Hello everybody, it's great to be back. You all enjoying the show so far? Good. I hope you answered yes. Now, some of you may be wondering when the NarutoxHinata stuff will kick in. Don't worry, that starts next chapter. So far it's been character building, me just playing around with Naruto as a clone. But it will head more into the direction that I planned from the beginning as the story goes on. So, for those of you worrying about the OCs, don't. I got everything planned out, so sit back and enjoy the show kiddies.
Naruto walked through the building, carbine out and cradled in his arms. Behind the Mandalorian were a dozen corpses, the bodies of those who had attempted to ambush the bounty hunter. But while Naruto's mind was clouded with rage, the hired guns hadn't mattered much to him. Not even the one at the end who had begged for his life. Naruto only fired once into the man's skull. After all, Naruto reasoned, they were working for Arnos and Arnos was going to pay. And they were in the way of Arnos' reckoning.
Naruto had arrived at the building less than twenty minutes ago, setting off from his ship immediately to find Arnos. Just like the man, the building he had chosen as the exchange was a wreck. The outside seemed well enough, not much different from the other buildings around it. But the inside was a maze of tall cargo containers, furniture, and trash. There were dozens upon dozens of hiding spots of hiding spots on each floor, and, if they were like the previous ones, they'd be occupied by Arnos' men. And, if they were like the ones from before, Naruto would kill them all.
Eventually, Naruto came upon a room that was still under construction. Arnos was there, the large man standing with a group of guards behind him. Even as Naruto started to cross the room he could see Arnos' smug smile. Behind the sinister group was a metal box hanging from a crane. Naruto couldn't figure out what was in it, but he doubted it was good.
Shikamaru and Sasuke had long since cleared out a room on the building opposite of Arnos. There he assumed Shikamaru was waiting with his rifle, probably Sasuke too. Shikamaru might've been the best shot out of the squad, but each of the clones were taught to wield a sniper rifle with deadly efficiency. There were more than a dozen guards, roughly 5 for each of Naruto's brothers. For Naruto, there were 8, hiding not so effectively in the rafters. Naruto had listened to his brothers' struggle and he had to admit, out of the four of them, Sasuke could quite possibly be the best. Or, at least, the most efficient at killing. Judging from the screams of pain and death that came over from his brother's line, killing enemies came naturally to him. Naruto just hoped he'd never have to face him.
As Naruto got within 20 feet of Arnos, the man called out to him, "That's close enough bounty hunter. I assume your last mission hasn't left you deaf so you can hear me from here." Naruto stopped, fully prepared to kill without remorse. "Let's make the trade Arnos," Naruto said, already tired of this game, "You still haven't told me what you want, but I doubt the thing you want has monetary value."
Arnos walked forward a few steps, the smug smile never reaching his eyes. "My my my, you sure are a smart bounty hunter aren't you? Of course, you're right. And you have two options. Either leave Coruscant or let things go back to the way they were, or," he stretched out the last word, and Arnos' smile grew as he did so, "you can trade your life for hers. I kill you, leave her alone, and the world spins on. Your choice, Mando."
Naruto thought for a moment. This was a lose-lose situation. If he died, well, he died, but he seriously doubted he'd live if he went for the first option. He had publicly humiliated the prideful man in a space where he was supposed to be untouchable. Not only that, but he had also banned him from said place. There was a snowflakes chance in hell of Arnos letting him just walk away. There was also very little chance of Naruto and his brothers being able to drop all the guards before they could tear Naruto to shreds. God I need to order some Katarn armor after this, Naruto thought to himself, smiling grimly under his helmet. If Neji was here they might be able to pull it off. But Neji was Naruto's ace. There was only one option where Naruto walked away alive, and he needed Neji to pull it off.
And so Naruto prepared for the biggest gamble of his incredibly short life.
!Puekaw
Akela landed on Elrood, rain pelting his ship as he landed at an abandoned hangar bay. His contact had told him about an abandoned hangar bay on the outer planet, prepared for him by some of the colonists of the world who were working with his partner. As he walked down the ramp he was surprised to find one of the colonists waiting at the bottom. His hand instinctively went to his lightsaber as he called out to the native. "What's your business here?"
The man lifted his hand in greeting, not moving. He had seen Akela's hand move to the blade and wasn't willing to get anywhere near the man, which was fine by Akela. "My master sent me here to greet you. I'm to make sure you're well-defended for when the Republic comes to collect."
"What makes you think they will?" Akela challenged, not liking the idea of having the Republic know where he was, especially not when his prisoner's a Jedi. Besides, Elrood was a Separatist planet, and one in the Outer Rim. There was nothing of importance here, so it was likely that if the CIS fell then they'd simply rejoin the Republic. After all, Elrood had joined of its own free will, and didn't hold much strategic importance to either side.
But, it was still part of the CIS and would be out of bounds for the Republic. The likelihood of the Republic invading the planet for one Padawan was slim. In reality, it'd most likely be a small group of Jedi, maybe even just two. The last thing they would want was to alienate the citizens of Elrood by sending a large force of Jedi. And Akela was more than certain he could take two Jedi.
"My master knows the Jedi Knight Kakashi Hatake and tells me that he won't come unless he's certain he can win. So I'm simply here to make sure you don't fail." And then the long-haired man grasped his throat as Akela walked towards him, hand outstretched.
"Listen closely, slave," Akela spat, murder in his eyes, "I will not fail. I should kill you for thinking so. Let the Jedi come. Let him come with an entire army! It won't matter." Akela threw the slave away from him using the Force before continuing. "I'll still make him a smear on the bottom of my boots. Just like you'll be if you don't get out of my sight right now. It's not like your master will care much what happens to a simple slave, right?"
The slave's eyes widened at the threat and he quickly scrambled away, the tattered rags he wore trailing behind him. With him gone, Akela went back into his ship and brought out the Jedi.
Now comes the fun part, he thought to himself, smiling as he walked further into the hangar.
!Puekaw
"So, your name is Arnos Typ'tek, correct?" Arnos merely nodded in return, a quizzical look appearing on his face. Naruto could've sworn he heard the single gear in the man's head turning as fast as it could. "Good. So then you have a sister and your two parents are deceased?" Arnos nodded once more before stopping.
"My parents aren't dead." Naruto merely tossed him a holoscreen. What Arnos saw made his face go pale. There, shown in vivid 3D detail, were Typ'tek's parents, throats slit and bodies resting on top of each other. And kneeling next to them was a sobbing young woman with a cloth gagging her mouth. Arnos looked from the screen to Naruto, and the amount of fury that Naruto saw there would not be matched easily, if ever. Naruto merely smiled behind his helmet, knowing that if rage clouded the fat man's judgment, he might just make it out of here with Tomoyo at his side.
"Now that you know the position, Arnos, I'd like to tell you that I ordered that. One of my brothers is there now, showing that live. If you kill me, your beloved sister dies. Now you're going to hand Tomoyo over to me before I'll my brother to finish the job. And he's known for his itchy trigger finger." Arnos' face turned red as he barely contained himself. He had to be calm about this, or else his sister would die. "Now then, you scumbag, I'm tired of these games. Give me the girl or I will kill you, your sister, and all the petty guards standing behind you. Go on, try me." The last part was a bluff, of course. Until he had Tomoyo, there was no chance of him escaping. Not because he needed her to survive, but because he wasn't leaving until he had her.
Arnos looked down, rage fading as he realized that he'd lost this one. Reaching behind him, one of his guards hand him a remote with a few buttons on it. As Arnos pressed the top button the crane holding the box moved so that it was right above Arnos. Once in place, he lowered it down. And just before Arnos opened it Naruto realized what was inside the box. Tomoyo stepped out looking fearfully around before smiling in relief at the sight of Naruto, who looked ready for war. Then she saw Arnos 2 feet away from her and her face resumed its frightened state. Arnos merely glared at her before grabbing her roughly and pushing her in the direction of Naruto. "Go you little bitch!" Naruto had his second blaster in hand and both of them pointed at the fat man as soon as he finished his sentence. Arnos put him hands up as Tomoyo ran across the floor as fast as she could to the waiting Mandalorian. She quickly hid behind Naruto, using his body to block her from Arnos' view.
Arnos had planned to drop Tomoyo to the bottom of Coruscant as soon as Naruto was dead. Therefore, both of his problems would disappear and he could go back to business. But now he had a problem. There was no doubt in his mind that Naruto had already figured out his plan. And he doubted the hunter would simply let him get away with it. But, as if to show good faith, Naruto sheathed his second blaster and lowered his carbine. Right before blaster fire sprouted all around Arnos; killing his guards from the outside in. A few made a run for it but were soon taken down by the rifles of Sasuke and Shikamaru.
And Arnos? Arnos was on the ground, his face getting beaten in by Naruto. In the short span of time that it took Sasuke and Shikamaru to drop the ten guards, Naruto had sprinted across the floor, blaster and carbine in each hand he shot down the men in the rafters, and tackled Arnos, wrestling the heavy man into the position he was in now. It hadn't taken much to beat the man, a punch to the gut to wind him and a punch to the face to hurt him easily made him submit. When Naruto stopped his assault the man was barely conscious, his blood coating the Mandalorian's gloved fists. The man's left eye was already swollen shut and his right was almost there. His face was openly bleeding as he stared fearfully into the visor of the man atop him, the man whose head tilted as if considering something before leaning down to whisper something in his ear.
What Arnos didn't know, and would soon find out, was that Naruto was on a live chat with Neji. "Neji," Naruto said, making sure Arnos could hear him, but nobody else could, "kill her."
Arnos' eyes opened wide in panic and he weakly lifted his arm to watch the holoscreen as Neji's blaster was put to the woman's head. And as that blaster fired, searing a hole into the young woman's head, Arnos, too weak to yell, let out a hoarse groan of agony. Naruto merely watched behind his helmet, and waited as the fat man cried, tears streaming down his face mixing with the blood. Then he stood up and Arnos looked at him, his eyes mixed with fear… and blankness. It was as if some part of him died with his sister.
"Now, Typ'tek, you know what happens when you mess with me. Now I'm going to let you go now. I've taken everything from you. My brother has hacked into your business, and I think multiple charities across Coruscant would really like to thank you. I've killed your family, your guards, your co-workers, everyone. So that leaves you with nothing but your life," Naruto squatted down at this part, also taking off his helmet so his blonde eyes could meet Typ'tek's small black ones. "And I'm giving you that as a favor. Remember that. If I wanted, you could be dead right now. So now, you're a nobody. Imagine, a big man like yourself, taken down by a little Mando like me."
With that, Naruto walked away from the man, not realizing how soon he'd be seeing Arnos Typ'tek again.
!Puekaw
Naruto walked across the platform, Tomoyo following behind, looking at the tall armored man fearfully. Finally Naruto couldn't take it anymore.
"What?" he said, whirling around and startling the girl. She let out an Eep! and shrunk down a little. Naruto immediately felt bad about scaring her and rushed to fix it. "I'm sorry Tomoyo. I just want to know why you're staring at me."
Tomoyo thought about denying it, but there'd be no point to it. "I-I just wanted to know why you killed that girl."
Suddenly Naruto understood what was bothering her. To her, it must've seemed like he had ordered the death of an innocent girl just to get to Typ'tek. To most others, that would've been a heartless act. But Naruto had a purpose, to break Typ'tek. That way he wouldn't come back for Tomoyo. He had done it for her, had basically killed a helpless woman just to protect her. Now if only he could get her to see it that way, and have her not hate the both of them afterwards. There wasn't.
"Because, I wanted Typ'tek to pay, simple as that. He dared enter my home and take someone under my care, so I made him pay in the most painful way I could think of. Do you have a problem with that Tomoyo?" he said as stoically as he could, hoping she bought the act. Her shocked and saddened face told him she had.
Turning on his heel, he quickly walked towards his ship, the gangplank sliding down as he approached. Walking straight into the cockpit, carbine in hand, Naruto waited. A few moments later he heard the sad, slow steps of Tomoyo making her way into the ship. Waiting ten seconds before taking off, Naruto mentally beat himself, knowing that he could have handled this a thousand times better. Because of his brashness, he had just lost his first civilian friend.
Though no one was there to see it, Naruto glared inside his helmet. And though no one could hear it, he promised to himself that it would never happen again.
Alright everyone, this story is taking the backburner, okay? Something has popped up and I can't work on this. For the moment. I Will Continue This Story. I swear this on my honor, if that's still a thing. I'm merely working on other, more creative works. Once again, the NaruHina begins next chapter, but won't really do much until a couple in. in the meantime, I'm going to be working on my action writing, both by reading and watching and awesome internet show that if you're American, and even if you're not, you should know about. If you do happen to watch the show, good for you, and share it with the others.
If you're wondering what my other work is, check out my fictionpress account. I'd very much like it if my most loyal viewers would give it an onceover.
Until next time, this is the Captain, signing off.