you in such a mood Kakashi?"
For his part, Kakashi reacted quite smoothly. No startled reaction, no attempt to blow off what he could clearly see. Instead, he simply turned to Naruto and knelt before him, staring at the unconscious boy for a moment. Letting the silence hang in the air for a moment longer than was ultimately needful, Kakashi finally broke down and returned his gaze. There were no tears in his right eye like one might've expected; he'd cried those all out years ago.
However, to Hiruzen's surprise, he'd uncovered his Sharingan as he'd looked at the boy, and was crying from that eye alone. Perhaps he had underestimated how deeply his emotions were buried, and how much pain Kakashi had truly been in.
"Hokage-sama." His voice was smooth, exact, orderly. He'd regained enough control then to be able to speak without his emotions breaking into his voice. "My job these last few years, when not being strong armed into attempting to take a team, was looking for Naruto. Anbu, Ne, it didn't matter who went out looking, I was there. Wherever he'd gone, wherever he's been…Hokage-sama, did I not do enough?"
Hiruzen sighed heavily, watching as the man tried to come to grips with his raging emotions. This was unlike him, but then after losing everyone close to him, to have even one person come back for a moment might do that. Even the strongest of men have a point in which they're bound to break.
Wrapped in his thoughts, Hiruzen paused as he stared at Naruto's version of the Raijin no Ken. Or, at least that's what he figured it to be. Looking at it again, he recalled a similar device on the woman they'd taken in. An'ya, she'd said her name was. Turning it again, he slowly placed it at the edge of his desk nearest Kakashi.
"Tell me, Kakashi." He said, motioning to it. "Have you seen this before?"
Kakashi frowned, catching on that there was something more to the question, but was unable to see the full extent. "No Hokage-sama."
"And, as you recall, An'ya had something similar. Do you recall its appearance?"
"Yes, it looked longer, thicker, with –" Kakashi froze, a look of understanding in his eyes as he walked over to it and picked it up. Looking it over, he returned his gaze to Hiruzen as he lowered his hiate over his Sharingan again. "It's unique. They both were."
"Which might imply that wherever she came from, such an object means something more than its appearance." The Hokage bit his cheek, staring at it. "However, if each is unique to the one who first built it, then how is it that no one in the Elemental Nations has ever mentioned such a group?"
Kakashi rubbed his chin, hefting it idly before tossing it back and forth. "Maybe…they're small? A handful of people can go unnoticed for quite some time before they slip up."
"I'd imagine so too." Hiruzen nodded in acknowledgement, only to raise his finger as he listed off a counter point. "However, Jiraiya's spy network was able to pick up on and track the actions of one Akatsuki for years before we began learning more. If their group were doing anything similar we'd have heard of it."
"Hokage-sama –"
"We would have heard of it." He repeated, silencing Kakashi. "We've kept our ears open for every organization; new, old, or otherwise occupied by other things. In each case we've discovered much, but nothing in regards to such a small thing." Pointing to it again, he narrowed his eyes. "Something like that is not something you'd see on a shinobi very often, and yet An'ya had it hanging off her hip as though it were something meant to be seen."
"…it's a symbol perhaps?" Kakashi asked, pointing the strange ringed segment at his eyes as he tried to look across it for any hint of seals. "To show a certain mastery, or affiliation?"
"Perhaps." Hiruzen rubbed his chin in thought. It was made of solid steel, though none he'd ever seen before. And with its design there was a lack of opening or seals, which implied that it wasn't something that was meant to be taken apart or used in that manner. Deciding to take a small risk, he motioned to Kakashi. "When you take Naruto down put it in with his personal items. If he…attempt anything, he'll attempt to take it and we'll see just what they're hiding if he does. If it is like the Raijin no Ken, then without knowledge of how to make it work it will remain useless to us."
"And, should he not attempt to escape?"
Hiruzen closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. No, he didn't like what he was going to say. But, for the good of Konoha… "Then we'll get the information from him ourselves."
=-x-=
Danzo hated waiting for this man, but he had no other choice. He held his anger tightly in reign, just like each other part of him. It wouldn't do to allow himself to be manipulated through his emotions; especially by this man.
He was the manipulator after all.
So much so in fact, that he doubted that Hiruzen had even known the dealings that Danzo had working in the shadows beneath the shadows. Oh he'd known of Ne, and subsequently ripped it out of his hands just to give it back, but that was his group; his organization of loyal individuals. There were others out there who followed him though. Others who had been and still held homage to the roots from which they were spawned.
Moving through the facility, he considered his next options. The woman, An'ya she'd called herself, was a problem. Her abilities were an unknown beyond being able to cloak herself, which wasn't much to work with. Reports had said she'd thrown tiles, but then so could any good ninjutsu user who'd realized just how effective their environment could be.
So she was an anomaly; a wild card that was unaccounted for. That, made things difficult. He'd 'theorized' with Hiruzen that whoever took the boy must've had some ideas of his heritage and would have taken him as a way to spite Konoha. This was mainly to allow him to send spies into their enemy countries, as well as some friendly ones as well. He could spin the camouflage technique as being similar to one used during the Third Great Shinobi War, but only if Kakashi could back the story up with viable evidence.
Kakashi. As he'd begun his trek here, he'd realized just how much a thorn in his side the man was. Constantly poking around, having an ear open where it simply wasn't wanted. With Hiruzen's open acknowledgement of Ne, Kakashi had been one such person who'd been everywhere. From Anbu to Ne, to traveling on missions to the furthest points on the maps off of hunches, Kakashi had been there. In fact, he had on many occasions simply called off a mission shortly after arriving because he'd 'seen enough' and was certain that they'd find nothing there.
It was partly true, as the information was often wrong, but that left a gap in Danzo's informants that he'd struggled to fill.
He'd have to do something about him at some point, but later. The man was teaching a batch of students, finally, and as such couldn't poke his nose where it wasn't wanted for long. However, he was inadvertently half-way shadowed by the protection of another that, so long as he was the team's leader, made him untouchable. But then, there were other ways.
Finally, came across the man he'd been looking for. Inwardly gritting his teeth, he stepped up besides the man as he stared into Konoha.
"…how did you find me?"
"We had people seeking for any trace of the boy for years. You weren't so hard to find when we've grown our information ten-fold." Danzo replied, giving the man a sideways glance.
"I see. Of course, I've heard the boy has…returned? Although, I doubt imprisonment is much of a return."
Danzo nodded stiffly. Yes, he should've known that he'd hear of that. There might still be to many holes in their information that needed filling; useful knowledge to have and utilize. "He was deemed unfit, and was restrained and detained until we can question him further."
"Oh? And here I thought that they were going to restart him. Give him a new mind, a new life. Something fresh and new."
"We would, were it that simple." Danzo scoffed. Really, just wipe is mind and be done with it? How absurd. "Even if a Yamanaka could do such a thing, there are too many other variables that would make him useless to us. To simply wipe his mind of everything would leave him in a vegetative state, and to remove only selective parts would be difficult seeing how we don't know what history he has anymore. Even then, we'd have to fill that time with something more to ensure that he came out of it correctly. If even one person slipped up, a crack could form and he might 'reawaken' as it were. And were such a thing to happen, he'd fail in protecting Konoha."
"And you are all about Konoha's safety." The man said with a chuckle. "Yes, you never change."
"No, and I should hope that I never have to." Danzo said, eyes narrowing. "You've thought of something funny?"
"Hm? Oh, nothing much. Just how much the change in our beloved Hokage-sama had seemingly shifted power around here in Konoha. I'd have never imagined that one little child could create such a fuss without an extra push or two."
"True. But a push in the right direction, from the right person makes all the difference."
"So, you are using our little gift."
Danzo's fingers twitched at that, and the man looked him in the eye. Such arrogance. He knew the dangers of such a thing, and yet he still insisted upon aggravating and instigating a confrontation with him. No matter, he still had use for them all. "I need you to take care of something for me. A problem that your master might find…interesting."
"I don't doubt that. You do seem to have been bringing up quite a number of things that have been interesting over the years."
"Yes, but this woman is more so in many ways." That got his attention. "Our torture and interrogation specialists are good, but they are still held back by their morals. They seem to think that there are some things one should avoid when breaking another being. I find that such emotions are more of a detriment, as does your master if your previous work is any such indication."
"Hm, yes this is true. And just what would you be looking for Danzo?"
"I want the location of their village." Danzo looked out onto the city, eyes tracing its contour. "I want to send my troops in and drag them all down until we find the source of their abilities and their purpose."
"And if they're just a rogue group?"
"Then we'll find them."
There was a silence between the two as they stared, unmoving or unblinking. Then, suddenly, the man laughed again.
"You are a crafty man. I almost didn't catch that." In the light of the moon, Danzo could see his smile. "Don't worry, I'll follow your orders. I'm just rather surprised that they follow my own desires so simply."
"I've known you for years now Kabuto." Danzo noticed the look the man gave him when he called him by name, but paid it no mind. "I expect you to get it done, and to bring back the information she gives up."
"Of course…Danzo-sama." Kabuto said, slowly fading into the darkness as he left.
Standing on the balcony for a moment longer, Danzo slowly exhaled. He had grown to hate Kabuto as the years had progressed, seeing how his abilities and skill had grown, and then his ability to gather information had shot skyward and he'd become a walking vat of secrets and knowledge. He shouldn't have been left alive, and he should've died years ago.
Instead, Orochimaru had let him live. He'd brought him in, nurtured his skills and made him an even better spy and perhaps even more of a threat to him as well. Danzo had despised and hated that, up until he'd realized how useful he still was. With the information he'd occasionally provided, and the fact that he'd been able to effectively infiltrate a variety of villages utilizing Orochimaru's resources, Danzo had been forced to admit that the pros were on par with the cons of using him.
One other pro was certainly quite the advantage as well. Touching his bandages, he idly began making his way back to Ne. There was still so much to do, and so very little time to accomplish it all.
=-x-=
Naruto awoke in a sewer. Not the best place to wake up in, but then he also knew this particular sewer. It was the one he'd been in when he'd been unconscious in the bacta vat. Grimacing as he remembered that incident, he sat upright.
They'd knocked him unconscious then. That was good. That implied he wasn't dead then; or at least, it likely meant that. The masked man had knocked him out so fast, but…why did the Force prompt him to let it happen? What was it about being unconscious that made this trip back here worth it?
Crossing his arms, he scowled as he reviewed his day again, adding more ticks to his fingers. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong, and everything that still could go wrong likely would. It felt like the world around him was falling apart, and he had the sinking suspicion that, should he try to take all this in tonight he would break down in tears or a violent rage. Nine guesses on which, and how well that would go.
Still, he'd learnt something. The village wasn't a nice place, and it had some deeper secrets hidden beneath its surface that he was no longer certain he wanted to know. Or at least, he didn't know if he wanted to help them.
Recalling his 'awoken' memories, he remembered the vague flash of Hinata apologizing for him getting beaten up. Was that why she'd looked so betrayed? So hurt? Because one time he'd done something for her and it had a deep impact on her life? Wow. People certainly remembered things in the past differently.
For him, I was just an affirmation of something he already knew; he wanted to protect people. He wanted to save them and help them in any way he could. Here though, on this world, he was now beginning to see one of the hardest lessons he might ever face.
A people who simply weren't willing to accept help or even wanted peace.
Oh there was likely the small group who wanted it, but for a militarized organization, such a thing was impossible. They needed war, confrontation, people to act out and bring people to fight and destroy. If someone took that away, their way of life disappeared and left their civilizations likely to be broken down and rebuilt with something new in their place. Of course, that wasn't implying that the seedier underground of this new world wouldn't be filled with the same sort of people as before seeing how they'd built atop a world of war. It was inevitable. Nar Shadda had shown him just how far people were willing to go to find a place to fulfill their darkest desires.
Thinking on that a bit more make Naruto's stomach clench. What did that make the Jedi really then? Peacekeepers, or party breakers? Certainly they kept civil wars, invasions, and other misunderstandings from occurring, but…how many times had they stepped in on something that both sides wanted? He'd read records dating back centuries where the Jedi had been forced to leave due to the escalation in violence between two groups. In fact, Obi-wan had at one point left due to what had happened on Melida/Daan – he'd even resigned for a short while because of it.
Naruto remembered talking to the boy about it later, flabbergasted and stunned. Who would want to leave the Jedi Order? Why? The response he'd received as a Youngling seemed so much wiser than Kenobi's youth might have seemed.
"I thought I was able to do something better there, but I couldn't be a Jedi to do it."
Of course people other than Jedi could change the galaxy; the Senate proved that every day, though they were admittedly slower to make it actually happen than some others. In fact, there were many options open to a person if they were willing to look for them. What was it about the Jedi that kept him following its philosophies?
Shaking his head, he pushed everything out of his head. He couldn't take all these things at once, and he and he had still more to endure if him being here was any indication. Making his way through the winding tunnel, he soon came before the giant gates once again.
"Kyuubi?"
The titanic fox shifted about, its eyes half-opened as though in deep thought. Its low hum sent a vibration through the room, giving Naruto a shiver before he moved closer. Unlike last time where the Kyuubi had all but taken his head off, this time he looked more complacent. Not relaxed, but certainly less violent.
"Hey, Kyuubi!"
It closed its eyes and sighed at Naruto's second call. "What brat?"
"What's going on?" Naruto asked, almost pleading for some kind of answers. "Why am I…what am I doing here?"
The Kyuubi let one of its eyes crack open, then shut it again. "It doesn't matter."
"Like hell it doesn't!" Naruto shouted, slamming his foot down. "To much has happened today, and I need answers! I don't care what I just…I just…"
Naruto slowly let his head drop, feeling the weight of his day come slipping back into his head like a speeder striking a wall. Falling to his knees, he stared at the floor silently.
"…brat?" The Kyuubi sounded mildly concerned about him, poking its nose forward after a few minutes of silence. "Brat seriously it doesn't matter. I don't –"
"It doesn't?" Naruto asked, slowly looking up at him. His eyes were distant, confused, angry, and frustrated. Laughing softly, he shook his head. "No, you're right. It doesn't. Because clearly everything I've done means nothing right?"
The Kyuubi wisely remained silent, watching Naruto's shifting mood. He'd seen people with rapidly changing emotions before – humans all seemed so easy to provoke, but Naruto seemed to have temporarily snapped and just needed to vent. He'd been a soundboard before, and got to hear some interestingly creative ways humans threaten one another; maybe listening wouldn't be terrible.
Naruto for his part just scowled. "I came here looking for something, but it just had to be in the village didn't it? It had to be somewhere I shouldn't have gone. Isn't that funny? Everything good I've found has been hidden somewhere that, really, I shouldn't have been. The problem on Naboo, the holocron on Alaris, the Queen on Nar Shadda…all places I shouldn't have been, but gave me something good for it…"
Throwing back his head, he shouted at the ceiling as though he could pierce through it to be heard on other worlds. "Well? What is it then?! Why am I here? What good is it to come to a place that treats people like this? This barbaric, uncultured, militarized hellhole of a planet! Why?!"
Naruto slammed his fists into the ground, panting as he let his anger slowly ebb away. Other people had done things like he had, but he figured that most of them would pale in comparison to what he was currently being subjected to currently. This wasn't a home; it was a military base that gave off the appearance of homeliness, but beneath it held…held what?
The thought caused him to pause and think about that. Was that why he was here? To see what this world held? Maybe…there was something in the Force. Something to guide him, to help him.
Shifting into a cross-legged position, he slowed his breathing and tried to meditate. He didn't know if it would work, or if he even could while he was here, but it was worth a try. Plus, he didn't need the Kyuubi laughing at him while he did alchaka forms and distracting him.
Reaching as far as he could into the Force, he began to feel out the world. As he did so, he received impressions of things happening all around the world. Battles, shadowy deals, destruction, and forced changes to the very world itself. The world was in chaos. Pandemonium seemed almost a constant and hope…how many people still had it? So few…so very few.
In his search however, he also came in contact with the Force of this world. As he examined it, he was able to see the difference between the world and the people; the world was blue, the people were green. They shone like beacons, scattered and shining strongly in the Force with some of those people were incredibly strong in the Force.
He didn't know how long it had been, how long he'd meditated, or how far his senses had been dragged along before he noticed something else. The other colors. Much like he'd already seen, there was a person in the village with an orange aura…but no, that was wrong. It wasn't orange, it was…two colors. Two different shade that were causing the Force to react and deepen in the dark side of the Force.
There were others too, scattered across the world. Theirs varied from person to person, but he soon was able to pick out and realize that very few of these yellows, oranges, and even a red, were alone. They were paired with another being, most clearly a person of the world, and caused them to shine brighter because of it.
Naruto slowly opened his eyes and considered that. Colors. Why did he see the world in so many different shades of color? The dark side, the light side, those were absolutes in the Jedi teachings; there was no dealing with any 'shades of grey' save for the very few like Qui-gon who was considered a Grey Jedi. But, was it grey?
Thinking on what little he knew, he recalled something he'd glanced at while looking over meanings of colors after Alaris Prime, when he'd first tapped into the 'red Force' and started shredding droids. In his studies, he'd seen a color chart, where the light was reflected off objects to reveal what color was hidden beneath. White, violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, and black. Oh there were other colors, but it referenced those as more of a base to push off of.
Naruto had experience with what he referred to as 'the blue Force' on a day to day basis. It was the Living Force, found in everything and flowed through everyone. It was not fully peaceful, but enough so that it gave a calmness of mind and clarity that allowed him to perform acts as a Jedi.
On Alaris Prime he'd been expose to 'the red Force'; something violent, malevolent, but guided by him to destroy the droids. He knew he could've lost control, to succumbed to it and fallen head over heels spinning into a darkness he might never have escaped. The only thing was, he had been able to keep a clear head since the one who drew on it…wasn't him.
He'd wrap his head around that in a moment.
The final color of Force he'd felt had been yellow, on Nar Shadda while in the hands of the Anzat. With it, he'd called upon what he'd later learned was Force Lightning and stunned both of them with an explosion of power. There was no doubt in his mind at the source of that particular explosion; he'd done that. He'd called on the dark side and it had swept him up in a tidal wave of power and pain. Partly due to the nerve damage, but also for how violently different it reacted than what he was used to.
Crossing his arms, he considered these things. Colors. Their meaning and their design couldn't have just been by chance, but…if that were true, then how was it he was the only one who saw things like this? Surely he wasn't the only one who looked at the Force and thought "you know, I don't think that's how everyone else describes it." What was he missing?
His thoughts were cut off as he heard something behind him. Dripping? No, someone was walking around the sewer. But…how'd they get here? This place was some kind of mindscape wasn't it?
The Kyuubi also seemed to notice the new sound and growled softly, bubbles of energy forming across the ground at its feet. Bubbles of red energy. Curious despite the oncoming invader, Naruto reached out to them hesitantly, gingerly sensing what lay within.
Rage. Malice. The desire for destruction for the ignorance and insolence of its captors. A desire to watch the world burn for the foolishness of men in believing themselves higher than the powers that made them.
Naruto recoiled from these things, having to take a moment to slow his heart as he realized he'd opened a link to the Kyuubi. What had possessed him to do that? And, if that power was the Kyuubi's, did that mean it had somehow found a way to control the dark side of the Force? But…how?
Ignoring his burning questions for later, he stared towards the only door into the caged room and waited. He didn't have to wait too long before figure strode in, his white cloak fluttering slightly as he entered. The man – for it was a man – wore a necklace of nine magatama, comma-like marks, on his white cloak, had a black high collared shirt, and had perhaps one of the most interesting faces Naruto thought he'd ever seen in a being.
He was a tall pale-skinned man, with deep wrinkles across his face and a goatee that fell down towards his waist, almost as a visible symbol of his age. He had a pair of horns protruding from beneath spikey pale-red hair, with a chin-length, braided lock hanging from in front of his left ear. Funny, in a way that almost reminded Naruto of his padawan's braid.
What was most startling though, was his eyes. All three of them. One sat in the middle of his forehead, red with a ripple-like pattern, and his other two held the same pattern, though were more of an indigo, or violet color. These eyes were the eyes he'd seen before; the ones that had frightened the Kyuubi, and had haunted him before coming here.
This was the man who'd told him to come here.
"Hello boy." The man said, his voice seeming to echo throughout the room. "It's time we spoke."
"Who…who are you?" Naruto asked, bracing himself with the Force before his jaw dropped and his eyes widened upon feeling the sheer magnitude of violet Force energy that seemed to roll off him. What kind of being had such a connection to the Force?
"I am Hagoromo Otsutsuki, known throughout the world as the Sage of Six Paths, and the God of Shinobi. I am the son of Kaguya Otsutsuki, and the founder of Ninshu. And we…have much to discuss."
AN: People already guessed who this was when I first brought him up, but thankfully I can fully explain how this works without canon getting in the way...except that it would get in the way, were this not my story. Why is that important to note? Well, you'll see.
People get really impatient when I leave them without all the information, and I feel it might be good to note this for all you reading; you all didn't want me to ever return to Ibonihs, take anyone off Ibonihs, or have anything to do with it after Naruto left. And while that'll mostly be true, that means that there's going to be a LOT of unresolved issues left behind - because Naruto is so unbelievably done with this world, that he doesn't want to stick around after he gets what he needs (or rather, finds out his arrival is what was needed...you'll see).
As such, I may dedicate a chapter to answering questions no one asked that would allow people more understanding of what happened on Ibonihs/did happen, or I can just let everyone imagine as they please and go gallivanting off into the galaxy. Who knows? Well...you guys, if you tell me you want that. But I'll only do so if you want it. Otherwise, onwards and upwards.
Next time we'll find out the secret behind An'ya Kuro coming to Ibonihs, and the purpose of Naruto's departure! Stay tuned!
