Book One: The Return
Chapter 6: Clash
Naruto prided himself on being able to size up his opponent by watching them before their battle had even begun, that was why he suddenly felt a rush from the Jedi who was now standing across from him. Jedi Master Mace Windu, a man born from the Korun species, was an experienced Jedi who had mastered all forms of lightsaber combat and Naruto could already tell that this man was far superior to all but the most powerful Jedi of his time. Mace Windu had just taken Naruto up on his offer to have a spar, but Naruto knew that there was far more to this than just a Jedi wishing to prove himself against a Sith.
"You are aware that a spar with me is done with our actual lightsabers, not those pesky training sabers that you Jedi love to use?" Naruto asked the Master Jedi, raising his eyebrow ever so slightly while his mismatched eyes just stared into his opponent's.
"Yes, are you aware that spars inside the Jedi Temple end when one side has surrendered and not dead?" Mace asked in return, only for Naruto to snort and he stepped into the center of the training courtyard and ignited his crimson lightsaber, a small smirk forming when several of the younger Jedi took a hesitant step back.
"Oh I'm very aware as to why you Jedi can't handle the pain of a lightsaber." Naruto taunted as Mace activated his purple bladed lightsaber and stood across from Naruto in the center of the courtyard, the both of them readying themselves for the fight to come.
There was no shout to begin the match, no grand roar that would signal the beginning of some great struggle, only the sound of two lightsabers clashing as their wielders closed the gap between one another in one massive jump. With their red and purple blades crossed, along with their eyes locked in unwavering gazes, a power struggle emerged between the Sith Lord and Jedi Master. Just when it seemed like their struggle would go on forever, with their overwhelming strength being of equal proportion, Mace suddenly jumped away and Naruto simply lowered his lightsaber and adopted a relaxed pose.
"Not bad Jedi, there aren't many people who can hold a bladelock with me and not be overwhelmed," Naruto commented as he seemed to examine his lightsaber and rotate it around in his hand before suddenly charging forward like a crazed animal.
Mace could describe the feeling of Naruto slamming into him as akin to a starfighter hitting him at full force, which might as well have happened from the way Mace suddenly found himself flying off the ground and into the far wall. The wall the Jedi Master slammed into crumbled under the force of his body making contact with it and he only had a second to jump out of the way or else Naruto's crimson blade would have cut him in half from head to toe. With movements that were honed by years of training, Mace rolled to the side of Naruto and struck with the precision, aiming towards Naruto's unguarded side. Yet Naruto managed to bring his lightsaber back just in time to knock the purple lightsaber away just seconds before it would have pierced his side.
This time it was Naruto's turn to jump away and get some distance between them, that near fatal mistake of his made the Sith realize that this was no ordinary Jedi he was dealing with but a member of the Jedi High Council. So, to gain an edge in this duel, Naruto relied on the ancient Sith tradition of using his passions to strengthen himself and his connection to the force. The effect happened almost instantly, with the weaker Jedi feeling a sudden chill in the air and Naruto lone yellow eye practically glowed with the unholy power of the Dark Side. But as the strength of the Dark side surged through him, he noticed something...it felt like the Dark side energies he was raidating were being absorbed. And if he followed where it was...oh!
Well...now this was indeed interesting! Naruto grinned.
"You are strong, I will admit that, but fighting a single opponent will grow boring quickly. Is there anyone else who wants to challenge me?!" Naruto shouted as he spun around with his arms held out wide, leaving his back fully exposed if Mace ever chose to strike at him from behind, but that wasn't the Jedi way.
Naruto's answer came in the form of Obi-wan Kenobi himself walking into the ring, lightsaber held in hand, and a calmness about him that reminded Naruto of a true Jedi Master.
"Well, if you're offering, then who am I to refuse?" Obi-wan asked in an almost teasing manner as he entered the courtyard and activated his blue lightsaber and got into his traditional ready stance, followed by Mace doing the same on the other side of Naruto.
"Finally, a real fight!" Naruto laughed and his purple lightsaber suddenly flew from his belt to his hand and the deadly blade activated a split second later.
Windu was the first one to attack, leaping at Naruto from all the way across the courtyard as Obi-wan did the same from his position. The two Jedi Masters were hoping to overwhelm the Sith by pressing both his sides at the same time, however their lightsabers only hit the ground as Naruto rolled under their strikes. Spinning on his heel, Naruto charged Windu first, knowing the man would have trouble taking on the Sith at full speed. However, Obi-wan jumped in between them and forced Naruto to engage him instead. Their lightsabers were like blurs in the air, with Obi-wan's immovable defense living up to its name and Naruto's unstoppable attack threatening to shatter it with almost every meeting of their lightsabers.
Despite Naruto using both his lightsabers at once, the young Sith still couldn't find any hole in Obi-wan's defense, it was as if the Jedi Master wasn't fighting him on his own but was allowing the Force to guide his actions. Wait...that was it! This Jedi had surrendered himself completely to the will of the Force and so it wasn't just him who was fighting! With a sudden swing at Obi-wan's feet, hoping to knock the Jedi off balance just long enough to get a hit in, Naruto was forced to raise his purple blade to block Master Windu's own sudden attack. The thing that differed between Jedi and Sith was how well they work within their own groups, with the Sith looking out for themselves and the Jedi often knowing how to cover each other's weaknesses. In this instance, Obi-wan represented the defense, Naruto's observations of his dueling style told him that much, while Mace Windu represented the unyielding attack. It was only upon the arrival of another Jedi that Naruto felt something shift within the waves of the Force, it was subtle and easily missed but Naruto noticed it none the less, something had happened.
"Master Windu, Master Obi-wan, the Jedi Council is convening in an emergency meeting." said the lowly Jedi knight as all three warriors deactivated their lightsaber, the fight was apparently over.
"Yes, thank you, we shall be there in a moment." said Obi-wan as the Jedi Knight left and Naruto personal little group of guards formed around the Sith with their lightsabers in hand.
"Well, not that this wasn't fun, but apparently I must be going, have fun little Jedi!" Naruto teased as he was escorted from the room, an all too happy smile on his face for any Jedi's liking, but what could you really expect from a battle born Sith?
"By the way, Jedi...that was a pretty good trick." Naruto admitted, smirking. "If my senses are right, you were drawing on my power. Sith release Dark side energy, you know this. What you were doing was absorbing that energy into yourself and channeling it to throw it back at the one giving it off. So the stronger the Dark side-user you face, the stronger you get from them. Very nice...good thing for the Sith you weren't around a thousand years ago during the Sacking of Coruscant...all those Sith for you to feed off the Dark side energy of to fuel your power..."
At that, the younglings whom had been training in the courtyard prior gasped, staring at Windu in shock. A member of the Jedi Council who used the Dark side?! That went in the face of everything they were learning at the temple!
Windu stiffened.
"Maybe I'll try that trick myself sometime...after all, wonder how powerful a Sith using that skill would be." Naruto said thoughtfully.
At that, Windu activated his blade and with a roar, lunged at Naruto. But as Naruto whipped around, his eyes widened as Obi-wan imposed himself between the young Sith and his fellow Jedi, blocking Windu's amethyst blade with his azure one.
"Master Windu, what are you doing?!"
"Stand down, Kenobi! The method of Vaapad is far too dangerous to be used by a Sith!" Mace snarled.
"True...I would be inclined to agree. A Sith knowing that method would pretty much have perpetual Dark Side energy. Thanks for that!" Naruto cackled.
"ENOUGH!"
At the voice, everything froze and everyone turned to see the small, green Jedi from before.
"Grand Master Yoda...! This...this Sith...!" Windu tried saying as he disengaged Obi-wan in their blade lock, Kenobi shutting his weapon off as they separated.
"Master Windu! The Jedi way, your actions are not! An alley, you proposed he be. So why attack him?"
Windu cringed, deactivating his lightsaber. It amused Naruto to see a member of the Jedi Council getting scolded as if they were a child.
"Ah...I needed that!" Naruto cackled, putting his lightsaber back on his belt and grinned cheerfully, even as he was escorted to his own personal little room in the temple. It was as bare as an empty closet and hardly and bigger than one, the room no doubt had cameras and sensors covering every inch of it, and was left on his own aside from the four Jedi standing watch just outside his new room. The young Sith found it amusing at how cautious Jedi were nowadays, the Sith really did a number on them over the years and it seemed like they were finally taking them seriously for a change. So, since he had nothing better to do at the moment, Naruto found himself literally meditating the day away, diving deep into the folds of the Dark Side, something of which made the Jedi outside his room very tense. Most Jedi have felt the touch of the Dark Side, apparently that's how they graduated by resisting it, but so few here had ever actually felt a Sith radiating the Dark Side to such a degree. It was night outside, if Naruto's internal clock was accurate, and yet he sensed a familiar presence in the airduct right above him.
"If you planned on assassinating me, little Jedi, you should work on concealing yourself a little better." Naruto said, without ever opening his eyes, as the vent slid open and out came the Togruta Padawan of Anakin Skywalker.
"Hey, how did you even know I was there?" Ahsoka asked as she dusted some of the dust off her uniform before crossing her arms with an almost pouty look on her face.
"Even amongst all the Jedi here, I can still separate who is who, that and no other Jedi would be curious enough to sneak into a Sith's room unannounced." Naruto commented as he ended his meditation, knowing it wouldn't be of any more use now that there was someone here to interrupt him, before standing up to greet the little Padawan.
"Yeah, well, my master is driving me a little crazy and this is the one place he wouldn't think I would be," Ahsoka admitted while Naruto gestured for her to sit down on one of the many chairs in the room while he sat back down on the bed.
"Oh I believe I know the feeling, my own master was not one to let things pass without question. Although I think your problem with Skywalker is greatly different than my problem with my old master Malgus." Naruto commented, earning a light chuckle from the Padawan.
"I've got to say, you're a lot more enjoyable to be around than any other Sith I've met," said Ahsoka, making Naruto smirk ever so slightly.
"Oh, so you have known many then?"
"Just two and both of them are just about as evil as anyone could get."
"I don't know, this war of yours is very different than the one I fought in. You all fight droids instead of fully trained Sith warriors, a fact I find almost insulting. From what I've seen, the Jedi of this time period is the weakest I've ever seen, your skilled warriors are few and far between and your don't seem to hold the power you once had," Naruto explained as Ahsoka adopted a thoughtful look.
"Were the Jedi really that strong?" the young Togruta asked.
"Oh yes, there is a reason I believe the Jedi are the only true rivals to the Sith. Despite our different codes, our ways of going about situations, and even our basic traditions, the Jedi and the Sith will always be the only ones worthy to fight one another. No one else has the right to challenge the Sith but the Jedi and no one else has the right to challenge the Jedi but the Sith."
"You know, for a guy that doesn't like to discuss philosophy, you sure are passionate about it," Ahsoka pointed out, missing the fact that she was teasing a Sith Lord!
"Hm, I guess you are right, but you should leave before someone catches you in here with me. They may get the impression that I'm trying to turn you to the Dark Side," said Naruto, making a shooing motion with his hand, but Ahsoka just looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you saying you wouldn't try to turn me to the Dark Side?"
"Well, not yet at least...you're interesting as is, so why spoil that? Take that however you wish." he said, getting a raised brow from her.
"Say...there's something bugging me. When we fought, you said that it's because of the Jedi the Sith Order even exists...what did you mean by that?"
The blonde sighed "The Sith as a race, they were old; the Sith as an Order...well...that'll have to be a story for another time; sure the last thing you want is for anyone to find you here with me talking to you about Sith history and why, for all their talk of just sitting around and meditating all the time, the Jedi are the first to have boots on the ground and weapons ready at the first mention of Sith, after all."
Ahsoka left soon after that, a different perspective on the Sith she had met not long ago, and Naruto eventually went to sleep on the pitiful things the Jedi call beds. It seems that a few thousand years hasn't improved the Jedi's comfort technology, they might as well be sleeping on slabs of stone with blankets thrown over them. As Naruto felt his mind drift into the realm of dreams, the day's events caused him to be reminded of his time under his master.
(Dream/Flashback)
"Faster, you little wretch, move faster!" a Sith warrior yelled to a boy no more than ten years old, who was using a dueling blade to fend off said Sith warrior.
With a vicious kick to the face, the Sith warrior sent the boy half way across the room and actually made him hit the hard metal walls. This small boy was Naruto Uzumaki and he was undergoing training that should only be suited for the older acolytes. With the stubbornness of his ancestors, Naruto rose to his feet once again only to be grabbed by his robes and thrown across the training room once more. By now his anger was the only thing pushing him forward, yet it wasn't great enough to do anything more, or so it appeared.
"Is this the best you can do, your whore mother had better fighting skills than this!" now, if there was one thing Naruto truly hated then it was for someone to say things about the woman who gave birth to him.
When Naruto actually lashed out, all of his pent up rage finally being let out, the entire training academy shoot under its force. Naruto's sole target was the Sith warrior before him and, in the blink of an eye, the man exploded from the inside out. Blood and body parts splattered the training room and, in the middle of it all, was the last Uzumaki. Yet Naruto's rage had not been satisfied and he let out another primal scream, raising his head to the heavens as he did so, as the entire academy continued to shake violently. That is until a gauntlet covered fist hit him in the back of his head and knocked him out cold.
"Take the boy back to his chambers, I would have him ready for his next trial."
"Yes, Lord Malgus."