Thank you for the positive feedback, everyone! It definitely fills my creative spirit with desire to produce more content for you. Please enjoy the chapter.
[A/N]
Two-in-one? Sure.
How long have I been inside this hole? The days have passed without me paying much attention; I cannot recall the last time I was under the light of the sun, something I crave dreadfully. This… ship... is so strange. No matter how much effort I put into leaving this room where the machine is, it keeps pulling me back. I'll take 2, 3, maybe 4 steps outside the doors, and, without conscious awareness, find myself back here again as if attracted by some magnetic field. Cs keeps talking about something called the 'Force', but what the hell is it? Kurama doesn't understand it any better than I do. My only hope is that when I finally unravel the intricacies of space flight, clarity will be granted unto me to solve this mystery. If not, I fear I'll lose my mind in this room and be doomed forever.
Fox Paw System Log: 332
29 ABY
SW:AHR
"Wait, wait. So this guy shows up out of nowhere with your BB unit and this ship, picks you up, proceeds to pick me up, and is now shuttling us around? What does he get out of this?" Finn's critical tone could not help but be defiant to the idea that this was not an elaborate and manipulative ruse to gain their trust in order to subsequently remove the threat of the rebels for good.
"Yes? I'm not really sure what he gets out of this, but he's a Force sensitive, so getting on his bad side is probably an unwise plan of action."
Inside the med bay of the Fox's Paw sat Poe while Finn laid stiffly on one of the available beds. Several minutes before, Finn had awoken in a panic, trying to figure out where the hell he was; it took Poe some time to calm his paranoia and now they were trying to piece together who this "Naruto Uzumaki" was.
"You've never heard of him either, have you?" Poe asked him in a quiet voice.
Finn shook his head in frustration. There were rumors of powerful individuals the First Order had on a list of potential enemies that could disrupt their plans. It was not a list Finn was privy to, being a mere grunt on the ladder of authority and all. Perhaps an inquisitor would know more, but those were not the types of individuals Finn planned on coming face-to-face with anytime in the approaching future.
"Sirs, (not to be an unwanted listener) you must know that in my experiences with a variety of sentient species, there have been few that value their promises like Master Naruto. He is an exceptional example of what willpower can achieve in a human. He will ensure the safety of all beings aboard, at the detriment to his own health no less. Rest assured that you are both perfectly safe as long as you refrain from betraying Master, if there is a type of person he hates, it is those that betray. In fact, if the betrayal cut him deep enough, he could become worse than any Sith known to the galaxy… now or in the past." Cs spoke from the corner, startling the pair. They had completely forgotten he was in the room, sheepish looks played on their faces in response to their errant words.
His words that tried to placate their concerns only troubled them further, "worse than a Sith" were words never spoken lightly, the entire galaxy knew the sort of atrocities a single Sith was capable of accomplishing with the right motivations, to claim he would be worse only made them fear their savior all the more.
"Pssh. Sure, Cs, the day you 'accidentally' overhear a conversation is the day I wipe out a hundred Finalizers with my bare hands. Force, you're the most diabolical droid I've ever come across. Those few millennia you spent in isolation did something to your personality. You can argue until your circuitry starts imploding, but you'll never convince me you don't have a few screws loose, you bucket of rust."
Poe and Finn's attention snapped to the door that Naruto leaned casually against the frame of, arms folded over his chest while he had a wily smile plastered on his lean face.
This was Finn's first time being able to examine the armored man, and what he found calmed him. Years of exposure to the worse scum imaginable had gifted him a degree of intuition when meeting people, fooling him with a kind smile and friendly body language was not enough, there was something deeper he could see through that allowed him to assess whether a person was friend or foe. Finn felt it may have stemmed from the number of times he put his life on the line for people he hated and knew were pure evil, but he tried not to ponder the idea much. Individual thought was frowned on by the First Order after all, it would take time to reverse the effects of years spent within their institution.
"Master, I take great offense to those words. I am happy to inform you that rust composes less than 0.1 percent of my current structure, why must you make rude inferences in relation to myself?"
A gloved palm covered Naruto's mouth as he tried controlling his fit of laughter. Fucking with Cs is second to only Kurama.
'Oi, you bastard.'
'I meant the other Kurama.'
'There is no other Kurama, you wise ass! Why am I still stuck with you?!'
'Because my personality is irresistible, of course.'
'Next time you come in here, I'm gonna shove my tail straight up y-'
Gonna have to apologize later for that one. I don't want to be skewered by one his tails… again.
Shrugging off the cold spike of fear this stabbed him with, Naruto responded to Cs, "Go take 5 or something, bud. I need to aid our guests in an attempt to rectify the fear you put in them. Can't you just be a normal protocol droid?"
"Negative, master, I believe it was you that decided to install your self-programmed unpredictability modules into my system. The fault entirely is yours."
As the droid strode out of the room, Naruto leveled it across the hall with a weighted kick straight to his metal ass.
"And my regret continues to grow day by day for such a stupid decision," he yelled down the hallway at his retreating droid friend.
"I take it that's pretty normal around here?" Poe queried.
"Meh, you could say that. Cs has been with me for years now, so you could say our byplay is… normal? Yeah, normal, let's go with that," nodding more to himself for reassurance than the occupants of the room. He continued, "Well, now that Finn's awake, how about we gather in the mess in 20 for food and discussions?"
"Sounds good. Thanks, Naruto," Poe said.
SW:AHR
"And when we finally got him to go out to eat with us, (you won't believe this) we were waiting for the moment he would take a bite from his food; when he finally lowered the stupid piece of cloth, you know what was there?"
"What?"
"Another fucking mask! The bastard was screwing with us! Kami, I'll never get over how pissed off he made me that day. We were his students, why couldn't he show us his face?"
"Maybe he was shy?"
Naruto gave Rey a deadpanned look, "The same teacher that would read smut… in broad daylight… in front of the entire village… shy? Yeah, and I'm an alcoholic Gungan with an affinity for opera singing."
Rey giggled at Naruto's strange antics, he certainly was interesting. One moment he's beating down a Sith without an ounce of effort, the next he's able to regale her with absurd stories from his childhood—the dichotomy made him so approachable. After seeing his fight with Kylo Ren, there was a sliver of her that actually feared him, not that she wanted to, but after his demolition of the starship with practiced ease, there was little any person could do to prevent apprehensive thoughts from sneaking into one's mind.
"So this is where the party is?" Poe's amused voice inquired as he and Finn made their way into the mess.
"You could say that," Naruto said amusedly as he turned and called, "Cs, another round of chicken katsu, if you would be so kind."
"It will be ready momentarily."
"I've ate food from hundreds of planets, never heard of 'chicken' or 'katsu'…" Poe said lowly in worry, hoping it was not one of the more gastrically challenging foods to consume… Some species eat the weirdest crap. Poe thought as he felt his stomach twist and churn at the memories.
Following the gentle lull of comfortable silence the quartet shared as they waited for their meal, Cs loudly came through the door, feet clanking against the floor a little louder than normal. He tossed the plate of katsu on the table haphazardly.
"Are you still upset I kicked you, Cs?"
"Negative, master. Why would I be upset over such trivial matters?"
Yeah, he's livid. I'll regret that next time I get up. He's becoming so… imaginative. I'm debating whether I should be proud or irked by his pranks, some of them are more… torturous than I'd prefer. Recalling the last time he upset his droid sent him into a minor panic. Who wants to find themselves stuffed in an airlock with sharpened scrap metal after a healthy rest? Not Naruto, nope. His quandary over how he was removed from his own bed and placed inside the airlock without awakening left him disturbed to say the very least. Force, help me if he drugged my food.
"Why don't you go take a rest, Cs? You look tired."
"Droids do not get 'tired', master. But I endeavor to follow your commands. There are… chores that must be taken care of."
The others around the table watched the interaction with interest. They all shared the thought that there had to be a reason Naruto looked so nervous, with a little patience perhaps they would discover the context behind the unhinged stare he directed at the departing droid.
"Some droid you've got there." Finn said.
"You wouldn't believe how true those words are—disturbingly true."
"Well, at least this food is fantastic. Most ships don't keep real grub on deck, so it's a nice change of pace." Poe added.
"I detest the dehydrated meals most crew buy, and I have a means of keeping things compact and fresh without having to worry about storage space."
"And that is?"
They were all leaning in to hear his response as he dramatically raised a finger in the air, "A trade secret from back home."
"Oh, would you just be straight with us?" Rey asked in annoyance.
Slowly, a shit-eating grin started to split across Naruto's face, "Just a trick from my home planet. Want to see?"
She nodded excitedly at the fact that he was going to divulge one of his secrets.
Naruto hummed thoughtfully to himself as he reached into his robe and pulled out an ordinary looking rolled up piece of parchment.
"Is that paper?" Poe asked confusedly, it was a rare event to see any paper products nowadays, so he leaned over in interest.
"That's correct," Naruto concurred. "Watch and be amazed, ya fools." Nostalgic melancholy pierced Naruto at the inadvertent use of a phrase one of his late friends so freely abused in the past.
Unrolling the paper, it slid across the empty area of the table, covering around 3 feet of space. On the surface was painted patterns written in characters none other than Naruto could comprehend. Placing his thumb up to his mouth, he bit down hard and spread his blood over the paper. They watched with bated breath, his palm spreading over the paper as it began glowing a light blue.
"Kai!"
Smoke erupted from the surface of the paper, which Naruto shooed away with a lazy wave of his hand. What sat atop the unfurled scroll was a single standard issue blaster pistol.
"What?!"
"You're kidding me..."
"That's fucking awesome!"
Naruto's reaction to the exclamations? He leaned back with his hands resting behind his head as he gave them a look of smugness that they could tell he oozed with immense satisfaction.
"You look rather proud of yourself," Rey amusedly pointed out.
"Showing people tricks from home is always nice. They aren't exactly common abilities."
"Oh, and would you elaborate?"
He turned his gaze to the ceiling, formulating a way to explain some of his powers in a simplified manner. "Well—on my home world—people don't have mini-chlorians in our cells that bring life. Our world was gifted with a different power: chakra.. This," (pointing down to the scroll) "is a simple storage scroll you can store inanimate objects inside of. It keeps them in a dimensional pocket created by the sealing matrix on the paper. The variety of implementations for chakra are vast, it isn't feasible for me to give you more than an elementary understanding without boring you for hours."
"I'll be the judge of that," Rey inserted.
"And it's up to my discretion what I do and do not reveal about my own world, no?"
His response was said in a frigid tone, but the despair screaming from his eyes quieted any rebuttal Rey was planning as she glanced away embarrassedly.
"Chakra is multifaceted, falling under various branches of use and application; generally people would specialize in one branch over another, trying to master each individually would take multiple lifetimes and was considered an act of futility. The Force is an extrinsic energy that can only be controlled by those with enough developed mini-chlorians, whereas chakra is something intrinsic that you learn to control. Much like a Jedi would train from young ages, so would our world's warriors…" Naruto choked slightly as he tried to purge the crippling anguish building in his heart, it was a poison corrupting him and he needed to expunge it with immediacy.
"Forgive me, but I need a few moments of solace," Naruto stood up abruptly and headed to the door.
"Naruto," turning on his heel, he gave his attention to Finn, "w-what happened to your people?"
A vicious look of contempt splayed on Naruto's visage, "Dead. You're looking at the last of my kind. A shadow wandering the galaxy with childish hopes of redeeming my greatest failure."
"Failure?" Rey asked.
"My inability to save a single friend doomed my world to an eternal sleep," the sentence was uttered in a hushed tone, as if exposing a vile secret that sickened him.
Rey, Finn, and Poe glanced around at each other uncomfortably. They discovered very little about who he was, yet it made sense now why he held back and clouded himself in mystery: no sane person discusses a subject of such proportions lightly.
SW:AHR
A cantankerous Naruto entered his ship's meditation chamber, harsh and forceful thoughts of his greatest regret stunted his mind into a slow spinning cycle of madness. Plopping himself into his usual position in the center of the room, legs crossed and fingers curled so his thumbs were placed atop his index fingers as the tips of said fingers made contact with the opposite hand—meeting at the center of his chest.
Breathe—don't allow the frustrations and regrets to control me. Focus.
Silencing any additional thoughts that threatened to consume him, he fell into his meditative void, allowing the Force to wash over and guide his tormented mind to the sublime peace only it could provide.
Kurama silently examined Naruto's form in his mind, massive head rested on his front paws, eyes filled with an admixture of emotions. Whenever the young Shinobi entered a deep meditation, it brought him into the confines of his inner world; often they would sit together, relishing the incredible depths of the Force and the wonders it had to offer. No matter how often he tried convincing Naruto what happened was not his fault, the man would deny it vehemently and throwback any point with a petulant statement or two. An endless punishment he did not deserve to weigh himself down with, but Kurama could relate to his host's position. Who was he to judge when he let his anger and hate control him for so long after countless years of being perceived as nothing more than a tool of war?
'I may not be able to help you, my annoying little friend… But perhaps someone else can.' He mused to himself.
Rey stood outside the door she knew Naruto was behind. With little effort she found herself walking along a path to the door with assurance and purpose. Now? Her nerves constricted, freezing her figure into an impassive statue of apprehensiveness. Just go in and talk to him, Rey. You have nothing to lose.
Pressing the console outside the door, it opened with a mechanical whirling sound, and she immediately noticed Naruto's figure sat on the floor in a trance-like state. Instead of interrupting him, she decided to sit down in the cozy chair set off by one of the terminals and waited for him to return to reality.
Before he could naturally escape his meditation, a loud blaring alarm started to go off around the entire ship. In an instant Naruto was at the terminal, eyes flashing over the various displays and indicators.
"Cs, status report."
"It seems we have somehow been tracked. Three Finalizers are attempting to bottleneck our next hyperlane stop. Would you like me to plot an escape route, Master?"
"No. I need to blow off some steam, lead us into their trap and I'll take care of them. Activate cloaking device 4 and prepare for all systems other than life support to go on standby."
"With pleasure, Master."
"Are you mad?" Rey asked in exasperation, though a tinge of worry could be heard in her voice.
"A bit. Watch and take notes, you'll see why I don't fear the First Order."
Rey was a step behind Naruto as he walked with long, sure strides to his destination, an expression of infantile delight plastered on his face, the result of being allowed to let loose for the first time in weeks.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Poe asked as he ran up to their sides.
"Just need to take out the trash. Stay here. Oh, Cs!"
"Yes?"
"Give Poe a disruption shot, I believe he has a tracking device embedded in his skin," he said. Then, in order to calm Poe, he added, "Don't worry, it's only a tiny electromagnetic pulse that will disable the device they used, you won't be harmed… well, as long as you aren't loaded with any other internal gadgets… right?"
Poe nodded, glad that he would no longer be a liability to the rest of the crew. With his attention on Naruto, he failed to take note of Cs sneaking up behind him. Cs placed the needle on his arm, pressed in until it broke his skin and activated the device, sending a small jolt through Poe.
Yelping in annoyance, he turned to Cs, "Could've warned me… that stung"
He was ignored as Cs went to a console and began powering down systems before activating the cloaking hardware.
"All set, Master."
"Take our guests to the other end of the ship."
Herding the arguing individuals was easy enough for Cs, a simple warning that Naruto could make them follow or they could follow willingly halted all disruptive behavior, so they acquiesced sullenly.
Naruto stood in the sealed off bridge area, looking out the window at the floating Finalizers that glared down at him in an unsuccessful attempt to bring out fear; he stared back in revulsion. He didn't relish killing, but he had long since imprinted himself with the difference between killing an innocent and killing a monster; the First Order fell under the latter. Not every soul was irredeemable, Finn was evidence of such, yet trusting the devil had consequences. And the punishment was about to be dolled out by a single man that was displeased his meditation had been prematurely interrupted.
'Ready, Kurama?'
'Always.'
Golden chakra that appeared almost molten began seeping from the Naruto's navel, coating the entirety of his body until it shrouded him completely. Motioning his hand at the controls with a subtle Force push, it opened the bridge door, exposing the chamber to the vacuum of space. The cloak of chakra provided by Kurama allowed Naruto to breathe in the vacuum, something he certainly had not discovered incidentally through a most-certainly-not-but-was monumental fuck up, but that's another story for another time, dear readers. Floating slightly, he flew straight out of the ship at blistering speeds. He placed himself on top of his ship and raised both his hands above his head, concentrating on the rotation of a technique he developed in isolation. Deadly wind blades began to sing shrilly around the shape of a massive white shuriken; a tiny dot appeared in the center with an infinitely dense heat, expanding into a massive, blinding structure of plasma. It rested around 100 meters above his outstretched hands and covered an expanse several miles wide. He had perfect control over the technique with the Force, pulling his arms down he pointed a finger at the first Finalizer. A massive blast of heat and wind soared over his head as he honed it on its target.
"Nova's Wrath." Naruto whispered solemnly.
In the blink of an eye each of the ships were dissected into floating husks of scrap. Twirling his hand for his construct to fall into the focal point of the now decimated ships, he clapped his palms together. Both hands pointed in its direction as he began to pour his Force and chakra into the implosion he sought.
Then… it happened, the construct collapsed on itself, creating a cataclysmic explosion that spat matter and energy for millions of miles around the galaxy. Naruto had coated the entire ship and his body in a Force shield, protecting it from the calamitous effects of the newly formed neutron star that thrummed in the space the Finalizers previously claimed.
'That one never gets old.'
Naruto smirked at his creation, satisfied with its effervescent majesty. He certainly agreed with his bijuu's sentiment, it never ceased to amaze him the feats he could accomplish with the marriage of Force and chakra.
'We need to get the hell out of here, the strain of keeping the ship protected with the Force is exhausting both of us.'
Kurama agreed earnestly; so Naruto entered back into the ship, whistling jauntily to himself as he waited for the pressure to even out before dropping his bijuu cloak. He leaned against a wall, pulling out a dented and scratched zippo lighter. He stared at it in reverence, grabbed a pack of cigarettes from an old pouch he had sewn into his robes, striking the flint to life, lit the cigarette dangling from his loose lips and took a long drag from the toxic stick. Tremors surging through his digits made the process difficult, but he somehow managed. To feel death on such a scale through the Force is appalling… What happened to me?
SW:AHR
Meanwhile, several minutes earlier, we find Rey, Finn, and Poe sat in the sealed off mess, the only view they have is out one of the blaster windows, it was rather small, but it provided a decent enough vantage point to see the Finalizers outside pointed in their direction, incapable of seeing through the cloaking tech Naruto had Cs activate. A shared sigh left them as they took note that no fighters were being commissioned to attack.
"You can't seriously believe he's going to take out those Finalizers? The shields they have are nearly impenetrable. What can one guy do?" Finn asked, his voice carrying a blend of panic and hopelessness.
"We have to trust him. I don't hear you spouting any plans to stop him," Rey shot back in agitation. Worry for Naruto was at the forefront of her thoughts. His state of mind preceding this surprise was less than ideal for a battle of such magnitude.
The viewing window had a flash of golden light streak past in an almost instantaneous motion, Rey was the only one that noticed it in the brief instance.
Then, the shrieking wail started, it bore into their ears in an excruciating fashion. Poe and Finn collapsed to their knees as they held their hands over their ears in agony. Not to say Rey was unaffected, but she pushed through the debilitating pain in a show of immense determination.
Suddenly, the shrieking pierced space and obliterated the ships; they all watched in fascinated horror as the neutron star was birthed from the immense technique Naruto had tossed at his enemies.
The assorted looks of astonishment that each individual wore in a different manner, carried with it a bone chilling silence.
"Cs, what the hell was that?" Rey bemusedly called out to the terminal.
"That would be master 'letting off some steam,' as he says."
"You didn't answer my question."
"Well, my directives do not ensure my compliance with questions from anyone outside of master. I apologize, Madame."
How is it possible for a droid voice to sound so sarcastic? It almost impresses me with how much of an asshole Naruto designed this guy to be, though there seems to be a certain level of masochism in such an accomplishment, Rey thought to herself in a strange mixture of frustration and fascination.
"Can you let me out of hear at least?"
"Please wait for pressurization to finish stabilizing before you attempt to open this door, Madame."
She sighed in defeat and proceeded to wait in mild impatience, tapping her foot on the metallic floor in order to inquire what the hell Naruto had done. The door finally opened allowing her entrance. She made her way down the hall until she reached the door that lead to the bridge; it opened painfully slow. What met her eyes was Naruto coated in some type of mystical energy, it flowed with life and seemed to make the recycled air heavier by its existence. In a flash, the energy receded and left the armored Naruto leaning against the wall, clumsily lighting a cigarette.
"Oh, hey, Rey. Something wrong?" He inquired as he let smoke roll past his dry lips.
His tone was casual, but she could make out the slight twitches in his extremities while he fumbled to pocket his archaic lighter.
"What was that…?" she asked in a kind of sick wonder.
"A technique designed by yours truly. My home world had… ways to control the elements, that was taking it to the absolute extreme," his tone was joking, but his face seemed strained and tired.
You wouldn't say, Rey ruefully thought.
"Are you... okay?" She couldn't help but ask, even if he did seem far from helpless after destroying multiple, massive battleships… he was still only human, or so she hoped.
"Fantastic. Once we get away from my little creation, I won't need to shield this slab anymore. You can't imagine how exhausting it is."
"What do you mean?"
"You don't think that little bugger isn't decimating us by happenstance, right?"
Rey glanced towards where he was pointing. Out in the abyss was a freshly spiraling ball of dense plasmic energy, exuding a magnetic force unimaginable to a being manifested of flesh. She nodded, embarrassment flooding her mind at the obvious point he made. The truth was she had not questioned why they were not space dust right now.
"Cs."
"Yes, master?"
"Input the coordinates stored inside the BB unit to Luke Skywalker."
"Consider it done, sir."
Poe stumbled into the room, (traces of dried blood from his ear canals could be seen on the side of his neck and the shoulders of his shirt) he inquired in a hurry, "Wait! Those coordinates need to be taken to the resistance base."
Naruto glanced over at him impassively, his stare showing how idiotic those words translated to him, "And paint a giant target on their back? No thanks, I don't need to be responsible for their deaths. If they traced us here, they'll find a means to keep on our trail. Anyway, I need to shove my foot up Skywalker's ass. Tell me a better way to stop an old man from sulking."
SW:AHR
"Oi, you useless bucketheads, what are you doing standing around with your heads stuffed up your asses?"
"Apologies, sir. We're running a routine maintenance check on the systems to ensure everything is in order."
"And that is the job of the engineers, you shitheads! Get back to your stations before I have you locked in the brig for insubordination!"
"Of course, Sergeant!"
Both stormtroopers retorted with comical salutes. The sergeant seethed at as he turned and vacated the area. They hurriedly made their escape.
"You think he suspects anything?"
"Obviously, you moron! We'll need to move our plans into motion… can't risk everything blowing up in our faces."
The other trooper nodded in agreement as they made their way into a hallway few others traversed. Flashing red lights cast strange illuminations along the elongated path, making the corridor rather unsettling. It was a narrow, seemingly endless passageway with cables, tubes, and machinery covering its walls as far as one could see along its dimly lit corridor.
This innocuous trooper pair traveled into its dark confines confidently, clearly familiar with the inner workings of this unintentional maze. When they came upon the section they were in search of, the left trooper pulled a plate off the wall, revealing a console he began to type furtively on. Following the trooper's inputted code, the wall split open to expose a clandestine dirt tunnel brightened by evenly spaced bulbs that glowed an eerie fluorescent green. Sharing a glance, the one at the console slapped in another code and sent an affirmative nod to his partner. As they entered the pathway, the wall closed with a loud click and they trekked along.
"How mad do you think chief's gonna be?"
"Fuck if I know."
A faint light began to grow at the end of the tunnel, not the same green as the overhead lighting, but rather a bright, phosphorescent yellow. When they reached the source, the path ended and the duo found themselves in a wide room with three-meter thick metal walls that prevented the penetration of transmissions—both in and out. Four hundred and thirty-two stormtroopers were stuffed into this wide open space. The clamor of conversation came to a close when the new arrivals entered and the tunnel closed itself off.
"Report," resounded the barking command.
"We believe the sergeant is growing a brain and has started to piece together the plan lain under his crooked nose."
"So you believe we should move our plans ahead of schedule?"
"That's correct, chief."
"Hmm. Men, helmets off."
The noise of hundreds of helmets being removed reverberated off the walls, an identical blond-haired, blue-eyed, and maniacally grinning face could be seen around the room.
"The Origin gave us a mission that he put me in charge of, you insignificant maggots."
"That's right!"
"We'll send these bastards straight to the Shinigami!"
"At least the First Order has some sexy women."
"You don't think the Origin will be mad we got laid before him, right…?"
"Not our problem."
"SILENCE!" The chief's voice reverberated menacingly as the clones under his command snapped to attention. "Our orders are to destroy Starkiller Base, not to get our dicks wet, imbeciles! We've gathered over 2,000 tonnes of thermonuclear detonators, which (in theory) should be enough to blast this shit stain of a weapon from the face of reality. Are all of you prepared for this? The purpose of our existence is about to come to an end and you better be ready, or I'll shove my blaster down your throats and give you a reason to!"
"WE'RE READY, CHIEF!" the voices screeched in unison.
"Good! Plan to start the operation in 4 hours. If any of you fail to get into position, we risk exposure. Is failure an option, you wretched miscreants?"
"NO, CHIEF!"
"Head out!"
Fucking shit. Origin better know how much of a headache this has been for me. At least my worries and complaints are about to disappear forever. Maybe a few drinks before wouldn't hurt?
SW:AHR
The Force amalgamated around Naruto – his chaos, peace, hate, love, and rage flowed through him, not allowing for anything to go unseen by either the Force or himself. His senses stretched out across the vastness of the galaxy, touching against the trillions of unique specks of light that signified lifeforms connected with the Force – the feeling was overwhelmingly beautiful.
A practitioner of the Force can never lie to it, you must let it examine your soul completely and not attempt to obscure the emotions you feel. You must embrace the emotions, yet you must not let them coerce you. Rather, let the Force control and guide them into their rightful places. If you attempt to manipulate them to your own gain, you tip the true balance so many previously failed to achieve.
Proceeding the Hyperjump from Naruto's self-created neutron star, and after he dropped the Force shield he protected their lives with, his face aged twenty years in the moments proceeding, leaving it so sunken and exhausted that it turned into a near unrecognizable state. This is what lead him back to meditation—he was allowing the Force and his chakra to reverse the damage. Luckily, the effects were mending rapidly.
And Rey sat, watching with fascination as this reversal materialized before her transfixed gaze over the next several hours. The withered visage he once sported began to revert into its natural youthful state. She ignored time's passage, it simply flowed in a senseless stream, until she was looking at the rejuvenated face of her new friend.
"Is there something on my ugly mug?" Naruto asked with a chuckle as his eyes opened and pointed their attention toward her.
"W-what? No! You… just…"
"Look like I've de-aged a few years?"
"Yeah…"
"Hmph. The strain of not only using that attack but also protecting our ship had a heavy price to pay. Rey, here's your first lesson on the Force: it takes as much as it gives. Everything comes with a cost, even power. No, especially power. As those with the ability to manipulate this invisible and nigh limitless power, we seek to understand and shape it to our will. Always remind yourself that we are tools for the Force to flow through, you cannot beat it into submission. Many have tried; all they found in the end was a lust for more power, greed, and control.
"Even the Jedi failed in that respect. By trying to ignore and displace the emotions that connect one to the Force, they became disjointed and were blinded to the Sith's plans happening right in front of them. They were correct that previous Jedi had fallen to the dark side when attachments they had were severed, but, as I said before, the Force doesn't take kindly to those that try to control it. It may seem confusing because I have displayed 'control' of the Force myself and may refer to it as such to simplify things. However, there is a difference between a control that is born through an agreement where you stand in comparison to the Force itself, and a control of completely selfish intent. One seeks harmony in self through understanding the connection you have with all life surrounding you, letting this connection and understanding empower you. And the other devastates the Force by ripping from it what the practitioner desires for power and power alone. We are not the ones to bring balance. The Force does, it chooses conscious beings as vessels to bring about this balance, whether it be terrible or good, it is often up to the perspective being taken."
Rey tried to piece together what he was saying, it made sense, the ideas were not complicated, however it felt as if she was missing a piece to the puzzle he was placing in front of her to solve with her own means—a child with the means to accomplish their goal who lacked the proper depth of knowledge to reach the solution.
"What do you mean by 'agreement'?"
Naruto drummed his fingers on the cold floor thoughtfully, gathering his thoughts into order, "I'm not talking about a literal agreement, where you sign your name and there's a list of what you should and shouldn't do. No, no, I'm talking about a metaphorical agreement, one that is intrinsically connected to every individual the moment they connect to the Force. The Force sees all, you can't hide your true nature from it, and in that moment your fate is set and bound. Our wills are free, yes, this is evidenced by those with strong senses of foresight, showing them the innumerable branching paths of potential outcomes from those choices of freewill, and, yet, they fail to see what the true path is. But the Force can, and always does, leading us to the true path whether we desire it or not. This brings into question if our wills are truly our own or merely a deception crafted from our duplicitous minds. This is a conundrum reserved for philosophers to argue, not me. I'm a simple man, not someone who cares to reflect on his fate, since I've actively tried defying it my entire life. The irony isn't missed, trust me." He ended his quasi-soliloquy with a self-deprecating, hollow laugh that bounced off the walls mockingly.
This sort of notion frightened Rey, she had always wanted to be the pilot of her destiny. And, now, she was being told none of her dreams mattered because she would be guided by some invisible will outside of her understanding? This galaxy is truly unfair. Why can't I be left to alone to my devices and seek a new destiny on my own terms? Obstinate anger began to boil in her, coiling into a fiery rage that left her stomach churning in nausea. Before she began to drown in her self-afflicted pain, a hand was placed on her head, and the feelings were smashed into submission, replaced with a tranquil clarity.
"What was that?" She asked in confusion but her voice was laced with relief.
The feeling was hard to describe, it felt like he latched onto the tumultuous ravings of her heart and allowed it to be washed clean in their antithesis: joy, righteous anger, and content.
"Back home, I was the one of the few empaths around. Actually, I could've potentially been the sole empath. I never did come across another, but it makes sense considering the circumstances…" (inadvertently, his fingertips rolled over the stomach of his armor.) "When I gained the use of the Force, it gifted me with an enhanced empathic technique that allows me to transfer my intent into another. Remember my fight with the tin man?"
"Who—oh, you mean that Sith. Kylo Ren, right?"
Naruto nodded, "You see, the reason why I antagonized him so much wasn't only because it's hilarious. No, I use a lightsaber form that feeds off negative emotions. Usually, it is your own emotions it feeds from, but it can be redirected and take sustenance from your enemy. I was infusing the Force into my words, applying my empathic ability to enhance his rage, which, in consequence, drained him faster. Kylo Ren is a formidable dark side facilitator, he wouldn't exhaust himself after only a few minutes of a fighting with lightsabers."
What a powerful ability… he could tear down entire worlds… if he ever finds a reason to...
"So you drained his Force?"
"More or less. My technique is an analog of the dark side power known as 'Force drain'. Though, mine falls under neither the light nor the dark. Living beings aren't defined by such a simplistic split—we are defined by the actions and choices we make. Many 'good' people choose to commit heinous acts and an 'evil' person can commit an action of piety. A magnanimous individual only remains so as long as people choose to view him as so. It's up to those exposed and impacted by actions to conclude if the act was right or wrong."
"That's a strange way to look at the world."
Naruto released a wry chuckle.
"You aren't wrong. It was more of a wandering thought I had. Regardless, I do believe it to be true."
A comfortable lull fell in the conversation as they gazed out the window of the meditation chamber, watching the hypnotic flow of hyperspace pass in a whirlpool of light.
"Naruto…?
"Yes, Rey?"
"Why do you want to find Luke Skywalker so badly?"
She glanced up to see his response, but his face remained as impassive as a stone buried in the sand. The question struck something in him, she could see it had from the emotions dancing in the confines of his eyes and the minute tightening of his jaw. What it struck remained a mystery to her, though.
"Luke Skywalker is a man defining himself by the mistakes he made in his past, and, instead of attempting to remedy those mistakes, he has isolated himself completely, shutting all who desire to help him out; shuttered in as a hermit, avoiding all outside contact in hopes that those mistakes won't follow him back to his hermitage. I refuse to let him continue on in his self-appointed reclusion. I'll drag his sorry ass off that planet, and that's a promise."
"Is he going to teach me how to use the Force?"
"HA! No, I doubt he would take a student in after what happened with Benny. Don't worry, I'll teach you everything I know when the time is right. This isn't the must conducive environment for learning how to use the Force."
"Why's that?"
"We're currently traveling in a hyperspace pocket dimension at a velocity that exceeds the speed of light; if something were to go wrong, and, trust me when I say this, something would go wrong in the training, we wouldn't have any means of saving our sorry asses from death.
"Let's make a deal. I'll teach you about meditation, if you can get it down by the time we leave with Luke, then we'll work on getting you a core to make a personal lightsaber."
"Really?!" Rey's excited voice asked in wonder. Her entire being was filled with motivation at the idea of acquiring her own lightsaber.
"Really, really. Now sit down in the center of the room, close your eyes, and empty your mind."
And so she did. No snide comments or remarks, she simply sat down and began her first attempts at the vague statement of "emptying her mind."
SW:AHR
Inside a bedchamber aboard the Fox Paw, slept a tossing and turning Rey, the dreams pounding into her head brought continuous restlessness.
Images flooded her mind, she tried to grab onto one of them and found herself pulled in forcefully. When she grabbed it, she had noticed a young Naruto talking to a tall man with strange clothes, face-paint, and long white hair sharpened into spikes. They were sat on a bench enjoying some type of strange blue-colored food they ate off sticks that dripped under the heat of the overhanging sun.
She blinked and found herself on the same dirt path of the small village they were sitting in, directly in front of her sat the same image she touched moments ago, except now it was spinning into motion. The language they spoke was not one she understood. What was even stranger was not that she could not understand the language, but when they spoke it came out in two different versions: one of their language and one of galactic basic. With great effort, she managed to disconnect the two, and hear only the comprehensible portion.
"Ero-sensei…" Naruto whispered quietly in a saddened tone. What the hell is a sensei?
"What is it, gaki? Why so glum?"
Gaki… how cute.
Naruto stared at the charging sky above him, the sunlight reflecting off his blond-locks in a moment of inner reflection.
"We've been training for over a year now…" he started and stopped mid-sentence.
"Spit it out. Clearly, something's bothering you."
"Do you think I can save Sasuke? I made that promise to Sakura-chan… but I'm beginning to doubt myself."
"That's unusual."
"Tell me about it."
The man Naruto referred to as "ero-sensei" looked down at Naruto with an unreadable expression, eyes swimming with a myriad of emotions.
"Sometimes you can't save those you want to most. Many years ago, when I was younger and equally as handsome as I am now, I took in several orphans of war, taught them everything I could for them to survive. In them, I placed my hopes and dreams that they would perhaps help fix the country they were born to that had been devastated by conflicts for centuries."
"Wha- What happened to them?"
"Gone. Last I heard, they were killed in an ambush setup by the leader of their country," the man's face had taken on the appearance of one weighed down by the past he dearly desired had met a different outcome. "But then there's also Orochimaru, a man I considered a brother as much as you consider Sasuke. We weren't just teammates, we were family that survived war together. When he left… a part of me left with him. I still regret not killing him that day—a moment of weakness on my part has perpetuated pain for countless innocents because of Orochimaru's revolting actions. Let me say this: don't give up on Sasuke, but if he does something unforgivable, and I mean truly unforgivable, then you have to make the decision whether he is truly redeemable or not."
As the figure of a brown haired girl approached them with a wide grin, the scene began to ripple as it faded into obscurity. Rey was trying to make sense of what she heard. Were these… Naruto's memories?
When she found herself surrounded by the images again. She tried to grab onto another, but it slipped through her fingers intangibly. All she could do was watch as they passed by: Naruto training himself into the ground; Naruto fighting various faceless enemies she did not have time to see clearly; the girl she saw earlier dying in Naruto's arms as he wept; until it ended at two giant statues facing one another, a cloaked and tired Naruto sat atop one and a man with blood-red eyes, wearing a gray shirt, blue pants, and a large purple rope wrapped around his waste on the other. This last image would stick with her. Because in it she saw the face of Naruto contorted in absolute fury, eyes gleaming with a desire to set his wrath free against the unknown man, ready to unleash unimaginable pain.
Rey felt herself being dragged down, she looked at where her feet would be, but found only an endless abyss and a pair of infuriated, crimson-slit eyes boring into her.
"These are not things you should be seeing! What are you doing here, human?"
Trepidation filled Rey as she stared into the massive eyes. Unsure of how to respond, or if her voice would even be capable of responding, she stared back for what felt like an eternity, struggling to find her voice.
"I-I-I-…"
"Insolent humans are always the same. I can't hurt you here, foolish girl. But I can banish you from this place. So, EXPLAIN!" he bellowed out, the face of a giant figure began to shimmer into reality.
This-this- this… it's the thing Naruto has painted on his ship! She hysterically cried in her head.
"SPEAK!"
"Uh… I… don't know? I fell asleep and Naruto's memories just started... going… it isn't like I chose to be here."
"You're smart to not lie to me, little girl. Now, BEGONE!"
Rey shot up in her bed, covered from head-to-toe in a thick sheen of sweat that soaked through the sheets she rested on and her body began convulsing as a panic attack set in that she had no power to tame.
The door to her room opened, she peered up to see a concerned looking Naruto standing there, wearing his green robes that were opened slightly enough to expose his well-maintained physique and a pair of black cotton sweats. Rey scuttled to the end of her bed, eyes bulged slightly, staring at the new arrival with absolute terror. She watched as a pained expression crossed Naruto's face, as if her reaction brought forth unpleasant memories he would prefer to forget.
He pushed a sigh through his gritted teeth and said in a soft voice, "I'm not going to hurt you, Rey."
"I-I-I… What was that thing I saw?…" Her voice was so fragile, like a piece of glass that was on the brink of shattering with but a minor addition of external force.
"He isn't a thing, Rey. You can't imagine how insulting that is to him. I won't explain everything now, but I assure you that he's not your enemy. Actually, he's the only friend I have left from my home…"
"What… What is he?"
"Not now, Rey. You need to get some much needed rest. That particular story is long, complicated, and very painful for me to talk about. So, please, will you trust me?"
Hazel clashed against azure as they stared at each other intently, she felt her trust in him had not faltered. But how can she trust what amounted to a monster?
"I'll trust you… but… why was I seeing your memories?"
"The dyad we have is growing stronger, the proximity we find ourselves in has strengthened the bond, and, eventually, I imagine we'll be able to communicate through our minds across the vastness of the galaxy. That's all I'll say for now."
Before he could finish, she interjected, "Who… who was the girl?"
Lifeless eyes stared back at her, the color in them washed in memories that gnawed away at his insides.
"Her name was Haku, and she taught me not only what it means to be strong, but how to love and be loved… Rest, please."
He set his palm on her damp forehead and gently tugged on the fear and anxiety wreaking havoc in her, lightly coercing her into a dreamless sleep. The last thought that passed through Rey's mind before sleep captured her, was that it felt quite nice to have someone who wanted to help her after the endless hell that defined her existence on Jakku.
'What do you plan to do?'
'I'm not sure, Kurama, neither you nor I understand it very well. It's an exceedingly rare ability, if the records are to be believed. Maybe old man Skywalker can elaborate?'
'Possibly. Just remember to be careful.'
'Thanks for always being here for me, Kurama.'
'Yes, because I'm entirely swimming in options while trapped in here.'
'Damn, that was cold… fair, though.'
SW:AHR
"No, stop! That doesn't attach to the wall there, you need to set it on the engines directly. Do you want to fuck everything up?"
"Sorry, throw it over here."
A scroll was tossed into the hand of one of the two disguised stormtroopers. After a few moments of fumbling around, he managed to unwrap the entire scroll and wind it around the circumference of the base of the circular engine. His hand pressed into the single array etched into the paper, pulsing chakra through as it released a single cloud of smoke. The paper no longer remained, but the base was now surrounded by hundreds of blinking, ball-shaped thermonuclear detonators.
The pissed off trooper punched a code into the small, heavily-encrypted communications device on his wrist and whispered, "This is the leader of group 62, mission a go. I repeat: mission a go."
"Confirmed," the voice of their chief echoed out of the device.
"Well, it's been nice working with you, man.
"Shut the fuck up, we're the same person.
"Well, yeah… but it's not fun when we all act the same."
"Fucking anomalies, all of you annoy the shit out of me."
"Rude, as always. You really should have lightened up, maybe you wouldn't be so miserable."
"Do you know what the words 'shut your damn mouth' mean?"
"Only if it's me saying it to a hottie on her knees."
"Incorrigible womanizer, you disgust me."
"Didn't you say we're the same person?"
"Not when you act out of line, freak!"
"Double-standards help no one, sir."
The leader held his helmeted head in his hands, helplessly trying to ignore his annoying partner. A few more minutes and I'll go back to Origin, he can deal with the repercussions of the actions of these… anomalies.
The voice from the communicator came back, "Well, slime, it seems the moment of truth has arrived. I won't mince words: being your leader has been an absolute displeasure, but our purpose has reached its conclusion. May the Force be with us all."
At the other end of the communicator, staring at his wrist, was the Chief. In front of him sat row after row of shots of the Flameout he had been downing in rapid succession as he 'rested' in his personal quarters. It took far more alcohol than the average person for him to feel even the smallest effect, yet coupled with the spice the concoction had intermixed, he was definitely reaching peak buzz. He placed the last shot to his lips as the countdown began… 10… so strange… 7… to finally be done with this bullshit… 4… peace be with the damned souls living on this stupid fucking weapon… The shot passed through his lips, scorching his tongue, and freezing his throat in a rather pleasant fashion... 0.
In perfect tandem, every active detonator unleashed damnation upon Starkiller Base, cutting straight into the core, creating an explosion of gargantuan proportions. The resulting explosion burned for several minutes, and then the former planet destroyer was nothing more than small rocks floating along in the emptiness of space. However, if one were to be paying attention right before the explosion, they may have noticed the sight of two Tie Fighters making their way off the planet, coupled with the hysterical laughter of two… identical individuals.
SW:AHR
Alone inside his chambers, Naruto's eyes peeled open slowly. Satisfaction filled him as a devilish smile crossed his face, before contorting into a grimace, until it ended in a look of absolute horror.
'Isn't this just rich? I told you that those clones were going to do something stupid. Look now! All of these terrific memories you had no real way to control. Oh, where's a camera so I can get a snapshot of your bewildered expression? Maybe I should write it down… Wait, I don't have any paper. Fuck.'
'Laugh it up, you bastard. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Why can't my clones be normal?!'
'It's the consequence of letting them exist for so long. Blame yourself for enhancing their longevity with the Force. At least now you have some, you know, skills…'
Naruto groaned in frustration, holding his aching head in his palms, trying to sift through and rid himself of the countless acts of debauchery his stupid clones managed to enact. All because I didn't want to deal with the base personally. Note to self: never let a hoard of clones handle such a task again.
SW:AHR
Poe and Finn sat inside the mess, each with a HoloNet tablet in hand, staring stunned at the news of Starkiller Base's destruction, the magnitude of the information bringing a silence around the room that was less than comfortable.
"Who the hell do you think did this?" Finn asked Poe quietly.
"No idea, clearly they don't want people to know of its destruction. The fact that it's basically a footnote in the main headlines shows that they couldn't cover it up. Look here, it says, 'We believe the incident at hand was an accidental misplacement of engine cores around the planet.' Do they expect anyone to buy that?"
"Doesn't matter if people believe it. If the First Order says it's true, then they expect the masses to fall in line and believe them."
The pair heard the sound of pleasant whistling as Naruto entered wearing a set of light-blue robes, lightsaber handle in hand, flicking it into the air where it spun in a blur before he snapped it into his hand with practiced ease.
"Did something happen? You both look like you've shat bricks."
Neither capable of forming a response, they simply handed the tablet across to the ship's captain—a garden variety of emotions passing their faces.
"Interesting." Naruto said nonchalantly.
"'Interesting'?! This is huge! Do you have any idea how much effort the resistance has put into finding not only the location of this weapon but crafting a plan to get rid of it?"
"I'd imagine they've used more resources than they would freely admit, however it seems the problem has been resolved," Naruto leaned in, indicating for them to come closer, and said in a hushed tone, "I couldn't care less."
"Of course… Do you have a way for me to get in contact with the resistance safely?"
"Potentially. The real question you must answer: what are you willing to pay?"
"It's just a simple communication, what could you want for it?"
"A promise."
"And that is…?"
"That you speak about any details pertaining to my existence. Feel free to tell them that I exist, but no name. And you can tell them where we are, I'm sure that will be a fun thing to explain for you."
The loud groan that escaped Poe's lips disagreed.
"I suppose that's fair… but the resistance's forces could use someone of your caliber, you'd be a massive asset."
"Exactly; I have zero interest in being a lapdog for an army. They'd run me dry, taking advantage of everything I could offer, and, because of this, I would find myself a victim to the wants of a group of people I have no reason to help; that's something I will avoid with every fiber of my being. Not all of us are so willing to offer our souls to people with no interest in who we are. They'll simply see us as pieces on a board to be moved to their advantage."
Finn and Poe glanced at one another, digesting what Naruto had said. In many ways, they could relate to how he felt. Poe had spent the better years of his life giving everything to the Rebels, which lead to them treating him as an expendability, whereas Finn had always been expendable, his sense of self-worth virtually nonexistent.
"Fine. Have it your way."
"Much appreciated, Commander Poe."
Naruto gave a mock salute as he turned and called out, "Cs, how long until our arrival on Ahch-To?"
"We will arrive at our destination in approximately 8 hours and 42 minutes, Master."
"Thank you, Cs. Let me know when we're 15 minutes away so I can prepare for landing."
"Your request is noted, sir."
"Damn droid is still upset over that kick. I shudder at the potential plans he has cooking in that stupid cognitive module of his."
"You can only blame yourself for that," came Rey's soft voice from the doorway.
"Are you conspiring with him?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, that's not something I would ever do."
Naruto narrowed his eyes at her, they were definitely in cahoots, and he would need to tread carefully going forth.
"I'm going to get things in order for our arrival."
After Naruto left the room, and Rey was certain he was out of earshot, she turned to the remaining occupants and said, "Alright, here's what's going to happen…"
