AN: I don't own Naruto/Star Wars: Legends


4:8:30


Azurbani system: Kiffex

Deadend was a city that lived up to the idea of its name. Filled with people who appeared like this was likely their last stop, or that they'd come to the end of a line to simply hide away from the world. They made the most of it, acting like it was the highest life they were capable of living through.

Doing so on a planet of the Inner Rim planet might confuse some, but with some digging, one could find the reason to be quite interesting. Kiffex had a number or prison colonies across the surface of the planet. It operated for the sector of the galaxy around it, but had managed to become one for the entire Republic at one point in time. As such, the idea that it was a cesspool for the underworld became far more acceptable, for those who were willing to ignore the implications.

Stepping off the Rogue One, Naruto shifted the cloth across his shoulders and around his face with a faint grunt. It was a more temperate planet, making the mesh of it a godsend to avoid feeling suffocated. Yet, it was still humid enough to make him sweat, and need to take a few seconds to readjust before moving into the city, Aurra and Gonk on his heels.

The entire city was bustling; a city with commerce, business, and much more that was still going on around them. Produce, animals, weapons. The latter of which was more subtle, seeming to be passed with other products, like they weren't meant to be found, or bought the way they were. The more they saw, the more Naruto found the feeling built within him to be odd.

He felt comfortable. Seeing the weapons passed between each other had him tense, on edge, and ready. Yet, even as he did so, he began to feel more comfortable with the sight, knowing that people around him were armed and dangerous, but that was fine by him. Knowing there was danger meant the was ready to face it.

Idly, he reached out in the Force, noting the world to have a vaguely depressing feeling. It was a result of so many things, but even with that, there was something else in the air about him. A feeling. Something was trying to look for him, with ill intentions.

He couldn't explain the sensation, except that he'd felt it before. In Hux, when he was fighting alongside the Kalee, often before the Yam'rii attempted to ambush them. But there was no one here who should know of him. It wasn't anyone around him, but it was there. Out there, elusive.

Recalling An'ya and Qui-gon telling him to keep his mind present, not focused on the future, he scowled, attempting to reassert himself into the present. Only, the feeling didn't pass. It was still there, like a tension trying to tug at him. To drag his attention towards... something.

"Do you feel that?" Naruto asked after they'd gotten deeper into the city.

"You mean the smell? It's pretty normal for a place like this. Honestly the fact your cloak is as used probably isn't helping. Might want to check the mesh at some point." Motioning to a building ahead, she continued with a grunt. "That's the Black Hole, where our contact is. Look for the Aqualish. Apparently we'll 'know him when we see him', whatever that means. Nervous?"

"Perpetually." Naruto muttered, getting a light smack from Aurra. "Alright, alright, I'm not. I'm just... there's something out here looking around. For... something."

Aurra frowned that that, slowly exhaling and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I... no, I don't notice it. What does it feel like? Think this is a trap?"

"No," Naruto focused towards the building, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "The place is full of bad intentions, but, it's not something aimed at us. We're in the clear. But someone else is looking for... something. It feels like it's aimed at me though."

Cursing, Aurra dragged her thumb across her blasters idly. "... we hit this place up, then we leave. Simple as that."

"I don't think so. At least, I mean, it won't be simple."

Both of them groaning, they paused and stared at each other before snorting and laughing at each other. It was a lighthearted feeling, how they both reacted to the scene so similarly. There was some small bit of relief that it brought, helping them feel a moment of relaxation, and clarity as they finally entered the Black Hole.

The place was bustling, with many different races, from all walks of life. Twi'lek dancers, Trandoshans gambling, Rodians ordering drinks, and so forth. So much variety, and yet they still had the same air of danger to them all. Of the people who moved about and performed various actions throughout, two individuals stood out particularly poignantly to the pair.

One was the Aqualish, likely the man they were looking for. Gorto Zaga was a brute of a man, looking over various blasters that were in front of him as he dealt with various people around him. There was an air of authority, and of fear from those around him. He was a businessman of some sort, from the way he motioned and haggled with various crystals before him. One person said something the two couldn't hear, and he pressed a blaster to their head, getting them to quickly backpedal, pressing it more firmly to their head before seeming to accept the apology and pull back to continue business again.

The other was a much odder sight. Stirring a pot with what appeared to be some kind of walking stick, the cook not far from Gorto was a Veknoid; a person with large, milky-white eyes, floppy ears, a few sets of pointed teeth, and short fur across parts of their body. Noting their eyes, it took a bit to note that the entity was likely blind, occasionally patting their hand near their cook station to pour in something else to the single large pot, yet something about their movements drew attention from people who just entered. They moved confidently, like this was a kitchen they'd worked in for some time, yet from some of the yelling to the kitchen for food, or complaining about the food, it seemed like they were a newer addition.

Moving over towards the table, Aurra opened the discussion to the Aqualish. "Gorto Zaga? I believe we have business to discuss."

Gorto made a slow, deep noise of clear anger, tilting his head back as he slowly shifted the blaster between his palms. {I don't know you, and I don't your tone. Talk fast or die young.}

"Mress, your Trandoshan who was... less than a great business partner."

The people around Gorto shifted, seeming unnerved by the casualness of Aurra as she stared down Gorto. Slowly, Gorto made a half-sniff sound, motioning for the pair to seat themselves. {Hey! Cook! Where's the food?}

"It will be done soon." The Veknoid man replied, humming as he shifted and moved some things around before adding them to the pot as calmly as could be. The calmness seemed to settle some of those around them, but Gorto slammed a hand against the table, shouting at them again.

{Hurry up then! I'm hungry, and I don't want to sit here waiting all day.} Shaking their head, they slowly leaned towards Aurra. {So, you're the one who took care of my problem, huh? How'd you come by her?}

"She shot the wrong person, and they lived."

There was a moment of silence between them, Gorto seeming to eye them both for a moment. Then, they barked a short, unpleasant laugh. {Fine, that's good enough for me. I have your crystal, full and done.} Turning back to the cook, they shouted again. {Hurry it up over there! And bring some for these two. I have business to discuss.}

Aurra frowned at the way he said that, leaning back and exhaling slowly. That had a bad taste to it, sounding like Gorto was thinking of doing something unpleasant. Or was wanting to hire them to perform some kind of unpleasant action. Either way, the two glanced to one another and simply waited.

It took a few moments for a small box to be brought and set before them. Opening it cautiously, Aurra nodded when she saw the crystals accounted for. Leaning back, she casually set it in her lap, nodding to Gorto appreciatively. "Good business is one taken care of."

{And I need business being done around here.} And there it was. Noting that a few others had shifted as well, Aurra said nothing while Gorto continued. {I've been looking for someone off world who'd be able to help me with a few things. Inconspicuous, and discreet. Interested?}

"Depends on the work." Aurra said cautiously.

Gorto made a derisive snorting sound, but seemed to accept it. Good. She didn't need violence breaking out here. Glancing to Naruto, she idly trying not to recall the last time Naruto was in front of a boss with her. Last time, they'd died.

{Mm, fine.} Motioning over to the side, Gorto shouted over to some of the people working, blaster still in hand as he waved it at them. {Hey! Get us some dancers over here. Something pretty to look at. And someone change the music, it's going to make me shoot someone.}

Aurra winced, shifting as a Twi'lek woman was called over, moving atop one of the nearby tables and gripping a pole, slowly dancing to the music as it was shifted to a more baseline heavy song that seemed to suit Gorto's desires enough that he set the blaster back down. Watching the dancer for a moment, he made another dissatisfied noise.

{Can't keep good help around here. All of them go to shit, or are to busy shoving their faces in ass to focus. Still, keeps them working, so I suppose they're good enough.}

Aurra nodded, biting back multiple scathing remarks she had for this man. They were a toxic, lecherous man, but one who had money, so that 'gave them power'. Or something to that effect. She'd seen it before, and she'd taken that power from them before. So long as this one didn't try and pull a fast one, she could simply finish her business, and get out.

"That's fair, I suppose." Aurra stared at the Twi'lek, who gave her a half glance before shying away. Idly she was grateful that there were no slave collars that she could see. It wasn't to say that some of those here weren't slaves, but the physical, actual proof of it would be worse.

"Do you employ just anyone who works here?" Naruto suddenly asked, eyes on the Twi'lek.

{Do you let your employees speak when you're doing business?} Gorto shifted in place, glaring down Naruto, who was ignoring him.

"He's my partner, and his business is his own... unless it's my business." Aurra slowly amended, glancing to Naruto before softly exhaling in frustration. "He's been looking for someone. A Twi'lek who might have landed here with another person, about six months ago. He's been looking for her for some time, and -"

{If I knew every person who came and went from here, I'd be as bad as the Guardians.} Gorto laughed raucously, getting a few nervous bits of laughter from those around him. {Tell you what, if you don't think she was blown out of the sky, then maybe I can find them. For two thousand credits... or you can do me a job.}

Aurra winced. Of course he'd try and get his money back, or entice them to work for him. Get them under his thumb, then prevent them from leaving. Not good options for them, but perhaps the only ones they'd want, considering other options might involve killing him. Or, rather, him attempting to kill them, or threatening to do so. She didn't have a high enough opinion of him or his gang to think they could take on herself, let alone Naruto.

"Again. Depends on the job."

{With your talents, it should be an easy fix. There's one of those stars blasted 'Guardians of Kiffu' that keep trying to patrol around and stomp on my business. Sheyf Tinté isn't terrible, but it's the other enforcers who try and 'uphold the peace'. By bringing in weapons, that they then don't bother sharing.} Gorto laughed loudly, then shook the blaster in their hand. {In my territory. They can try and pull that on their own turf, but in my territory, they should know better. I want her head, on my desk... attachment to their body is optional. Either way, her body will be a smoking corpse soon enough. I need no myth, I only want the Neti nerf herder dead! You hear me? Dead!}

Gorto slammed a hand on the table, getting several people to jump and shift uncomfortably. Aurra meanwhile, paused and shifted at that. "A... Neti?"

{Do your ears not work? Yes, a Neti. That is what those who've encountered them have called her, and I don't have the patience to correct them!} There was a clear, disgruntled sound that the Aqualish made, making it very clear that he was quite close to snapping out. {I don't want to repeat myself again. I will pay you ten thousand credits, for her head. If you can do it by weeks end, I will double it.}

"Pass."

There was a moment of silence, as all eyes remained on him as he stayed intentionally silent. It was punctuated when suddenly the Veknoid moved over, placing bowl between them all, and breaking the tension for a brief instant as the others then began to pick at their own food, Gorto continuing to glower at Naruto as they began taking their first bites. Picking up the bowl to begin eating, taking a moment to take in what he assumed to be the local quinine. After a few bites, he paused for a second, rolling it around after a bite before humming. "This is... pretty good. Compliments."

"Heh, why thank you." The Veknoid said, leaning on their staff as they idly observed all who were eating the soup.

The calming aura returned, and Naruto suddenly found himself shifting and staring up at the man. Watching them, and recalling that he was blind, and therefore not actually 'looking' at people, Naruto turned his gaze to those around him. Aurra had taken a few bites, humming and seeming to take it as 'passable' as she continued to eat and enjoy the food she'd been given. A few others, other proprietors or employees, seemed to have similar enjoyment of the food, simply taking it as it was and enjoying it. Then, there were the others.

Gorto Zaga immediately spat out the food, and several others around him seemed to have similar looks of distaste and disgust. Several even looked like they wanted to throw their bowls, or at least dump it off the side. Gorto himself seemed to be particularly enraged, grip on his blaster tightening. {Do you think this is a joke?}

Peaking off to the side, Naruto slowly began to internally process it all. It was the one thing he couldn't place, the thing that shouldn't have made sense for how everyone was reacting. The Veknoid only had one pot to draw the food from; so how was it so vastly different for each person's reaction?

"Each person need to find their own balance in the Force." Their voice was calm, and spoke as though they'd had to say this more than once, yet still kept its own jovial nature. "The further you are from balance, the worse it might taste. It takes some doing, but your tastes aren't failing you. Just needs a little thought and consideration."

{I'll show you thought.} Gorto whipped his blaster forward, firing it at the Veknoid.

All at once, chaos exploded in the cantina.

The patrons immediately began ducking at the sound of the blaster, but even more began shouting at an all to familiar snap-hiss as the walking stick the Veknoid had been wielding revealed that at the top there was an emitter, as a blue lightsaber blade snapped into existence and blocked the first blaster bolt away. As more people drew their blasters, Naruto felt a pull, a leap in the Force, and found his blaster in hand and firing rapidly above those seated next to Gorto. Most of them took that to mean they were under attack, and didn't follow up on Gorto's blaster fire, instead rolling back and behind cover, trying to avoid getting shot.

{You're friendly with a Jedi? Kill them!}

"No, we're not-" Aurra tried to explain, but before she could, Naruto had moved his arm in front of her and threw them both backwards from their chairs. Gorto attempted to fire after them, catching only the bottom of the hair as they moved back and away to cover. Drawing out her own blaster, she rolled her eyes. "Well, now that you're shooting at us..."

"They were going to fire at us regardless." Naruto muttered, shifting the blaster in his hand. Still a bit awkward and clunky with it, he still held it confidently, closing his eyes before leaning up and firing again.

Aurra scowled, shifting behind the chair to lean out, firing at those still firing upon them. Behind her, the Veknoid - the Jedi - was blocking incoming blaster fire with what was essentially a lightsaber pole-arm, moving with more of jabbing motions to bounce it away, rather than back towards the enemies. Peaceful, sure, but it didn't stop the people trying to kill them.

Naruto was far more helpful for that, moving his feet to the chairs and flicking them up slightly. Then, with a hefty shove, he launched them into those firing upon them, knocking them to the side. Then, shifting in his prone position and continued firing back at them.

Providing cover fire for Naruto to roll back behind further cover, Aurra scowled at the Veknoid as she moved next to them. "You really tried doing a 'lesson of the Force' thing to a crime boss? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I follow the Force, and it let me here. Serving him was just a piece of the puzzle that the Force had for me." Shifting to the side, they blocked several more blaster bolts, keeping them from striking Aurra. "Do be careful, it is a dangerous place out there."

"No kidding? I hadn't noticed." Aurra growled, leaned past them and blasting another member of Gorto's crew. "Tell the Force to kindly cut it out? I do not need this right now."

"If it is happening, it is the will of the Force."

"Oh jump off a cliff!"

Amid the two bickering, Naruto was back in 'combat mode'. The blasters had him focused, and he was once more entrenched in the battle around. Staring up at the ceiling, he considered his options.

Fight them, distract them, scatter them. The last was bad; too many civilians, blaster fire going in every direction could get innocents hurt. Distraction could be better, but again could have danger to those around them. Fighting them was the easiest option, and could have this handled without difficulty, but could cause harm to their assailants. Slowly shifting the blaster in his hand, Naruto cracked his neck, his resolve hardening once more.

He could deal with that.

Feeling them trying to surround him, he exhaled as he shifted slowly. Seven combatants, including Gorto, with a dozen others trying to make their way towards them. He could fire in any direction he wanted, really. But there was a better plan.

Shifting his feet, he slammed into the legs of the table, causing it to break as multiple blasters tumbled around him. Then, flipping the table, Naruto leapt to his feet, shoulder checking it into three who stood with wide eyed shock, not having thought their opponent would do something like that. As such, they were knocked back and off to the side. They could get up, but by that point it should be too late.

Leaping off the seats, Naruto snapped his blaster to the side as he fired away, following the Force guidance with each shot. While he missed several of them with each shot, he managed to force them to duck and dodge past his attacks before one peaked out to fire back. Cursing, Naruto aimed and fired back.

The result was not what Naruto expected. Instead of simply beating them to the punch, Naruto fired within an instant of them, bolts flying quickly and slamming into each other. With the impact, the bolts were sent flying in different directions, striking harmlessly into the floor and ceiling, getting further curses as they continued firing. Naruto, not wishing to get shot again, continued to match their blaster fire for a few seconds before ducking behind the cooking counter.

Exhaling slowly, Naruto paused and slowly turned to stare at some of the dancers who had chosen to hide behind the bar, several of them staring at him in disbelief. Slowly, he nodded to them. "... rough day huh?"

"Yeah..."

"Give me just -" Naruto peaked up, firing several shots, three of the reinforcements falling to the blaster fire and scattering the others before Naruto dropped back down. "Sorry, this shouldn't take long."

"Why?"

Naruto's eyes went vacant, thinking over a response to the question. Why. Why do this? Why help them, or harm the others? Sensing more people coming, Naruto cursed and grabbed a bottle, throwing it at another of the closer enemies. Hearing the crack against their skull, Naruto internally winced, before firing at those who peaked their head up.

"Because right now, these guys can't take a hint." Holding his hand out, Naruto motioned to one of the bottles. "Hand me that, please."

There was a moment of hesitation, and for a brief instant, Naruto thought they were going to try to strike him. He felt his body tense, prepared to shrug off any blow they attempted to deal. Then, after that moment passed, he relaxed when he felt them place the bottle in his hand. Sighing, he nodded slowly, then lobbed it overhead.

Waiting for a moment, he counted; both in his head, and by reaching out through the Force. Hitting the sweat spot, Naruto leaned back to just barely see the bottle, then fired. The resulting blast burst the bottle sprayed those underneath with glass shrapnel, and liquids. Hearing shouts of confusion, Naruto leapt across, dodging a few other bolts before crashing into the cover that several other opponents had been hiding behind it. With a grunt and a shove, he heard their confused noises and he pushed them into another set of tables, hopefully tangling them up long enough that they wouldn't be an issue.

Hearing more blaster fire, Naruto ran up the side of the table, bouncing off one of the goons heads before diving behind another table as he flipped it to act as cover. "Well, damn it."

{You are scum of the galaxy and I will see your heart ripped out of your throat!}

{Tracy'uur lo'shebs'ul narit!} Naruto shouted back, telling Gorto, "You can shove your blaster up your ass" in Mando'a. As he said it, it evoked a slight stir among the others around him.

"Wait, is that guy a Mandalorian? I ain't tussling with one of them."

{Idiot, there's only one Mandalorian left! That guy didn't look a thing like that Jango Fett.}

"But what do you know of how he looks? He's always wearing armor!"

A bellow silenced them, getting all attention of Gorto. {I don't care who he is, or what he is! Kill him! Flay his skin and rip out his eyes! NOW!}

{Skanah (Very hated person, "fucker").} Naruto muttered, taking the moment's reprieve to reload the blaster and glaring around the edge of the table. {Iba'shebs'palon (What an asshole).}

Rolling out from behind the cover, Naruto peppered the area with blaster bolts, keeping them from poking out too often to attack back. Those who did would have Naruto quickly turning and blasting at their hands, or simply ricocheting them away, gritting his teeth as he grew tired of their hiding and ran up to them. Hearing a shout, Naruto leapt over top their barrier, using the Force to force himself quickly to the ground faster than gravity should've sent him, causing several bolts to miss as he landed in a crouch in front of them.

Naruto vaguely acknowledged a second impact next to him, but had already moved into hand-to-hand range to properly acknowledge them. Pulling his arm back, he moved quickly and slammed it into the goon's side. Not Gorto - he was moving too fast to pick them out immediately without one of the others trying to fire on him. Gripping the first, he used their shirt to grip, pull into his hip, and then throw as hard as he could through another pair. There were others who were scattering, fear and confusion hitting them.

Nearby, Aurra had joined in, multiple forms of combat racing through her mind as she quickly disarmed two with one strike to their wrists before shoving them back over the upturned tables. This had not been how she'd wanted this all to go down, and now here she was, once again having to deal with the fallout of Naruto jumping in and...

And doing the right thing? She couldn't fault him for that. The Aqualish just had bad taste; the food tasted fine to her. A tad bitter, and maybe could've used a bit more 'something', but the Jedi hadn't poisoned, or done anything like that. Hell, the fact a Jedi served it meant it was more likely to not be poisoned. Still, Naruto had been the one to jump to help him. Though, again, after Gorto had shot at them.

Cursing under her breath, she shook her head. She could discuss things like that with him later. Now wasn't the time to let her mind wander to where she could get shot and killed - or worse, get Naruto shot again.

Whipping another across a table, Naruto scowled as he ducked, a series of blasts going off over his head. Pressing his hands to the floor and spinning, he spun the heel of his foot up, slamming it against Gorto's wrist and forcing the Aqualish thug to release the blaster as the crack of bone could be faintly heard. Seemed that the training under his father in close quarters combat like this was finally having a chance to pay off.

As Naruto quickly rose and turned to face Gorto, he froze. A pulse, surging forward, and with a suddenness, almost overwhelming, suddenly hit him through the Force. Aurra turned and locked eyes with him, with the Veknoid Jedi turning to face the entrance. "Something's wrong."

There was a commotion near one of the doors, some people pushing out, but with a sudden surge of some pushing back in. Then, some of the nearby windows burst as several entities leapt through. Snarling, lightning quick, and with feral teeth, they began pouncing on people too slow to move. Some pinned people down, looming over them just far enough away that Naruto couldn't see what was happening. He heard screams and saw more people moving towards a back entrance.

Cursing, Naruto waved his hand to the dancers, seeing them peaking their head up at the commotion. "Go! This place is getting attacked!"

Seeing the crowd of people, they didn't need to be told twice. Rushing away, Naruto exhaled, then winced as he snapped his head towards Gorto. In the moment that he'd taken to tell them to leave, Gorto had picked up another blaster in their other hand.

{I don't need to deal with -}

A blast rang out, Gorto screaming as he dropped his blaster from the bolt Aurra had put into his arm upon him attempting to train his blaster on Naruto. His eyes snapped to Aurra, who simply pointed her blaster at his head, causing him to flinch and make several unpleasant remarks under his breath.

"I don't make deals with people like you, and we don't need you being a problem right karking now." Frowning, she glanced to the door. "... can you see what's over there?"

"No, but I'm thinking we should go."

"Indeed." The Veknoid said, shifting with his lightsaber staff in hand, holding it defensively as the shifted and looked towards where the commotion was occurring.

Following his gaze, Aurra froze, seeing just enough through the scattering, fleeing crowd to catch a glimpse of what one of them was doing. Pinning them down, two proboscis-like tendrils slipping up their victims nose. She knew what they were, had been trained by one - one that had died, but whose memory she'd never forgotten.

"Anzati."

Naruto cursed, motioning them back. "We leave, regroup, and plan our..."

The words died in his throat, his body staying in place as his gaze went past them. He saw the crowd, he knew what he was seeing was terrible. The Anzati were assailing, them, scattering some, wounding others who stayed in their path. Even as all that happened though, he found himself gritting his teeth, fingers curling into fists as conflict spiked within him, as the Force suddenly drew him away from the entrance where the visible danger was.

Shifting, realization dawning on him, Naruto drew on the Force as quickly as he could, flashing away in a yellow burst towards the back door he'd just sent the dancers towards. The Veknoid Jedi paused, shifting before glancing to Aurra.

"... something we missed?"

"Probably." Aurra muttered, turning and making her way after Naruto.

As they took their moment to catch on, Naruto had already begun moving. Flashing through the room, straining his body with each leap, he race across the room, throwing himself over top of tables until he could see the dancers and a few others who'd run with them. Reaching out in the Force, every part of him screamed 'danger', but he could only do so much.

So, reaching out, he grabbed as many as he could, wrapping them in weaves of air like a clothesline, guided by the Forced, and pulled them back as quickly as he could. There was no room to be gentle, or subtle; all he had time for was to move, and to act.

Some of them pushed against and resisted the pull, their desperation overcoming the pull as they shoved on. Thankfully, a good number were still pulled back, shouting and cursing as Naruto blinked into existence in front of them. Those who had clawed and rushed forwards soon found why they shouldn't have, screaming as another group of Anzati fell upon them, throwing them to the ground and dragging them off outside. Naruto stepped forwards, moving to intercept, and then felt every instinct of the Force shout at him.

"Be still."

Naruto froze, jaw locked in place, wanting to run after them, but standing as a physical barrier between those still inside and the monsters outside. He'd seen Anzati before, but these were more beasts than people. More monster than conscious being. Or, perhaps just conscious enough to be dangerous.

Reaching behind his belt, he slipped his lightsaber shoto into his hand, shifting to a defensive stance. A pack of the Anzati who hadn't attacked yet paced about, looking ready to throw themselves though the window, but seemed to be waiting on something. What was it? What could they want? Were they waiting on him to come to them. Gritting his teeth, Naruto dug his feet into the ground, ready to throw himself at them.

"Be still."

Holding fast, Naruto's scowl deepened, hearing the sound of Aurra and their new Jedi associate, and then the hum of a lightsaber. For a brief second, he thought it was the Jedi's, out and ready to defend. Glancing back to see them approaching, he realized the hum wasn't from behind him; it was from in front of him.

Focusing forward, he felt his breath leave him like a punch to the gut. There, striding through the Anzati, flanked by several red-armored creatures, strode Aayla Secura. And through the Force, he could sense all he needed to know about her reasons for being here; she had become enshrouded in the dark side of the Force.

"... this is gonna karking suck."


AN: Another chapter in, and we get Naruto finally finding Aayla! ... and she's drawing on the dark side. Fantastic! Time for a good old fashioned fight for the light.

The Anzati have always been interesting, and I'm going to have some fun with some of the little things here and there with them. These particular ones are... well, the fact that they begin overrunning things in Kiffex, particularly due to one particular line in the Star Wars Wiki regarding the fate of Kiffex. Not sure exactly what to think of that, but I'm going to have fun with it all the same with what is coming up. A big ol' brawl in the Black Hole Cantina. Hopefully it'll be as fun as I'm imagining it to be.

Also getting to show some Goken (Strong Fist) implication, with Naruto. I don't know what specific fighting style Minato used, but the idea he taught Naruto at least some of that fighting style is a really neat idea in my mind, what with the fact that with the Force, Naruto could be blind and still be able to use it without seeing - hell, he probably could use it even more effectively than one with a Sharingan.

Another thing that I was inspired by another person to ask; if/when the shinobi show up in the galaxy, are there any of those you'd all like to see on the pairing poll, or would we prefer to keep Naruto to the glory of the stars? I don't mind either way, as each relationship simply helps me poke and prod Naruto into a better being for the future, but we all know how fun those can be.

Additionally! Another person asked about lemons... do y'all want those in the story? I usually don't mind them myself, but have often tried to keep in mind where story is meant to take precedence. After all, if it's not Icha Icha Paradise, then usually it's got a more full plot; not to say that the sexy times ain't plot driven, but knowing if y'all want to see that sort of thing as "confirmation", I do understand. So let me know!

Thank you all for your reviews, they are always great to read. If you haven't seen, there's a poll to go over the pairing options for Naruto for everyone, as well as those new to the story on my Profile. I look forward to seeing who you choose, and how I'll be able to consider and use it through the building story.

May this chapter find you well, and may the Force be with you.