SHGS - Chapter Seventeen: And Yet Another Desert

Disclaimer: I do not own, or profit, from Naruto, Star Wars, and all associated media.

A/N

"…"

- Darklighter

"Thoughts"

"Speech"

"Abnormal sentient thoughts"

"Abnormal sentient speech"

The true negotiations had taken place a fortnight ago and a decision had been reached. The decision had been reached but there had been an endless array of petty snags and accusations that had gotten in the way of action. For example the Council had sought to leverage the abduction of Naruto's classmates, but in the end it seemed as if everyone would get what they wanted. The Jedi no longer threatened to withhold their tech gift from the Terrans, and the carte blanche they had been given to pursue their investigation was a near precedent.

Now Naruto felt like little more than a glorified and sentient game piece. Some of his moves were of his own devising, sure, but there were so many factions – seen and unseen – with an interest in his new assignment that the strings on his person practically glowed. On Terra plots had a way of spiraling out of control. The natives couldn't help themselves and someone's death was always the inevitable result…

Naruto sighed. If his head had not been covered by the cool metal of the Aventis's guidance helm he would have curled his fingers through his hair in frustration. His troops were not on board. Konohamaru, Karin, Haku, and Zabuza were his only companions. Haku and Zabuza were not part of the new company that he was yet to form, Sarutobi Asuma held the two in the highest regard, but Naruto had managed to wheedle them out of the grizzled tactician for his present purposes.

"War Yacht Aventis. This is Flagship Control. Adjust your approach vector 33.2 degrees Starboard. Copy?"

"We hear you," Naruto muttered, and the Aventis relayed his muted words to the Flagship's communications people.

In an emergency Naruto's War-Yacht could dock with a much larger vessel in less than two minutes. However this wasn't an emergency and there was nothing that defined the Core Military more than procedure… They spent a full thirty minutes in the vapid and freezing void before the reassuring clamp of his ship's docking arrays came to his ears.

"Finally," he sighed as he took of his helmet. As always there was a slight narcotic induced sense of vertigo and loss. Just as the Aventis was now addicted to his brainwaves it used bio chemistry to ensure that he was almost as equally tied to it.

Naruto snorted as the sensations quickly cleared under assault from the iron will he had fashioned in his pursuit for power. What kind of idiot would he have to be to even think of abandoning the vessel? Drugs or no drugs theirs was a bond till death.

However the vertigo severance caused had nothing to do with the drug cocktail the Aventis spoon-fed him when he was hacked into its mind scape. The steps that took him down and away from his raised command dais were shaky and hesitant.

"Show me where the others are," Naruto commanded the empty air. His Ship complied but as always she had grown sulky. He was no longer plugged into her embrace. She illuminated a path to guide him on the floor and wall tiles, but she did not grant him the pleasure of hearing her silky voice.

"We both know you can't keep this up for long," he said provocatively, but she was determined not to rise to the bait. He held his tongue with a wry smile as he considered how childish the hyper intelligent war-machine could be when she so wished.

The others were waiting for him in the armory.

Konohamaru was still full of energy. He had enough of it to compensate for the nerves of the other, seasoned, warriors. They knew that what came next was not going to be easy. The kind of people who staged an assassination attempt at the heart of Terran power weren't the kind of people who had much to lose, and they definitely were not the kind of people that cared about loss of life. They knew that this was going to come down to killers versus killers and it showed in the atmosphere.

Konohamaru however had been hyper ever since Naruto had started repaying his Shinobic lessons in kind, and he proudly wore the training saber Naruto had given him on his waist. The young lad was smart and he possessed a giving streak. He had responded to the gift by providing Naruto with one of his own. He had bought an ornate storage scroll for the blond – white with gold and silver filigree. Naruto had abandoned his bandolier and the scroll now nestled at the small of his back. He carried his Greater disc blade inside it, and hung the smaller disc on his right thigh. His Lightsaber was strapped to the other thigh.

Although Naruto worried about bringing the youth him tagging along such a dangerous mission was not uncommon. It was an honor usually reserved for the most promising students, but Naruto was sure that they young ninja was up to the task. He saw much of himself in the boy, and he believed in the virtues of baptisms by fire.

"Man that took for ever!" we've arrived right? When are we leaving the Ship?" Konohamaru could barely contain himself. He had only been able to show a shade of his exuberant personality after the death of his grandfather, yet now that he was in essence – free – his true nature began to shine through."

"Dude I saw their ship through the view ports. It's so huge! I think it could be as big as Yugakure and Konoha combined inside!"

"Whoa… slow down," Karin called out. She had her head down at a workstation and she was fiddling with her Overlord Array, but she had a soft spot for Konohamaru. "It's not nearly that big squirt," she said.

"You're not coming with us," Naruto said harshly. He wasn't really comfortable disappointing people so when he had to do it he did it quickly and ruthlessly. "Sorry guy but this is grown up business," his tone softened slightly.

Zabuza was silent but from his slow nod it was obvious that he was in agreement. At any rate Haku spoke for the both of them.

"It's for the best," he interjected as Konohamaru began to splutter indignation. "Anyway you've already seen more than most of your former classmates will for a lifetime," he tried to mollify the boy but Konohamaru wasn't having it. He turned silent, sorrowful, and pleading eyes on his commander.

"Sorry kid," Naruto grinned uncomfortably.

"I need you hear watching over the Ship. You know I don't trust these Jedi," he said.

Later as he and the others stalked down the ramp and into the bowels of the Jedi's Flagship Naruto felt something small but heavy crash against the inside of his left thigh. Looking back sharply he was greeted by Konohamaru's grinning face. The boy was hiding behind a stack of cargo of the sort that is only actually on board to be jettisoned when some plot device calls for such. Naruto wanted to rub his leg, which was throbbing, but he decided that he didn't want to give the young Shinobi the satisfaction. After they had passed across Konohamaru accessed a small panel and the ramp rose. The Aventis went into lock down.

The last time Hinata had seen Naruto he had been unarmed. Perhaps that was the reason why she had found his being Sith almost impossible to process. However in the short space since their last meeting things had changed. He was geared up in matte black form fitting body armor that was not terrestrial in origin. Although his companions were armed there was only one object that drew the eye of the Jedi in the room. They all gazed at the black and white fang that clutched at the blonde's waist. The angular weapon was not crafted with the same aesthetic values of a Jedi blade. It was utilitarian and deadly.

"Why are they armed?" Hinata asked, almost petulantly. Seeing Naruto like this had upset her past her ken. Although she was speaking more to herself than to anyone else Lovett Alcatraz snorted and picked up the thread. He pointed at the view finder through which they all monitored the Terran's steady approach.

"Because there are only four of them and the way your people think… they may even believe that we have lured them here only to exact revenge on behalf of our dead," he said.

Hinata didn't respond. She didn't know if he was right, but his reason would serve as much as any.

"They are almost here," Mistress Pav stated – drawing the Jedi around her into a state of readiness. "Remember what we discussed," she addressed them as a slightly nervous shifting pattern bubbled across the room.

As the entry portal went opaque Hinata glanced over at Sasuke and Sakura seeking reassurance. They were seated together – as was their wont over the past week or so, but neither of them noticed her look. However she saw that Lovett kept shooting glances at the pair of them. Although his face appeared calm and his body language relaxed the man had been in a prickly mood which she had attributed to the attack, but perhaps her friends were the true cause. Hinata wondered what Mistress Pav would have think and do about the budding triangle.

She knew that her Mistress did not like to interpret the Codes views on romantic love too strictly. One only had to look at her off and on relationship with Sasuke's Master Jedi Orton to realize that. But unrequited love could be a powerful emotion. One that could quickly devolve into hate… But perhaps orders and strictures would only cause more harm than good.

Hinata didn't have anymore time to ponder the issue. The four Terrans made their entrance.

"Welcome to our home," Mistress Qeral said. She seemed impressed by the lanky blond that brought up the rear. Naruto had grown tall and he had the sort of aura that Pav had only seen once or twice in her lifetime serving on the wild frontier. Three distinct Force disciplines existed in conflicted harmony within his body. Beings like him were unpredictable, and they were often deadly.

"Thanks," the blond said dryly as he gently pushed to the fore of his group. "It's cold in here though. Must be all the metal," he said.

"I would also prefer heat and tranquil gardens," Pav smiled. "Actually I'm looking forward to seeing more of the natural sites that your world has to offer," she confessed.

"I thought you were only interested in finding out who killed your friends?" Naruto asked. His good cheer was replaced by hard stones which came to rest in his eyes, and his intensity gave Pav Qeral pause.

"Not only that," Hinata interjected to save her Mistress from embarrassment, but she didn't know what to follow up with. "we're here to help," she concluded lamely.

"Help with what exactly?" Naruto asked with a knowing smile and she blushed. They both knew that secretly she was referring to him.

"I don't need the help of traitors," he intoned, "And I don't think that my planet does either."

"That's quite enough," as always Pav got her calm, yet firm voice down to a T. "What Hinata means is that as part of our role as intergalactic peacekeepers the Jedi and the Core are here primarily to ensure the smooth integration of your world into galactic society…" she paused.

"Nobody want's a repeat of your war with the Vagaari over Umaren'k," she said.

"Ah," surprisingly it was Zabuza, usually taciturn, that entered the conversation. He was leaning against one of the chamber's side buttresses, but his gravelly voice stole in to fill the whole space.

"The Chiss are already helping with our… integration," Zabuza said with no small dose of sarcasm. Naruto knew that most Shinobi hated the external alien influences on their world almost as much as they realized the necessity that drove the foreign presence on their shores. Zabuza didn't say much, but Naruto gathered that it was this hatred that had driven him to take up the amnesty.

There was a pregnant silence.

"Perhaps we should eat before we continue this discussion," Pav said in carefully measured tones. Everyone had already gotten off to a bad start.

Luckily the smile that Naruto bequeathed on her was genuine.

"I can second that," he said. "I can definitely second that."

So within five minutes and to no obvious signal the room's portal blanked open and sentient servers tumbled in - hovering in trolleys that were laden with food. Ever the connoisseurs of intergalactic culture, and always polite the fare the Jedi served their guests was distinctively Terran in flavor and texture.

"Nice," Karin murmured appreciatively as the scents wafted into their noses. That was one thing about rising through the ranks - when and where to eat often became an afterthought and chore.

Just as Qeral intended the meal served as a sort of informal ice breaker. Although there was silence the Terrans sat across from the Jedi amicably enough.

But as they ate Pav had the time to study the lines of tension that past history had wrought. Just between the four of them there were enough cross allegiances and desires amongst the abductees to make her head spin… but those very same cross allegiances were the only hope the group had of ceasing to be two distinct camps.

"Ehrhmm," she cleared her throat politely when everybody had finished with their plates. For the moment she resisted the urge to drink water. She had heard long ago that drinking water right after eating wasn't good for the digestion.

"Now that we've eaten I would like your group's thoughts on the most likely perpetrators of last week attack," she asked.

The Captain was leaning back in his chair and breathing out of his mouth. He just finished seriously stuffing himself and his eyes held that glazed look Lions sometimes have after gorging. However appearances could be deceiving. He still held an eating utensil in his left hand so he set it down on the table slowly and gently.

"Listen lady," he said in a low urgent tone, "I don't know what you think this is, but my people and I… we aren't here to help you with your investigation." He lazily licked a still oily finger as he held her gaze. When he was done he smacked his lips loudly. "And we're not here to take orders from you either. From what I've seen you Jedi are easy to kill, and my only job is to prevent that from happening… as far as is possible," he said.

Zabuza and Haku were already ready to leave. Haku didn't like strangers. He had put on his old white hunter-nin mask before they had left the Aventis' confines.

"I'll be on my ship with my crew," Naruto said as Karin rose and he followed suit.

"Y'all feel free to take all the time you want," he called back as they left.

"Babysitting duty doesn't start until you're on world."

"Qeral! It's not that I forget the codes! Rather it seems like you forget our honor! Or let me guess. Honor is arrogance or some such crap right?" Lovett Alcatraz was fuming. It was a good thing that this was a private audience in Mistress Pav's mauve quarters. It wouldn't have done for the younger Knights to see the thirty-something year old human male so agitated.

"It's only natural that they underestimate us after last week," she said evenly.

"There is more to being a Jedi than prowess at arms…" she chided him gently. "Lovett… you already know this to be true."

"Yes but the Sith!" Lovett's frantic whisper. "Am I the only one that can see their dark tongues poisoning this world against us? Am I the only one that can see that they must be behind last week. The truth can often be found in the simplest answer," he said.

"Yes, but I'm not so sure," Qeral reasoned. "I'm not even sure if we can consider the young Captain we just met Sith. The Zabrak yes, but him? No… that one is something else," she said.

"How can you not be sure? By the Force weren't we just on the same planet? These people have more in common with the dark than the light. Surely you can feel that. The whole place reeks of it," he said with burning fervor in his eyes.

Some women called Lovett Alcatraz a handsome man but Qeral had never seen it… although her tastes were odd to say the least. There was a pit of darkness in the man that his years of service as a Jedi Knight could only contain – never eradicate.

"Sometimes," Pav said with authority – taking Alcatraz back to the time when he had just been a padawan. "We Jedi are quick to label things that we don't understand to be of the dark," she laid a hand on his shoulder. "I wouldn't want you to fall into that trap my dear friend," she sad.

Finally her words and actions seemed to have gotten through to him. He was an exemplary knight after all (passionate, but exemplary) and through her touch Pav felt his shoulders begin to heave with dry sobs.

"Just let me come with you," he finally said when he had calmed down. "Let me come down with you and the kids. I won't be at ease if I don't," he said.

"I wanted you here," Pav was not so sure. "It's bad enough that I need to take those young ones into danger… If anything happens to me you become the most senior knight on ground, and someone has to look after the others," she said.

"Nevertheless," Lovett would not be denied in this. She recognized this fact from the set of his stance and the blaze in his eyes as he looked up at her again.

"I'm coming with you."

THREE DAYS LATER

Not for the first time Naruto marveled at the scale of change that had touched his world ever since his abduction, but now for the first time he saw the ills that modernization had wrought. After shuttling back to Yugakure, and from there to Konoha the large group had set out for the Wind Country. For some reason Mistress Pav Qeral thought that more clues concerning the attack could be found there. She had been strangely accepting of the Terran authority's denial of responsibility although she had remained adamant where this fact finding mission was concerned.

Naruto wondered how much of that acceptance was real, and how much was due to whatever ulterior motives the woman held. He felt sure that she was using the attack as a guise to make contact with the other political actors on Terra.

However if she had thought to find powerful allies in the Wind Country then she had better have another thought coming he mused. There was little to be found here amongst the ruins of a once great civilization. Qeral would have had better luck trying to seek out the elusive Samurai as far as he was concerned.

There were ten of them in all and the going was slow. The going was slow because they stuck to the dirt roads. Harsh trade restrictions meant that mechanized means of transport had not reached touched this part of the world, and before long they were forced to stop at a medium sized village in search of supplies and horses.

The village was in one of the green fingers of farmland that ringed the edge of the Wind Country's great desert. At the heart of that desert dwelt the Shinobi of the sand, and in the past they had often been forced to protect fertile plains such as the one they found themselves in from Konohaian annexation.

If there was one boon interstellar travel had brought to this bleak place it was the end of such worries. Konoha now had enough agric plantations to feed the world twice over, yet the people they found were sullen and hungry.

Their arrival brought a cluster of hopeful and rabid natives running. The odd one out of two gripped imported blaster rifles, and they had the air of people who knew how to use them. The rest of the world denied these people food and the other trappings of technology, but guns were a dime a dozen. The weapons sold like hot cakes in these lands.

Naruto pondered these things as Karin began to haggle with the natives. Her voice was a blur to him. He was disinterested, and although he didn't realize it, somewhat depressed. He caught Hinata looking at him. It seemed like that happened a lot, and he felt the sorrow there mirrored inside his own body.

Pragmatically he accepted that the Terran authority's course was a wise one. The Shinobi of the sand and their allies had become entrenched in their hatred, so their unsatisfied people were given cheap weapons to use against their overlords, and it was easy for civilians to cross over the borders and into allied lands. It was easy as long as they evaded capture. Naruto's side had the vise locked in like a boa constrictor, and it was only a matter of time. Letting go in such circumstances would be the height of folly.

Still he didn't mind when Karin overpaid for the two horses, and for the cart and supplies. He didn't mind the avarice in the harsh faces of the men and women, and he didn't mind that the cart was on its last legs, and that one of the horses looked like it didn't have legs.

He didn't mind because it was the same story all over the galaxy. It was always the stubborn and willful who suffered. It was the sentients who were unable to evolve mentally who suffered.

It would have been easy for these people to flee their ancestral homes and head for the border and the relative safety of Konoha. It would have been easy but they clung on – trusting in the fake power and reassurance of guns and money. When the Sand Shinobi truly grew desperate they would slaughter the lot of them like chickens…

"Umm… can we stop here for the night?" Sakura asked tentatively. Out of the three of them she always seemed the most embarrassed when she had to speak to or deal with him. Naruto wondered if she thought he might still be hung up over her and an unbidden memory of the mature things he and Traya had done to each other with their hands and mouths stretched leisurely into his mind. He chuckled.

"No I want to push on," he said. His tone wasn't spiteful but it seemed to rile Sasuke, and strangely enough the tall Knight Alcatraz. The pair of them must have thought that they looked intimidating in their dark cloaks but they were being ridiculous. Whatever Sakura had told them about his prior infatuation he was just being practical. Thankfully the rest of them could see that.

"The people here are famished," Hinata said simply.

A spark of irritation twanged into his breast. The Jedi had her speaking in lang-mysterious but generally she was right. That didn't mean that he had to like the way she spoke though…

Soon enough the locals would begin to wonder how much more money they had on them, and they would remember that they needed the horses and cart for the farms. Soon enough the locals would start to finger their rifles… and Naruto did not want to have to kill these people. Despite what Traya might have thought he wasn't ashamed of that.

The group moved on – camping out in the open. By this time it was evening and they had already begun to make progress into the desert. Haku had thought to bring one of the new and highly secretive portable Jutsus. He laid the scroll out on the ground and primed the seal with a smear of his own blood. The metal quickly absorbed the liquid and he cut another finger and swiped again.

The second dab of blood activated the Jutsu which followed certain parameters. The Jutsu would take the nearest natural resource and use it to create concealment and shelter. It could work with anything from sand to wood, and Naruto marveled as pillars of sand sprouted into cascading rigidity – interlocking and forming igloos that would protect them all from the desert chill.

"I only have two more," Haku stated softly, but the shy Shinobi seemed to bask in their appreciation.

"You're people are incredible," Mistress Pav Qeral breathed sincerely. There was wonder shining in her eyes. Even Lovett seemed touched, and for an instant he broke out of his stern demeanor and into a relaxed smile.

"That's so rad! Kami where did you get that!" Konohamaru exclaimed with joy as he rushed into the nearest igloo.

Thank Kami he can still act like a kid, Naruto mused as he followed the youth. Konohamaru had gotten his wish, and Naruto had brought him along, but the journey was beginning to take its toll on the youth. So were the nightly tutoring sessions that he shared with the blonde.

Already the new training saber he wore proudly had stopped being so nice as he got to the weird physics of the weapon, and the stinging burns that Naruto's harsh training left on his body. Konohamaru still couldn't consistently touch the Force that Naruto spoke of – although he had grasped it fleetingly.

As for Naruto… well the blonde seemed to struggle with something as he tried to teach the teenager. He was a man who didn't know what dark secrets to share, and which to withhold, for the last thing he wanted was the destruction of his apprentice, and he no longer held absolute faith in the Sith way.

However Naruto also did not know anything about the light and it was hard going for the both of them. Thankfully after they had begun to travel with the Jedi the lessons had ceased. Although Konhamaru still had the tedious task of brushing up on the academy lessons that he had spent the past few years diligently skipping.

Naruto had also diligently skipped those lessons, and missed many due to his abduction, but he was not about to do the reading himself. It was just one of the prices Konohamaru had to pay, for in some respects he was the Master and Naruto the student.

Zabuza and Haku claimed an igloo for themselves and the others began to settle down as well. Haku had declined to answer Konohamaru's unwitting question. Now that the two had retired nobody would disturb their solitude.

"Haku got it from a quarter-master he knows on Yugakure," Naruto gave Konohamaru a leering smile. "Zabuza doesn't really care for their… relationship, but I guess he accepts it. Haku didn't mean to be rude. He just doesn't want to rub it into Zabuza's face," he said.

"W-What?"Konohamaru blurted as he blushed and turned. "What exactly are you saying?"

"You mean you didn't know?" Naruto looked incredulous. "For someone as fond as transforming into women as you are that's quite surprising," he added unhelpfully.

Konohamaru still looked like he didn't understand.

"They're gay…" Naruto finally sighed.

"They're gay!" Konohamaru shouted without restraint. The whole camp heard him and an ominous hush descended rapidly. Naruto cringed – taken aback.

"Not so loud!" he whispered unnecessarily – the damage had already been done – eyes frantic.

"Kami d'you know what you've done?" he demanded. He shivered and seemed to look around in fear.

"You've brought doom down upon us all," he stated, and there was such a look of abject despair on his face that Konohamaru began to wonder.

"I'm leaving before it's too late," Naruto said – springing into his bedroll. "Save yourself before it's too late,"

And then he was out. Before Konohamaru could begin to piece all his dire predictions together he was asleep and snoring loudly.

Later that night however he understood. Later that night when all was still and Zabuza and Haku got their revenge. Since Konohamaru had abandoned discretion they ran away from the concept entirely and flagrantly.

They might even have gone so far as to use Jutsu to accentuate their cries. Konohamaru wasn't sure and he didn't care. That long night scarred the precious young nin, and the marks that were left behind would not heal for the rest of his life.

A/N

Next chapter will be combat centric and probably about two thousand words longer. However I won't be able to update for about three weeks after that. Just sayin.