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Well, chapter three!Uh...incidentally, what exactly is Tenten's last name? Does she even have one? Officially, I mean?
Chapter Three: Cautiously Allied-
"What the hell are those?" Tenten whispered after the four got over their initial surprise.
"We know just as much as you do, Sorano," Naruto said mockingly. He smirked as the dark-haired girl scowled at him, then turned to Neji.
"Soooo, fearless ANBU! What now?" Neji shot him a dark glance.
"Stay here."
The pupil-less Jônin leapt from the tree and stalked to the edge of the wide river. He stood in a loose defensive position. Neji didn't speak, but waited for the man to take the initiative.
The robed figure regarded him for a long moment, then deactivated his glowing weapon and replaced it on his belt. His hand, however, remained close by for easy access, Neji noted with a smirk. Moving forward until he reached the river bank, the man glanced at the tree that the three other shinobi still occupied, then turned to the waiting Hyuga. He had waved the two with him back and stood alone.
"What is your purpose here?" he finally asked.
"I do not know," Neji replied easily. "As ridiculous as this may sound, I do not even know where here is, much less how I arrived."
The man blinked.
"Well." he looked thoughtful for a moment. "That is unusual. I'm afraid that you have come at an extremely inopportune time, though. We are going to be under attack soon…" He sighed and shook his head as if to clear it. "If you and your companions will come with me, we'll see what we can do to help and keep you out of harm's way, if possible. I am Luke Skywalker, by the way, and this is the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4."
Neji inclined his head slightly, even as his fingers twitched into the beginning sign of the Tiger. His former teammate was probably the only one to recognize the symbol of "no danger," but the other two would follow, of that he was certain. The three seemingly phased into existence behind him seconds later, and Neji crossed his arms.
"I am Neji Hyuga, Jônin of Konohakagure, the Village Hidden in Leaves. My companions are of Konoha as well. This is my cousin, Hinata Hyuga, that is Tenten Sorano, and Naruto Uzumaki. Your assistance in our return home would be greatly appreciated."
"Hey, hey!" Naruto cut in impatiently. "What are TIE fighter? And what were those glowy sword thingies? And why are you being attacked anyway?"
Exasperated looks were shot his way by everyone, including the tow teenagers with Skywalker, except for the man himself, whose lips twitched in amusement.
"Well, let's talk as we prepare," he told the hyperactive blonde. "We cannot afford to waste any more time. If you will come on over, we'll exchange stories as soon as we get to the Comm Center. You can cross the river here; it's fairly shallow."
Neji caught Naruto's arm and narrowed his eyes warningly as the two girls started across.
"Walk through the water, Naruto. I know you can walk on it, but do not show2 any unnecessary skill. We still do not know how far these people can be trusted, and there's no point in taking away the element of surprise, if it come to that."
The younger boy scowled but didn't argue. "Fine, fine," he muttered darkly as he followed Hinata and Tenten. Subtlety wasn't exactly his strongest suit.
The four shinobi watched in fascination as the girl's (who they now knew to be Jaina; her twin was named Jacen) fingers flew over the strange technology before them. They had basic technology in Konoha, I.e. refrigerators, microwaves, etc., but it all seemed pathetically archaic compared to what lay before them.
"So, anyway, then Zekk warned Jaina not to come back, because the Shadow Academy was going to attack, and here we are." Jacen paused, waiting to see if there were any more questions. He and his uncle had found that they had to explain as far back as "what the hell are Jedi , and what do you mean, 'other worlds?'"
"How do you know this Zekk can be trusted?" Neji inquired. "If he is your enemy, could this not be a psychological attempt to manipulate you?"
"Well, there is always that possibility," Luke started to say before Jaina cut in, turning away from the monitors.
"The shields are up, Uncle Luke. And I believe him," she added, looking at Neji. "Zekk was our friend long before he was our enemy, and I think that he was trying to protect us by telling me about the attack. I– I'm sure that he still cares." Luke gave his niece a sympathetic look to which she smiled gratefully. "And, anyway, I didn't sense any dishonesty or insincerity from him."
Neji frowned as he smacked Naruto's wandering hands away from the various buttons (what does this one do?) without even looking in the boy's direction.
"You say 'sense' as if you mean something beyond normal instinct," he stated.
Luke nodded. "One of the aspects of sensitivity to the Force is the ability to sense the emotions of other sentient beings."
"Ah."
Jacen had idly picked up a head set and was twisting a knob. Suddenly, his eyes widened, almost panicked.
"H– hey, wait!" he cried out. "Don't– you'll– I mean, we gotta drop our shields first! Give me a minute, Peckhum."
After a few minutes, the shields were down, then back up again. Everyone except Luke, Jaina, and Neji left the Comm Center and headed for the landing pad outside, where the Lightning Rod was just settling down.
A pale-skinned man with long, scraggly hair emerged, brushing off his rumpled jumpsuit.
"Hey, Peckhum," Jacen greeted the old spacer with a trademark Solo grin. "We have to hurry before the Imperials get here," he explained. "I'll help you unload and get the supplies inside."
"Imperials?" Peckhum questioned, scratching a grizzled chin with one hand as he eyed the three strangers. "Is that what the shields are for? Are we under attack?"
"Ah– w-we could help," Hinata blurted out. Naruto wrinkled his nose at her, causing the shy girl to blush deeply. "T-to make things go faster."
"That's very kind of you," Peckhum smiled at her. "Would appreciate it a lot."
"Whatever," Tenten shrugged when Hinata looked pleadingly at her. "Might as well. Come on, Naruto." The blonde scowled but obeyed and the three followed Jacen over to Peckhum.
"Nobody is attacking righ now," Jacen enlightened. "Zekk told us that they would be, though, while we were on Kashyyyk. He led the group that raided the computer facilities there." He was hesitant to mention his wayward friend to Peckhum, knowing that the man had acted as a mentor for Zekk for a while, but also knew that the man would need and want to know. "We had better hurry," he added, including the other three with a look. "We want to get this done before they get here."
Peckhum was looking toward the skies, face drawn and paler than usual. He pointed up as the three shinobi gasped in awe. "Too late," he whispered. "There they are!"
Neji frowned as the floor shuddered faintly beneath his feet. He saw Jaina's eyes widen.
"There's something wrong!" she cried. "There's been an explosion in the jungle; the shields are down." She turned to look up at her uncle, worry evident I her face.
"Can you get them back online from here?" he questioned. She shook her head and he sighed. The door suddenly burst open and the others came in with Peckhum.
"They're here," Jacen said needlessly.
"Yeah, we noticed," Jaina responded. "The shields are down."
Her twin's eyes widened, then narrowed thoughtfully. "Sabotage, I'll bet."
"You should see that thing, Neji," Naruto was saying. "It's frickin' huge!"
Luke frowned at the four ninja worriedly, then came to a decision. "I'm calling an all-hands meeting in five," he said. "We may need to evacuate the temple." He caught Neji's eye. "We'll try to keep you out of jeopardy." He was surprised to see the boy's mouth twitch to suppress a smirk. Rather than responding, Neji motioned to the other three with a jerk of his head.
The Jedi and Peckhum looked over to see Naruto flashing them a toothy grin. Tenten was smirking as she twirled two kunai in each hand; Hinata simply nodded, looking determined.
"Hell no!" Narute declared. "And miss out on all the fun?"
Luke blinked, then looked back at the other Hyuga.
"We will fight," Neji said simply.
Next up: Gaara's Group!