After, let's be honest, far too much time, here is the next chapter. Thank you for all those who reviewed the last chapter. I appreciate the feedback and support.

Before we begin, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is I got a new job, so now I can afford things like food and an internet connection. The bad news is I got a new job, so now I have much less time for writing. Updates will therefore be commensurately slower, though I have no intentions of abandoning this story. I just don't think I can reasonably get updates out faster than once every three weeks or so. I will do my best, but stuff like this is why I never tried to commit to a regular update schedule in the first place.

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Chapter 11

Ahsoka awoke to what sounded like someone being murdered with a broken musical instrument. Looking around wildly, she spotted the source of the commotion. It turned out to be Naruto and Tora, rolling on the ground in a mess of claws and limbs.

"What are you two doing?" she hissed as she pulled the enraged Loth-cat off of Naruto's face. As soon as he was in her arms, Tora calmed down and began purring like an engine. "They'll hear us."

"I came over to wake you up, and that demon cat tried to claw my face off," Naruto said, glaring at the now purring feline. "I swear that thing's crazy, it freaking hates me."

"Well maybe he's just scared of your mask," Ahsoka suggested innocently. "If you took it off, he'd probably like you."

Naruto shot her a deadpan look.

"Nice try," he said. "But you'll have to try harder than that to get my mask off."

He eye-smiled at Ahsoka's pout. She and the rest of the Clawmouse clan had been trying diligently to get his mask off ever since the day he had first met them. So far, none of them had managed it. Their baffled expressions when he somehow managed to seemingly eat and drink through the mask had him nearly pissing himself with laughter. He had been very grateful to Jiraiya for showing him the trick behind that skill.

"Pfft, whatever," Ahsoka said, masking her disappointment. "What were you waking me up for anyway?"

"Oh, right. My arm's healed enough to work with," Naruto said. Sure enough, much to Ahsoka's shock, his arm was indeed far more mobile and less swollen than it had been just three hours earlier. "It's time to rescue those other prisoners."

"And how are we going to do that," Ahsoka asked. "I assume you have a plan. One that doesn't end up with you half dead this time."

"I'm…working on it," Naruto replied, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Ahsoka raised a skeptical brow at his less than convincing response. "First we have to do some recon. I'll send out some clones to take a look."

Naruto formed his signature hand sign, creating a dozen identical copies of himself.

"Alright boys, you know the drill," he said. "Go scout the perimeter, but stay out of sight. Dispel when you've seen everything."

"Why'd you have to make us when you've got a busted arm?" complained one of the clones. "This shit hurts, you know."

"Just shut up and do what you're told," Naruto growled. He hated it when his clones got mouthy. Sometimes they just seemed to come out wrong, and it was always a pain in his ass.

"Hey! You can't treat me like that," the same clone yelled. "We've got rights. I demand that you- grrk"

The clone's rant was cut off mid-sentence when Naruto stabbed a kunai into its head. Glaring at the rest of the clones, he jerked his head towards the window.

"Get going," he said. "Unless someone else has anything to say."

The remaining clones rapidly shook their heads, eyes wide and faces pale. With speed that would have put some Jedi Knights to shame, they jumped out the window and dispersed into the shadows. To their credit, they managed to do so without making even a hint of noise.

"Stupid back talking clones," Naruto muttered. "More trouble than they're worth."

"That was…harsh. Aren't you basically insulting yourself?" Ahsoka asked, a little weirded out by the whole display. While the clone's destruction hadn't felt like a death to her Force senses, it was still more than a little unnerving to see her friend stab himself in the head so casually.

"Hey, you don't have to deal with them," Naruto said. "You'd snap too."

"I have to deal with you," she responded, rolling her eyes. "You don't see me trying to stab you whenever you won't shut up. Although, now that I think about it…"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, seemingly mildly offended. "I'm awesome. It's the clones who're a pain in the ass."

"Aren't they supposed to be identical copies of you?" Ahsoka asked, staring at him like he was being dumb.

"Well they- I mean…oh, shut up," Naruto sputtered, looking away. Ahsoka giggled, smiling at her verbal victory. She then settled down to wait for Naruto's clones to report back to him. They had used them as scouts for various pranks before, so she was familiar with how the process worked.

Sure enough, thirty minutes later, Naruto twitched slightly and sat up straight. His eyes glazed for a brief moment before he snapped back to reality. Ahsoka recognized the signs that his clones had just dispelled. The frown on his face wasn't promising though.

"Bad news?" she asked.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "Those bastards have got that building locked down tight. I didn't see any holes in their security we could use. They've got two guards on each door, what I think are sensor pods on the windows, and they're sending out two man patrols to scout the area. Whatever they have in there, they really don't want anyone getting to it."

"So now what?" Ahsoka asked. "We have to save those prisoners, but it looks like we can't get in without being caught."

Naruto's eyes narrowed at that. Something about the way she had said that planted the beginnings of an idea in his head. As it came together, his eyes lit up.

"That's it, Ahsoka," he said eagerly. "We'll go in as captives. Well, you will anyways."

"I'm sorry, what," Ahsoka said blankly, before fixing her friend with a skeptical look. "Have you gone crazy? Because it sounds like you've gone crazy."

"No no no, it'll be good," Naruto said. "They said they wanted to capture you, remember."

"Yeah," Ahsoka replied. "I also remember that they wanted to sell me."

"Well that's what I'm counting on. We'll take out one of the patrols. I'll henge myself and a clone into the guards, and we'll take you to the front door and say we've captured you. Once they see who it is, they'll let us in, no problem."

By the end of his explanation, Naruto was all but hopping with excitement. He had never had a chance to actually infiltrate a secure facility before. It had been one of the missions he had most wanted to go on as a shinobi. Though he may have left that life behind, the prospect of actually doing this was making him giddy.

Ahsoka wasn't quite as thrilled. It was actually a good plan, she had to admit. Probably better than what she could have come up with, though she wasn't about to tell Naruto that. She did, however, have one major problem with the plan, which she wasn't shy about sharing.

"Why do I have to be the captive?" she asked. "Why can't you do it?"

"Because they wanted to kill me. They only wanted you alive. Tora and I would just get shot," Naruto said, and Ahsoka nodded her understanding. Privately, he considered the unpleasant implications of the thugs only wanting Ahsoka as their prisoner, but he stayed quiet on that. That was not something he wanted to contemplate right now.

"Fine. But this had better not become a regular thing. I am not playing some captive little girl more often than I have to. And what are we going to do about Tora?" Ahsoka asked. "We can't abandon him here."

Naruto was stumped at that. He couldn't bring himself to abandon the Loth-cat, vindictive monster though it may have been. He also couldn't see a way for him to smuggle the cat into the building along with Ahsoka. While he was mulling the problem over in his head, Ahsoka snapped her fingers.

"I've got it," she said. "Tora can walk pretty well now. The bacta spray helped him a lot. If I can connect with him, I can tell him to wait for us outside the building. He can stay hidden and meet up with us when we free the prisoners."

"Huh. That could work," said Naruto, before shooting a glare at Tora. "If you can convince Tora to wait outside rather than try and claw my face off. Again."

Tora flattened his ears against his head and hissed at Naruto, before turning back to Ahsoka. He mewled at her, before licking her face gently. The young Togruta giggled and scratched his head.

"I don't know what his problem is with you, but he seems to like me fine. Clearly he just has excellent taste," she said, smiling at Naruto's eye roll. "I'm betting I can get him to wait for us. I'll just promise him that he can claw your face off later."

Naruto sputtered indignantly at that, before walking off grumbling as Ahsoka smirked at him. Satisfied that she had won that exchange, she focused on the Loth-cat in her arms. Closing her eyes, she sank into the Force as best she could. She reached out with her mind, feeling for Tora's presence. When she found it, she was startled by how strong he was in the Force for a non-sentient animal, but she set her shock aside. Focusing on their plan, she made the connection.

Tora stopped purring and stared at her for almost a minute. Eventually, Ahsoka opened her eyes and set the Loth-cat down. He paused for a moment, and then walked over to the open window and jumped out. Within a few seconds he was gone from their sight.

"I think he understands," she said. "He'll wait for us to come out of the building."

"Now we just have to find one of those patrols," Naruto said. "Let's go. There should be one nearby."

With Naruto in the lead, they climbed out of the window and back into the deserted street. After taking a moment to get his bearings, Naruto took off running down one of the alleyways. He led Ahsoka through the twisting warren of narrow streets for several minutes, until they reached a three way intersection. A series of small balconies lined the walls above the street. Remnants of old housing units, Ahsoka thought.

"Alright, from what my clones saw, there should be a patrol coming through this intersection eventually," Naruto said. "Let's hide. When they come down here, we can ambush them."

Ahsoka nodded, and watched as Naruto walked up the wall onto one of the balconies and seemingly vanished into a pool of shadow cast by broken light. She was always impressed by how stealthy he could be when he chose. She could still feel his presence (though she wasn't advanced enough to get a sense of direction) but to her eyes he was a vague, barely discernible shape in the shadows. No one who wasn't looking right at him would even suspect he was there.

Selecting her own hiding spot, Ahsoka jumped onto a balcony opposite Naruto's, hiding behind an empty planter. She was grateful for her Togruta heritage now more than ever. Her stripes and facial markings may have been eye-catching in open daylight, but here in this place of broken shadows and dingy illumination, they served as remarkably effective camouflage.

She also had no need to see the street below to know when the two man patrol would pass. Her montrals may have only been a few centimeters tall at this point, but they gave her enough of a sense of her surroundings to tell whether or not two people were walking not even five meters from her position.

In the end, her advanced senses turned out to be unnecessary. After a few minutes of waiting, she heard the loud stomp of heavy footsteps, and the echo of voices. The two thugs coming down the street weren't even trying to be stealthy. Hell, even if she had been totally deaf, she could still have smelled them. They positively reeked.

Across the street, Naruto was having similar thoughts. These thugs were clearly little more than untrained brutes. They reminded him of the dumb muscle Gato had used at the bridge in Nami no Kunai. This was going to be easy.

As soon as the two guards had passed below his position, he made his move. Wary of aggravating his still healing arm, he chose to deal with his target with a kick. Flipping over the railing of the balcony, he dropped an axe kick directly onto the uncovered head of the thug nearest to him. The man never even had time to cry out. He crashed to the ground like a felled tree, instantly unconscious.

As soon as she felt Naruto move, Ahsoka sprang into action. She grabbed a fist sized piece of broken masonry and dropped down behind the second guard. As he turned to face the noise of his fallen companion, she kicked him in the back of the knee. His leg collapsed under him, and taking advantage of his now lowered head, she swung the rock in her hand at the back of his skull, careful not to accidentally crush his head.

It connected with a dull thud. Much like his fellow, he flopped to the ground without even a sigh. The whole affair had taken perhaps three seconds from start to finish. So far, Naruto's crazy plan seemed to be working.

Naruto moved quickly to restrain the fallen men. He tied their wrists and ankles with ninja wire from their survival kit. He gagged their mouths with spare bandages before searching them for anything useful. He relieved them of their blasters, a few key cards, their ID cards, and several vibroknives.

"Damn," he said. "I was really hoping these guys would have a comlink on them so we could contact Jiraiya."

"They probably have a communication system in their base," Ahsoka said. "We'll just have to use that."

Naruto nodded and turned back to their two captives. He created a clone and, after a careful examination, henged himself into one of the thugs. His clone repeated the action with the other thug. Patting his newly transformed body, he turned to Ahsoka.

"How do I look?" he asked her.

"Like a criminal sleemo," she answered cheekily. Naruto just laughed and fist bumped his clone.

"That's the idea," he said. "Now help me drag these two out of sight. We don't want them getting found."

Working together, Ahsoka and the transformed Narutos managed to drag the two unconscious thugs into one of the nearby abandoned buildings. They hid them in an out of the way closet, which they secured with more ninja wire. Picking up one of the blasters, Naruto examined it for a few seconds. He then set it to what he thought was stun and tested it on a nearby table. The telltale blue ring of a stun bolt flashed out, briefly illuminating the room.

With that done, Naruto and his clone strapped the stolen blasters to their hips and pocketed the IDs and key cards. As they walked back onto the street, the henged Naruto drew his stolen blaster while his clone held Ahsoka's arms behind her back.

"Okay, you ready for this?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she said. "I've got the easy part. Are you sure you can talk us past the guards?"

"Of course I can," Naruto said confidently. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I can do anything."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes at this, but smiled a little in spite of herself. There was something almost infectious about Naruto's endless confidence. It seemed to rub off on you after a while, and it helped boost her own confidence in their plan. Still, she wasn't about to let an opening like that just pass her by.

"Sure, except for fix a speeder engine properly," she said, nudging him with her shoulder. He gave her a look of mock hurt before chuckling a little.

It was a relatively short walk back to the front door of the guarded building. When it came into view, Ahsoka saw that Naruto's clones had indeed given accurate intel. There were two armed guards outside the door. Judging by the dark blue bruise on his face, one of them was the Rodian she had knocked out earlier. The other was a short, balding human with a bushy red beard.

"Mak, Velen, what are you two doing back here?" the Rodian asked.

"You blind?" Naruto's clone asked, pushing Ahsoka into the light. "We got that girl what was sneaking around earlier."

"Hey, that is her," the human said. "Man, boss'll be thrilled you got her. He was pissed when she got away. You see the boy she was with?"

"Nah, he probably ran off and hid somewhere," Naruto drawled.

"Why didn't you stun her?" the Rodian demanded rudely. Naruto just leave him a bored look.

"What do I need to waste a shot on her for," he said. "She's tiny. She ain't going nowhere."

Ahsoka shot her "captor" a glare at that. She made a big show of trying to squirm out of the clone's grasp, before receiving a light, but convincing, smack to the back of the head.

"See, she ain't going nowhere," Naruto repeated. "Now, you gonna let us in, or what?"

The bruised Rodian glared at Ahsoka for a few seconds, before shrugging his shoulders. He punched a quick code into the keypad by the door, and it hissed open.

"Fine, take her down to the cells," he said. "Put her with the others, but hurry up. You ain't on a break."

"Yeah yeah," Naruto said as his clone pushed Ahsoka through the open door. "We'll take as long as we like, and you'll deal with it."

With that he followed his disguised clone through the door. It hissed shut behind him, cutting off the Rodian's angry retort. Glancing around, he was relieved to see that the front hallway was clear of people, and had no apparent cameras. That would make this easier. He was interrupted by Ahsoka's annoyed whisper from in front of him.

"I am not tiny," she said, glaring a hole in his head. "You are so going to pay for that later."

"I'm quaking in my boots pipsqueak," Naruto teased her, before refocusing on the job at hand. "Which way do you think it is to the cells?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Ahsoka but out. She was still a little sore over the pipsqueak comment. "Let's start on the lowest level and work our way up. This place isn't that big."

Naruto just shrugged and went with it. It was as good a plan as any. He just hoped they didn't run into anyone else on the way. It wouldn't be easy explaining why he was apparently lost in the place he was supposed to work. Though given how stupid these thugs seemed, it might not be too much of a stretch.

Luck was with them, however. Though the three of them passed several people in the halls, no one stopped them or threw them a sideways glance. A few of the rougher looking thugs leered at Ahsoka as she passed, but none of them tried anything. Naruto was relieved at that, as he wasn't sure what he would have done if one of those degenerates had tried assaulting his best friend, only that it would have been violent, and it definitely would have ruined any chance they had at stealth.

It took a few minutes, and some wrong turns, but before too long they had arrived at the cell block. Sadly, but perhaps not surprisingly, there were two more guards outside the entrance to the cells. Naruto, trusting in his disguise, walked up to them, roughly pushing Ahsoka along.

"Got one for you," he said. "Just gotta put her in with the others."

"Hey, ya know the rules," one of the guards grunted, glaring at him. His breath reeked like rotten meat. "No one goes in there but us. Just hand her over and get back to patrol."

"Sheesh, fine," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "Here ya go."

Naruto pushed Ahsoka towards the guard with the rotten breath. He grabbed her head tightly as his companion pulled out a keycard. He never got to use it, however.

As soon as Naruto saw the keycard, he leveled his stolen blaster at the guard holding Ahsoka. His clone did the same with the other guard. They both pulled the trigger at the same time, blue stun bolts flashing like lightning. The two guards let out strangled grunts before collapsing into twitching heaps. Ahsoka, who had ducked as soon as Naruto had raised his blaster, grabbed the keycard and used it to open the door to the cells.

"Okay, I'll admit it," she said as they dragged the stunned guards into the room. "That was pretty cool."

"Damn right it was cool," Naruto said. He quickly created two more clones, who henged into the guards they had just taken out. The two clones then posted outside the door to the cell block, keeping watch. While they did so, he dropped his henge and turned to look at the cells.

He had been right. There were prisoners here. Over a dozen women and young girls were locked in the cells. He saw Twi'leks, Mikkians, humans, even a young Theelin girl no older than 6. They had clearly been mistreated, sporting bruises and cuts across their bodies. They wore collars of some sort, and all of them looked scared and confused.

Naruto growled deep in his throat, his temper flaring to the surface at the sight of such inhumanity. It was a struggle not to just start shouting at the sheer vile cruelty of whatever gang this was, but he mastered his anger with difficulty. He brought one of Master Yoda's many lessons to mind, that anger was a poison, clouding his vision and making him foolish. He needed a clear head at the moment, or they were all going to get caught.

A muttered curse drew his attention to Ahsoka. He looked over at her, taking in her clenched fists and stiff shoulders. Clearly she was just as angry at this as he was.

"This is…"

"I know," Naruto said. "I'm pissed too. But we're here to help them now. Open the cells, quickly."

Ahsoka nodded and moved throughout the room, opening the cells with the keycard she had taken from the guard earlier. The prisoners stumbled out of their cells, looking around anxiously. Even Naruto's senses could detect their fear. He moved over to a couple of the older prisoners, a pair of Twi'leks in their mid-twenties. They eyed his approach nervously, wary of any potential threat.

"We're here to rescue you," he said. "I'm Naruto and that's Ahsoka. Why did these guys take you?"

"Th-they took us to be sold as slaves. Black Sun pays this group to provide them with girls for their clubs and brothels," one of the Twi'leks said.

"Dammit," Naruto cursed as his suspicions were confirmed. "I thought slavery had been abolished in the Republic. How could they let something like this happen?"

"The Republic doesn't care about us," the other woman spat. "They and their Jedi never look at what happens to little people. Now how are you going to rescue us? You two are just children."

"Hey, we're not just any kids," Naruto said indignantly. Internally he was frowning at her words about the Jedi and the Republic, but he pushed them aside for now. "We're Jedi Initiates."

"The Jedi sent two kids down here to save us?" another woman asked from behind him. She was human, perhaps 18. She looked skeptical of his claim.

"Well, they didn't exactly send us," Naruto said. "We sort of…got lost. But we stumbled on this place and decided to rescue you."

"Great," the human teenager said, rolling her eyes. "We're all going to die."

"Hey, do you have a better option, lady?" Ahsoka asked sharply, as she freed the last of the would-be slaves. "We've got a plan to get you out of here. We do have a plan, right Naruto?"

"Yeah, of course we do," Naruto said, his mind racing. He hadn't actually planned on how they were getting the prisoners out of the compound. Fortunately for him, he always thought best on his feet. A few seconds of brain wracking produced what he thought was a workable plan. Or most of one at least.

"I'll cause a distraction and lure the guards away from here," he said after clearing his throat. "Once they're all gone, Ahsoka will lead you all to the landing platform. There are speeders there that you can steal and use to get away. I'll meet you at the platform as soon as I lose the guards, so don't leave without me."

"Are you kidding me?" the human girl asked. "That'll never work. There are guards outside the door to the landing platform. We'll get shot to pieces."

Several of the other prisoners nodded. A few voiced similar objections. Naruto could see the fear and defeat in their eyes. They hadn't had hope in so long that they had forgotten what it felt like. He frowned and stepped forward.

"Listen!" he shouted, quieting the growing din. "I promise you that this will work. You can't just give up without even trying. You all have a chance now, don't just walk away from it. If you all work together, I know you can do this."

"What about the guards?" someone asked. "You won't be able to lure all of them to you."

Naruto gained an evil look in his eyes. Ahsoka instinctively stepped back and checked for tripwires. She had seen that look before, and it always portended a particularly inventive piece of mischief on Naruto's part.

"Trust me, the guards will be plenty distracted with what I'm going to do. Besides, Ahsoka will be able to take care of any that I miss," Naruto said confidently. "You can trust her. She's one of the most amazing people I know."

Ahsoka smiled at the compliment, warmth swelling in her chest. She wasn't a huge fan of Naruto's plan, as it involved her leaving him again. This time, though, he wasn't doing it to protect her. He was trusting her to keep all of these people safe. That absolute confidence in her ability filled her with determination to not let him down.

She could see that his words had affected the prisoners as well. There was a light in their eyes that had not been there a minute ago. Their posture stiffened, and the oppressive aura of defeat and despair had lightened. One of them still needed some encouragement, however. The little Theelin girl was clearly still scared, and fighting not to cry. Ahsoka walked over to her and leaned down to her eye level.

"Hey there," she said softly, smiling at the frightened girl. "What's your name?"

"I-I'm Eika," the young girl said, sniffing.

"That's a very pretty name, Eika," Ahsoka said. "Now, can you do me a big favor Eika?"

Eika looked at her with wide, curious eyes. She sniffled again before wiping her nose and nodding.

"I need you to be very brave for the next little bit, okay," Ahsoka said. "You can do that for me, can't you?"

Eika nodded again, trying to look determined.

"That's great Eika. Now stick with one of these ladies and don't wander off. I'm going to get you out of here."

Eika nodded again and gave Ahsoka a shaky smile. She then dashed over to one of the Twi'leks Naruto had been talking to earlier. The Twi'lek woman gave the girl a quick hug before grasping her hand tightly. Meanwhile, Ahsoka went over to Naruto.

"Thank you for trusting me this time," she said to him. "Be careful out there, please. I don't want to have to patch you up again."

"You too," Naruto said nudging her shoulder. "Don't worry about me. I've got this. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, best Jedi Initiate ever."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes at that and gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. Feeling something hard being pressed into her hand, she looked down. She saw one of the blasters from the guards Naruto had stunned earlier. Turning the weapon over in her hands, she glanced up at Naruto curiously.

"Just in case," he said seriously. "I'm pretty sure it's set for stun. It turns out they're not that complicated."

Ahsoka accepted the blaster reluctantly. She still wasn't too sure about actually using it. Still, it was better to have it than not, she figured. She tucked it into her belt and gave Naruto a nod.

"Wait for three minutes, then check the hallway," he said. "Go as soon as it's clear. I'll meet you at the speeders, I promise."

With that, he rushed out of the room. The door shut behind him as he ran down the hall. He sprinted, as quietly as he could, until he was out of sight of the cell block. Fortunately he had not encountered anyone else yet. It seemed the lower levels weren't as crowded as the upper ones. The first thing he did once he stopped was create nearly two dozen clones, filling the hallway with masked blondes.

"Okay boys," he said. "You know what to do. Let's go show these guys just who they decided to mess with."

His clones gave a cheer before they all formed a quick hand sign.

"Orioke no jutsu" came the cry from the crowd of clones. A puff of white smoke later, and where there had once been a hall full of masked blonde boys, there now stood a group of incredibly attractive, and scantily clad, blonde women. Their collective clothing might, if combined by a skilled tailor, have managed to cover a small child, but it would have been close.

"Let's see these assholes try to fight when you look like this. Charge!" Naruto yelled at his platoon of scantily clad female clones. They saluted as one before pivoting and running off down the hall, screaming at the top of their lungs. It wasn't long before they attracted attention. Within just ten seconds a group of three armed thugs turned up, looking for the source of the noise. When they found it, their reactions were rather spectacular.

The sight of dozens of nearly naked blonde bombshells running through the halls of their secure base screaming battle cries proved too much for the first one, an older-looking Weequay. His eyes rolled back into his eyes and he fainted dead away. His fellows were too distracted to even think about catching him, so he hit the floor with a painful sounding thud.

The other two managed better, but only very slightly. One froze with his mouth open for a second, torn between lust and fear. It seemed fear won, as he turned on his heels and fled the way he came, screaming for help.

The final man, another Rodian, seemed to have somewhat more sense than either of the others. He cursed violently in a language Naruto didn't yet recognize, and drew his blaster. Backpedaling rapidly, he fired as fast as he could into the approaching mob of angry blondes.

His shots mostly went wide, shock and fear disrupting his aim. The walls and ceiling were peppered with blaster bolts, throwing chips of hot duracrete and smoke into the air. A few shots met their mark, however. One shot caught a clone in her throat, another hit a clone's stomach, and a third impacted a barely covered chest. Each instantly dispelled in a cloud of smoke, as did any clone immediately behind them as the lethal bolts of red plasma carried through the clone's bodies. It was too little too late for the Rodian however.

Before he could fire any more shots, the charging mob reached him. He swung his blaster wildly, trying to defend himself, but it did little good. He managed to dispel one more clone with a hit to her jaw before the others overwhelmed him. One knocked the blaster out of his hands, while another two went to work pummeling him into unconsciousness. The last thing he saw before his body and mind shut down for repairs was a pair of beautiful, grinning, blue eyed, blonde faces looming over him with fists cocked back.

"Okay, that's enough," Naruto said, wincing at the sight of one of his clones stomping on the Rodian's groin. "We need to keep moving and draw the guards towards us."

He turned towards the rest of his transformed clones. Once he had their attention he began issuing his directions.

"Split into three groups," he said. "Group one, go down the right hallway. Beat up a few guards, then get the rest to chase you back the way you came. Group two, same with the left hallway. Group three, with me. We're going back up the stairs and drawing everyone to us there. Groups one and two, once you get them to chase you, lead them up the stairs to me. Got it?"

"Yes boss," over a dozen voices cried out. At Naruto's gesture, they ran off to follow his commands. Naruto himself, meanwhile, led his group of five clones up the stairs to the main levels. As he passed people, he would fire a stun bolt at them, or one of the distractingly sexy clones would snap out a quick blow. By the time he reached what looked like the main living quarters, he had ten thugs following him, screaming and shooting.

When he burst into the large, barracks-like space, he immediately saw over a dozen beings in front of him. There was a moment of complete silence and stillness, like the pause between lightning and thunder. Most of the slavers were stunned at the sight of a group of beautiful women in abbreviated clothing barging into their lives so suddenly. Naruto spotted several sudden nosebleeds, and many of the criminals adopted the brief, glazed expressions of men engaged in mental filmmaking.

Despite the somewhat comedic display in front of him, Naruto could feel the beginnings of nervousness flickering within him. His bad arm was already beginning to throb just from the earlier exertion. He could feel his wrist and fingers stiffening as they began to swell. There were a lot of enemies, all heavily armed, and he was much further from 100% than he had let on to Ahsoka. Add onto that how frighteningly effective blasters had proven to be against his clones and he didn't exactly love his odds at the moment.

Nevertheless, he was Naruto fucking Uzumaki. He didn't know the meaning of fear. In every important fight in his life he had been coming from underneath, and this was no different. It would just make it even more awesome when he beat all these idiots and made his daring escape. Those thoughts in mind, Naruto decided it was high time to announce his presence. There was no use looking cool if no one knew who you were after all.

"Alright you scum suckers," he yelled, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Who wants the first asskicking?"

That broke the moment of silence like a hammer through glass. The slavers shook themselves out of their pornographic contemplations and began reaching for their weapons, laughing at the absurdity of their situation. Naruto grinned beneath his mask as he saw this.

"This is going to be so much fun," he said. "For me, at least."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Ahsoka and the former prisoners waited anxiously as they counted down the seconds until the three minutes were up. They could hear the distant sounds of fighting, seemingly moving further away. As soon as the time was up, Ahsoka poked her head out into the hall. Seeing no one, she sighed with relief. It seemed Naruto's harebrained scheme was working. She didn't really want to know how Naruto had managed to distract the guards, but whatever he had done had clearly been effective.

"It's clear," she called to the rest of the women. "Come on. I'll lead the way. Hurry!"

Following her lead, the group of women moved quickly down the hall, looking around in apprehension. Ahsoka led them back the way she and Naruto had come, towards the entrance to the landing platform. For the first few turns, nothing went wrong.

Their good fortune did not last, however. As she rounded a corner into another hallway, Ahsoka saw four armed slavers in front of her. More importantly, they saw her, and the women behind her. Comprehension dawned in their eyes, and one of them made for a com panel on the wall, no doubt intending to call for reinforcements.

Reacting fast, Ahsoka drew her borrowed blaster and fired three shots at the man trying to alert the others. The first two missed, splashing harmlessly against the far wall, but the last one struck him square in the face. His body seized as the stun bolt overloaded his nervous system. Losing motor control instantly, his momentum carried him face first into the wall. Judging by the painful sounding crunch, his nose had come off the worst in the collision.

"Kriff, she got Torren!"

"Kill the bitch!"

Turning her attention to the other three goons in front of her, Ahsoka saw they were drawing their own blasters, clearly meaning to kill her, and probably the others as well. Her training kicked in, and instinct took over. She charged forward, firing stun bolts at her attackers. Most went wide, though one caught the leftmost thug in the foot, dropping him to his knees. He wasn't quite unconscious, but he certainly wasn't moving very fast.

The other bolts, though they missed, still served a purpose. They forced the remaining slavers to flinch, throwing off their aim. Their own shots failed to impact the small Togruta girl, and she closed the distance rapidly, making accurate aiming almost impossible.

Ahsoka took advantage of the one thug's position on his knees, and jumped into the air. She planted a foot into his face, and felt his teeth and nose break under it. Pushing off, she used him as a brace and rebounded towards the center thug. Her rebound spin kick knocked the blaster out of his hands. The head of the thug whose face she had jumped off of crashed against a table, knocking him out cold.

Landing in a crouch, Ahsoka lashed out with a vicious back kick. It connected right with the disarmed slaver's groin with enough force to lift him to his toes. His face turned purple, and a strangled squeal escaped his clenched lips. He folded nearly in half before falling to his knees, clutching his battered crotch.

Jumping into the air again, Ahsoka was just in time to dodge a flurry of blaster shots from the last thug. She back flipped through the air, using the Force to guide her arc. She had always been especially talented at such acrobatics, and the additional training she had taken up since Naruto had arrived had only improved her skills.

Those skills were readily apparent now, as her backflip carried her directly onto the shoulders of her final opponent. Gripping on tightly with her knees, she rode on his shoulders as he stumbled at the sudden weight. She raised her blaster into the air, and brought it down onto the crown of his head. Once, twice, three times she bashed him as hard as she could, dodging his wild arm flailing. Blood flowed from the wound on his head, staining the butt of her blaster. On the fourth blow, his brain apparently had had enough, and he slumped to the ground, moaning softly as unconsciousness claimed him.

Rolling back to her feet, Ahsoka faced the thug she had kicked in the balls earlier. He was just regaining his feet, but his back was to her. Smirking, she raised her blaster and aimed at his exposed back and pulled the trigger. The blue stun bolt caught him right between the shoulder blades, dropping him back onto his face for the second time in a minute.

"Wow," she heard from behind her. Turning, Ahsoka saw a group of very shocked former slaves. They were looking at her in something resembling awe. Eika in particular had an expression of pure hero worship on her face. Clearly, none of them had been expecting her to be able to defend them quite so spectacularly.

"You're amazing, Ahsoka!" Eika cried. "How'd you do that?"

"A lot of training," Ahsoka answered with a grin, still riding the thrill of victory. "Now come on. We need to get to those speeders before Naruto."

"There are still guards at the main door," one of the women said. Ahsoka glanced at the pile of unconscious slavers moaning on the floor behind her.

"I think I can handle them," she said, her smile turning cocky. "Let's go."

Once more reassured by her confidence, the group of former slaves followed after her as she led them to the exit. With a little more care on Ahsoka's part, they were able to avoid any more encounters with the slavers on the way to the door. From the sounds of blaster fire and screaming coming from above them, Ahsoka figured that Naruto had managed to successfully engage the majority of the gang. She could only hope that the ongoing sounds of battle meant he was still okay and had not been captured or-

'No,' she thought to herself, shaking her head. 'I won't even think that. He'll be fine.'

She slowed the group down as they reached the door that led to the landing platform. Motioning for them to stop, she had them take cover on either side of the door.

"I'm going to take those guards down," she said. "You guys wait here. I'll signal you when I'm done."

There was a soft chorus of assent to her words, so she turned towards the door. Closing her eyes, she gripped her blaster tightly and took a calming breath. It was a lot different, going through a door knowing that she was going to face enemies on the other side. Still, she had come this far, and she wasn't about to back down now.

Her resolve hardened, she opened the door and rolled through it. Between her Force senses and her nascent echolocation, she was able to determine where the two guards were with a fair degree of precision.

Arresting her momentum she turned and faced the guards as quickly as she could. Her blaster was already rising as she turned, and she fired twice in quick succession. The first shot missed, but the second was true. The guard she had aimed at, the same bearded human from before, pitched backwards, spasms wracking his body as his nervous system was overloaded by the stun bolt.

That just left the Rodian, the same one she had knocked out earlier. Judging by his snarl of recognition, he had not forgotten this. He raised his blaster, aiming at her head.

"You!" he screamed, firing indiscriminately. "I'll kill you this time, you little whore!"

With her already quick reflexes further enhanced by her fledgling Force senses, Ahsoka was able to dodge his poorly aimed shots. Some came a little too close for comfort, with one nearly catching her in the face. She could feel the heat of the bolt as it flew in front of her eyes, leaving brief red streaks in her vision.

This brief moment of blindness nearly cost her everything. The Force warned her of an incoming shot, but she couldn't focus well enough to dodge properly. Before the Rodian could shoot her though, she heard a howling sound, like some demon shrieking in fury. Through the tears and spots obscuring her vision she could just make out a black blur flying through the air and latching onto her would-be killer's face. As she blinked her vision clear she could make out why it was.

"Tora!"

The Loth-cat kept up his attack on the thug, doing his best to claw his eyes out. It took the Rodian several seconds to pry the spitting bundle of claws and teeth off of his face. Unfortunately for him, this was all the time Ahsoka needed to get her vision back.

Despite her close call, Ahsoka managed to rally. She closed the gap between her and the Rodian quickly, getting inside his guard. She landed a couple of quick jabs to his stomach before he threw a wild hay haymaker at her head. She ducked beneath his blow and rolled between his legs, ending up behind him.

He had put too much power into his haymaker, and when it didn't connect, the Rodian lost his balance and stumbled forward. Ahsoka capitalized on this by springing off the wall and clubbing him in the back of the head with the butt of her blaster. With the added force of her entire body weight, as well as the speed of her jump, the blow served to once again send the Rodian into painful unconsciousness. Just to be sure, Ahsoka followed it up with a stun bolt to his kidneys, guaranteeing that he wouldn't awaken for at least twenty minutes.

Both her opponents down, Ahsoka paused to catch her breath. Her heart was hammering in her chest and her hands were shaking. That near miss with the blaster bolt had shaken her a little, and she needed a few seconds to collect herself. She ran through a basic Jedi breathing technique that Master Leem had taught her, one meant to calm the mind and body. After a few repetitions, it worked. Her hands steadied, and her heartbeat returned to a more normal level.

From behind her she heard a familiar purring sound. Turning around, she was pleased to see Tora sitting calmly as if utterly untroubled by anything. His calm, almost placid demeanor was belied by the flecks of blood on this paws.

"Hey there boy," she said, giving him a pat on the head. "You're a lifesaver. You followed my directions really well. Let's get you out of here."

Once she had finished greeting the Loth-cat, Ahsoka opened the door. The freed women poured out quickly, eager to escape the site of their imprisonment. She received several grateful looks from the escapees, and one very enthusiastic hug from Eika.

"Thankythankyouthankyou," the girl said breathlessly. "We're free!"

"Not quite yet," Ahsoka replied, scooting the excited Theelin towards the parked speeders. "We still have to steal those speeders and wait for Naruto. He should be here any- Oh no!"

Ahsoka broke off when she saw a large cargo speeder pull up on the landing platform. It was painted with a symbol she recognized from her classes at the Temple. A solid black circle, surrounded by a spiked wheel, broken at the top. The symbol of one of the oldest and most powerful criminal organizations in the galaxy. Black Sun.

This far down in the undercity, the various criminal tribes displayed their colors proudly. It served to mark territory and ward off ill-considered attacks on their bases and vessels. They were the power down here, and Ahsoka remembered just who the former slaves said was going to buy them. This must have been the transport sent to secure their purchase. This was bad.

It got even worse when eight men jumped out of the open doors of the cargo speeder. They were each armed with a blaster rifle. Most had motley looking weapons, rough but serviceable. The one in front, though, was armed with a fearsome looking double barreled blaster rifle, the iconic weapon of a Black Sun foot soldier.

"Take cover!" Ahsoka shouted. "Behind those crates. Hurry."

She pointed at a stack of crates and barrels off to their left. She had no idea what was in them, but they would at least provide better cover than the open air of the landing platform. The women heard her shout and, thankfully, moved fast. They sprinted for the crates as quickly as they could, Ahsoka right in front of them. Tora streaked ahead of them all, becoming nothing but a black blur.

Most of them made it before the Black Sun mercenaries could open fire. One of them, the human teenager who had questioned Naruto earlier, wasn't quite so lucky. Her captivity had done her endurance no favors, and the recent sprint out of the cells had left her winded and slow. She was still several meters from the crates when the new arrivals began shooting.

The tired girl caught one bolt to the upper thigh and fell to the ground, crying out in pain. Her cries caught Ahsoka's attention, and she reached desperately for the Force. Ahsoka stretched her hands out and focused with all her might, determined not to let one of the people Naruto had trusted her to guard die. The girl, much to her shock, found herself being pulled across the ground and behind the crates, safe from the blaster fire.

Ahsoka sagged with a mix of exhaustion and relief when she saw that she had been successful. Her relief was short-lived, however, as the Black Sun thugs turned their fire on the crates, sending sparks and bits of hot metal shooting over the heads of those huddled behind them. They were pinned down, and Ahsoka couldn't see any way out of their predicament. There was nowhere to go.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

And that's that. Yes, I did leave you on something of a cliffhanger. No, it shouldn't be all that hard to guess how Ahsoka and the rest of them get out of it, although I do look forward to what you all come up with in the reviews. I won't actually confirm anything for you, although I will let you know if you're wildly off the mark. As always please leave a review with any comments, questions, bitches, moans, and complaints you may have. I promise I'll pretend to care about at least two of the above categories.