A New Order : Desideratum
Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto, Star Wars, or any obscure references to other owned or written material, either official or those of fandom. They are all property of associated parties.
As he weaved between the thick throng of trees in an attempt to stay on the path, Naruto allowed his mind to wander. Kakashi's test hadn't really come as a surprise, but he was still having conflicting thoughts about the man himself.
On one hand, he was a Shinobi and therefore unable to teach Naruto anything he could actually perform. Not illusions, not offensive techniques, nothing. But on the other, he probably hadn't reached the rank of Elite Jounin by being an idiot. The man had weathered missions that would, no doubt, kill him in his current state. If he really planned to teach Naruto what he could, perhaps he could pick up on those survival lessons? At the very least he would get some more combat experience using his current skill set. Besides, there was no way that someone could get to the rank of Elite Jounin without serving as a leader of some kind of team. Therefore, it was possible that he could convince the cyclops to teach him how to be a leader... maybe.
His thoughts were interrupted when he swerved to one side, roaring up the side of a fallen tree and using it as a ramp to jump over a natural barricade. His exhilarated whoop echoed through the forest, accompanied by the droning whine of his vehicle. He hadn't lied, really. He had found it in one of his garages, and he had fixed it up, he had just had some help.
Actually, one of the mechanic Droids and Kyle had brought him to it and used it to teach him how 'modern' vehicular technology worked. He was a hands-on kinda learner after all. After a frustrating hour, a couple of electric shocks, and a numb appendage or two, Naruto had finally gotten the basics down and rendered the busted up speeder into working condition, all under the supervision of Kyle of course. Directly after that had been driving lessons, which he had to admit, had been fun.
"Sire, may we make an inquiry?"
Naruto applied the brake as he was startled from his thoughts. He had actually forgotten that the two Guardians were there, because they were so quiet. Two beings that big were so stealthy, go figure.
"Yeah, go ahead."
"You... you are pleased with our results, yes?"
Naruto frowned at the question. He wasn't used to people asking him for his approval, even if they were seven foot tall killing machines. Hell, especially seven foot tall killing machines.
"Yeah. You guys did excellently. I am actually surprised you did so well, I was expecting you to take a lot more damage than you did."
"Thank you, Sire. We live to serve."
Despite the Droid lapsing back into silence, Naruto could tell it still wanted to ask him something.
"If you have a question, ask it. I don't want you guys walking on eggshells around me."
The Magnaguard remained quiet for a moment, piloting his STAP beside him
"We...are confused."
The blond cocked an eyebrow as he continued to maneuver between the foliage, coming closer the clearing that housed the compound.
"About what?"
"We do not take prisoners. We are programmed to kill."
It was Naruto's turn to be confused.
"You've never been ordered to show... mercy?"
The Droid shook his head and Naruto couldn't help but laugh.
"Well get used to it. You'll be doing it a whole lot more now that I'm around."
The machine nodded and slowed slightly, allowing Naruto to gain a bit of distance before falling in beside his brother.
"We are unsure of how to take the new Lord."
His words were in a specific Droid language that organic beings would find hard to translate and understand, so he had no problem talking to his companion who, normally quiet, met his gaze with the partially repaired head, held loosely by a couple of wires.
"...we shall watch him."
Yes, we shall."
Naruto staggered through massive double doors leading into the compound, his posture betraying his fatigue. The fight with Kakashi had taken longer than he had expected, and he was really starting to feel it. All he wanted was to lie down for about half an hour until the ache in his arms, legs, and wounds eased up some. For a minute he had a shining hope that he was going to get his wish, before he heard a call from behind him.
"Hey Naruto! How'd your exam go? HK told me that you called out some reinforcements, I thought you were going to have teammates helping you out?"
Naruto sighed in an exaggerated manner. He really didn't care that Kyle had stopped him, he just really would have preferred to have gotten some sleep first.
"Well Master, we-"
"Hey, what did I tell you? I'm Master when we're training, and it doesn't look like we're training right now."
"Right, sorry Mas-...uh..."
Kyle watched with a glitter of amusement in his eye as Naruto deliberated on what to call him. Once the novelty of the boy's predicament started to wear off, he decided to take mercy on the kid.
"Just call me Dude, or Sir or whatever. Hell, even Kyle would work. I've never been one for formality anyway."
Naruto grinned up at him. Anyone who would fore-go the formalities was good in his book.
"You got it. Anyway, the exam was...ugh...well, we passed."
The Jedi took his tone to mean that the 'pass' was a borderline fail, and for some reason he took even more amusement from it.
"What's this? You only just made Genin and you're already struggling? I thought you were going to be more impressive than that. Wasn't 'The Great Naruto' going to take the world by storm?" Naruto snorted.
"Oh shut up! There was more to the test than he had told us, and it was through blind luck that we failed. My teammates... they're idiots."
Kyle laughed, but his eyes became somewhat guarded and his voice got serious.
"Even so, make sure to take care of them, okay? You guys are a team now, they are your responsibility. If you want to be a leader, you have to start learning how. From the sound of it you are going to be watched by your teacher for a while, so you pretty much have an easy pass until he leaves. Use this time wisely, alright?"
"Yes, Master." The Jedi Guardian laughed.
"Well, I guess that did technically count as me mentoring you, huh?"
"Yup!"
"Well how about you just go take a break and relax? You look like you are about to drop right here in the hallway."
Naruto gave the man a tired but pleased nod and pushed his way into his private chambers, barely noticing that the indention in the wall adjacent from his door had been repaired. The door behind him was pulled to by one of the -50's guarding hid door, shrouding the room in darkness while the curtains blocked out the bright sunlight. He sat heavily on the edge of the bed and fumbled with his boots. When the damned laces came loose, he collapsed back onto the soft bed, covering his eyes with the crook of one elbow.
His sleep was restless and plagued with visions from the dream realm. The most prominent of the dreams found him standing on a tall hill, watching a small scale invasion. Two armies were facing off, quiet as they made preparations to do battle. One side had far more people, and stood on the outside of a large fortification. A towering wall stood before the intruders, atop which were a series of figures were stationed in preparation to guard it.
To his left outside the walls stood a contingent of men in proud, light colors. Whites, blues, and greens blending together to form a montage of light. The majority of men wore a strange uniform, with an organized series of colors and helmets that hid their features. Mostly plain whites, with blues, reds, and other colors. Distributed unevenly throughout the armored troops were men and women in simple robes of browns and whites. These people would walk between the soldiers, speaking to each of them and occasionally making a series of strange motions with their hands before a healthy glow befell on the man, which faded away slowly.
The troops in armor had blaster rifles either in their hand, or holstered on their back awaiting their calling, and a small side arm fitted to their hip. The other men and women lacked any blaster weapons at all, instead their only weapons were a simple metallic tube that Naruto recognized as the signature weapon of both Jedi and the Sith, the lightsaber.
On the opposite side of the wall and in control of the massive fortress, an opposing army stood defiantly. Again, the majority of the infantry were of a uniformed variety, easily distinguishable as foot-soldiers. These soldiers he could easily identify as Droids, though they were of a variety that he felt he had seen before. Actually, they were almost as refined as the HK series, and of an almost identical design.
Instead of the human leaders interacting with the various infantry as their light counterparts were, the dark-robed men and women were standing together in a group. Naruto wished he could make out what they were doing, but the distance was just too great for him to see the subdued motions they were making. Whatever the results of their action, it was big. An aura of energy had been conjured around them, whipping up small clouds of dust at their feet, creating a waist high whirlwind to surround them.
As Naruto looked onwards the two armies suddenly sped into motion, as though he was watching a movie in fast-forward. While the forces of Light continued to make their preparations for war and gathered reinforcements from huge flying vehicles, those of Darkness were doing something rather more sinister.
The ritual the Sith had been performing had reached a crescendo. The circle of men and women had stepped outward, putting much more space between each other and adding to the emptiness in the center of the circle. Almost as though they were making room for something.
"Master..."
A faint voice echoed through his dream-scape as he watched the scene before him unfold. The tornado of wind and dust had not only gotten larger in both size and intensity, lightning had also started to flash within the controlled tempest.
"Master, you must wake up."
That damned voice was disturbing his concentration on the events at hand. Even given the distance between him and the Sith, he could still hear their fevered chanting. Even though he couldn't make out the words being spoken, the syllabic chant filled him with a sense of power, sending a charge of anxiety through him.
"Master! Wake Up!"
Naruto sat up abruptly and looked around, bewildered. Standing next to his bed, one of the -50's was trying to wake him up.
"What! What's going on?"
"HK-47 has returned from his mission, Master. He is in rather poor condition and has important news."
Naruto leapt out of the bed and pulled on his black boots, not bothering to lace them all the way up. Rather, he settled on tying them in a loose knot that circled around the back, holding them on tightly.
"What do you mean 'poor condition'? Is he alright?"
"Yes Master, but we must hurry." The Droid was practically pacing back and forth, eager to complete his order. "It seems that he has seen combat and took some rather critical damage. He is currently being repaired, but the news he brought cannot wait. Master Bane feels that your presence may be required, which is why you need to hurry up."
"Alright, I'm ready. Lead the way."
"Excellent, follow me."
Their walk to the War-room was brisk with no conversation and when they arrived, the young apprentice threw the double doors wide dramatically. Within the room a small crowd had gathered which was rather surprising. Kyle and Bane were both standing on either side of the map table which had yet to be modified to match the new Elemental Countries. A number of mechanical Droids blocked his view of whatever they were leaning over and were performing a variety of tasks. Behind them were a couple of -50's, all looking anxious.
"Hey? What's going on?"
Kyle met his eye with a look of worry, while Bane's was subjective.
"Hey Kid, we might have a problem. ,
"What kind of problem? Like, a 'Ramen-has-been-discontinued' problem, or a 'HK-47-managed-to-slice-into-the-munitions-warehouse' problem?"
Despite the situation at hand, Kyle couldn't help but give a chuckle.
"Hey, don't even joke about that Dude. Could you imagine what that would be like?"
Bane frowned and cleared his throat, which had come to be the signal between them that this wasn't the time for joking around and that the two others needed to shut the hell up.
"This is far more severe than either of those scenarios, as... unfortunate, as they both would have been." Naruto snorted, but allowed the Sith Lord to continue. "-47 had the mission objective of traveling to Wave Country in order to convey information to our few followers there. After the message had been given, he was to return here without alerting anyone of his position."
"You sent HK-47... on a stealth mission?"
Bane shot the lad a heated glance, allowing his lack of patience to show.
"This is a matter of extreme sensitivity. HK knows how to behave himself when he needs to."
"Sarcasm: Oh yes, he does."
At the familiar mannerism of his favorite Droid, Naruto pushed between the gathered automatons to reach the table-side, only to recoil in shock.
"Detached Statement: Yes, it is rather unappealing, isn't it?"
From the waist down the rust-red Droid had been cut completely in half. The metal was cleanly sheared through as though cut by a lightsaber, only without the scarring.
"What the Hell! What happened to you!"
"Answer: Apparently, at some point attention had been drawn to my presence and I was followed. Veiled Threat: I seem to have been sold out, and I am rather looking forward to finding both the informant, and the Meatbag that rendered me to such a state."
Kyle leaned over the lower half of the assassin Droid, examining the damage.
"We found him about seventeen miles from Wave's border. If he hadn't activated his distress beacon we may never have found him. He also seems to have a damage memory core, because he is unable to give us any details pertaining to who attacked him."
"Rebuke: I told you! I will know him when I see him, and when I do he's mine."
The Droid's eyes had gained a look that screamed bloodlust and Naruto took a step back. Epic Sith/Jedi crossbreed destined for awesomeness or not, HK could still scare the hell out of him when he wanted to.
When Kyle had finally sated his curiosity, he nodded to himself and stepped back, allowing the mechanics access to their lead assassin. Instantly the chassis of the head engineer slid open to reveal a blowtorch which immediately lit and heated until the flame ignited from one end glowed a bright blue.
"Threat: Be careful where you point that torch, slag heap! One misplaced cut and I will feed you into a garbage disposal."
The aged Sith Lord shook his head in exasperation and pulled Kyle and Naruto away from their... friend?
"Come, we must give them space to work or their work will be inefficient."
They left the War-room, leaving behind the screeching of metal cutting metal and HK's angry shouts of indignation.
"Master Kyle, what was HK doing in Wave Country? Isn't that area supposed to be really poor?"
"Yeah, it is. Plus it has been under control of a tyrant with a malicious streak a mile-wide for the last couple of months. HK was out there running a little bit of recon, planting suspicion, and supplying a couple of rebels."
The group of three were wandering idly through the halls of the compound as they talked, with no specific destination in mind.
"Rebels? The situation has gotten so bad that they are ready to take such drastic steps?"
Master Bane shook his head.
"Not quite. They are getting close, but they haven't truly come to accept their desperation yet. Freedom isn't just given, it has to be wanted enough to be fought for. Still, they are coming close."
Naruto nodded, filing away the information for later use. Since the first day or two since he woke up, he had come to terms with the fact that everything his two Masters said was a lesson in and of itself. Well... maybe Bane more than Kyle, but still.
As he thought about the oppressed people of Wave, he couldn't help but wonder what their fate would be. A strange thought struck him though, and he turned to Kyle.
"This country, it wouldn't happen to be a place suitable for say... an Order?"
The Jedi didn't answer, only shot him a wink and grin combo. The Sith Lord just chuckled softly.
"I would suggest you put it out of your mind for now. You will have time to deal with that in the future. For now however, you have training to do, don't you?"
"Yes Master. I sort of got my butt kicked during the exam, so I'm going to get some more work done with the Force. I still can't connect to it as quickly as I would like. Oh, hey!" He turned to Kyle, grinning happily. "Thanks for teaching me Barrier. That damned Uchiha almost roasted me earlier on with a friggin' fireball."
"On purpose!"
"NO NOT ON PURPOSE! The gitt was aiming at Kakashi, but he dodged. Unfortunately, I was on the other side at the time. I managed to throw a Barrier up just in time though, so I'm fine."
Kyle laughed and offered him a fist pound.
"Hell yeah! Force: 1 Nin-Jutsu: 0"
The boy laughed as he punched Kyle's outstretched hand.
"So, going to work on the Force huh? Offensive or Defensive? Because I don't think either of us have anything planned."
"Actually I was just going to, you know, meditate and stuff. I'm still not very good at that and need to work on it."
The two teachers glanced at each other and Bane nodded. Kyle cleared his throat before crossing his arms and looking down at Naruto sternly.
"Not very good hm?"
Naruto felt a chill at the man's look, and he knew he was in trouble over something. He also had a feeling that he knew what it was about as well.
"Uhhh... no?"
"Well I would say that that's not entirely true. After all, you seemed to have been doing fine earlier when you were waiting for your Squad Leader."
Naruto chuckled sheepishly and rubbed his neck. Apparently that was a habit he had yet to break.
"Oh that? Well you see... I was just... uh..."
His two teachers just looked down at him, despite his height, until his stammering trailed off.
"We taught you how to levitate a single knife for a reason. Why would you go against us and lift two at the same time without our permission?"
Naruto cast his eyes downward and shrugged.
"I thought I was ready. Besides, it's not like I wasn't able to do it or anything..."
"Still, if we felt you were ready for it we would have told you how to do it."
"Did you consider what would have happened had you been unable to perform it correctly?"
"I would have gashed my hand?"
Kyle rubbed his mouth to hide a laugh while Bane just closed his eyes for a moment.
"This time, yes. But what if you had tried something more advanced? Force Lightning for example? You have a powerful affinity for the Force, that is undeniable. But you still have to follow the rules like every other Force-sensitive."
"You know how much it would suck if you went and killed yourself with a technique that you thought you were ready for, and turned out wrong?"
Naruto couldn't help but laugh, then nodded.
"Yeah yeah, I know. I just feel like I could be doing better than I am. Like I should be learning faster."
"That's just natural man! Everyone wants to be stronger faster. The point is, you can't rush this stuff. It'll lead you down a path you don't want to follow."
Kyle caught the look Bane was sending him, and he was quick to amend his words.
"Not that that's a bad thing, it just might not be the one you want to travel. Just... look, just promise us that you won't try something more advanced without asking us first, okay? A lot of stuff you could play around with for now but there are some things that are extremely dangerous if you don't know how to handle it."
Naruto nodded seriously, and gave his word.
"Excellent. Now go ahead and do your meditating. We'll send a Droid when it's time to eat. I want details about your fight by the way, alright?"
"Deal. See you later Kyle, Master Bane."
With that the boy turned left and left his two mentors to their own without a second glance. The pair watched him go for a moment before Kyle broke the silence.
"Now, where's that damaged -50 with the concussion from earlier?"
"I believe he was in the Library, raising Cain."
- Meditation Chamber : 'Aquarus' -
There was no single meditation chamber in the compound. Rather, there were six. The reason for this being that different people found it more or less difficult to connect with the Force depending on their surroundings. Many in fact, found that meditating surrounded by technology was disturbing and made it hard to concentrate. The constant electric hum and discharges were in stark contrast to the constant peace that came with the Force in its neautral state. A solution was proposed by a Jedi Knight one day, that perhaps replicating a different environment would correct this problem. Naturally everyone found this idea to be a good one, and voted to make it a reality.
There arose a new problem: conflicting ideals. Some Jedi found it easier to make the connection when life was abundant. Others were more at ease around water or when being caressed by gusts of wind. Then there were those who were more comfortable in adverse conditions, fire, light, or even darkness.
In order to please as many people as possible at once, the Jedi Council proposed a compromise, and built a variety of facilities with vast differences. Thus, the Hexa-Chamber was designed and built. With each section completely separate from the others, anyone could meditate without interference from disagreeable natures.
When the Sith learned of this they were quick to copy it and adapt it to suit their alternative ideals. While the Jedi Hexa-Chamber was meant to instill peace and serenity in those meditating, the Sith's fought that serenity. The natures in each of those rooms were made to be punishing, distracting, they were designed to prevent those of the Dark Side from easily connecting with the Force. Through conflict, the chambers made them stronger by forcing them to connect to the Force while ignoring things going on around them, to help them keep their concentration despite their surroundings. Still, they had been wise enough to allow for changes to the chambers in order to adapt to the needs of the Sith. The power levels in each of the rooms could be individually changed to suit the preference of whoever was using them. If that person wished for peace, so be it.
This was one of the first lessons in history Naruto had been taught by Master Bane. He had been told of the place on his second day, and was instructed to use the facility whenever he meditated. Overall he liked the Hexa-Chamber and spent a good deal of his free time in the chambers, never spending too much time in any one at the exclusion of the others. Bane had warned him about becoming too specialized, and he had to make sure that he didn't get into the habit of ignoring any of the different environments provided.
Each of the rooms represented different forms of elements and nature. Aquarus was that of an area in which water was plentiful. A large body of water filled the room with the exception of a single island in the center. Small and round, it was big enough for a couple of people to sit side-by-side moderately comfortably. The water itself was circulated by jets and currents in the walls to prevent the water from stagnating, and the motions caused waves to lap against the sides of the island. When the power was raised the currents would speed up and throw water more powerfully against the island and those meditating.
Windus was somewhat simpler, and its design was a simple wind turbine. With perfectly smooth walls in a precise circle, powerful fans would blow wind into the room until a light breeze would circulate around the people in the center. When powered, the fans would quicken until the light breeze became a punishing gale. Combined with the howling of the wind and the miniature tornado that would result, very few found it simple to meditate openly in the harsh conditions.
Flarus was a hell of its own, literally. Devoted to heat and fire, Flarus mimicked the inside of a volcano. In the center on a cooled platform, the practitioner was protected not only from the rising heat from the oven-like machines surrounding the room, but also the flames and molten rock that surrounded the platform. The sight of bobbing metal and debris was the least of a Sith's worries when the deathtrap was activated to its full potential. Despite the intimidating atmosphere however, the heat levels remained below fatal,. Still, it was ill-advised to stay inside for too long, especially without staying hydrated.
His favorite was the chamber entitled 'Groundus'. Groundus was an area that replicated life itself. It's passivestate replicated a secluded grove in the middle of a massive forest. Large trees and smaller bushes surrounded practitioners on all sides. It also was programmed to mimic the sounds of such an area as well. The songs of birds, the chirp of insects, and the various growls and calls of animals, both herbivorous and carnivorous, were all played loudly in the effort of distracting whoever was attempting 'inner peace'.
Finally, the last two chambers were not devoted to the elements: Blindus and Shroudus. Both were fairly straight forward, though exact opposites. Blindus was a pure white and extremely illuminated area that cast no shadow, other than that of the meditator. A system of lights attached to the ceiling were programmed to constantly cycle randomly in a motion path. The resulting features were extremely debilitating and potentially dangerous due to the possibility of exposure.
Blindus meanwhile was a painted a perfect black. The inside lacked any form of lighting whatsoever other than black-lights, which were only put in place to aid in reaching and returning from the specific training area within the chamber. With the sense of sight rendered ineffective by any means, the other senses were heightened to the point that the sounds created by the chamber were brutal to the unprotected senses.
Over his time in training with his Masters in the Force, Naruto had meditated in each of the chambers to varying degrees of success. He still found it difficult to focus when surrounded by the impenetrable darkness provided by Shroudus, and he was practically terrified of the idea of Flarus on its maximum setting. Still, his progress had been unhindered and he had even come to enjoy his time spent in meditation.
The apprentice allowed a smile to twist his lips as he breathed quietly. The soft sound of lapping waves brought a metronome, bringing an ease to his thoughts while he focused on his meditation. Before he had changed, he would probably have had trouble staying quiet and still for such a long period of time. Now however, he was able to fully concentrate on the matter at hand.
As he took another deep inhalation, he felt himself start to get a little light-headed. Feeling that perhaps he wasn't getting enough oxygen or something, he continued taking deeper and deeper breaths until he had the strange sensation of... falling?
- ? -
When the moment had passed, he had the weird feeling that he was in a different place than he was just a few seconds ago. He opened his eyes cautiously and was rather proud of himself for restricting his reaction to a quiet gasp.
Instead of a meditation chamber surrounded by water, he was sitting cross-legged in the middle of a massive fairground. The type that was prevalent in Konoha every year right around his birthday. Large tents, attractions, rides, and even those crappy games that no one ever really won at.
The only difference he could see between the one in Konoha and that which he was standing in was the complete lack of people. Everywhere he looked was abandoned. The stores, the games, the rides, the attractions, everything. There was no evidence that anyone had been there in days, or even weeks.
There was however, the strange fact that everything that did remain, all seemed to point in a single direction, to a single destination. Toys and prizes dropped by children lay facing the same way, the cones cotton candy came served in pointed in the same direction, and the hands of every clock he could find indicated to the East, regardless of what time they showed in the process. Hell, even the weeds that grew around the tents seemed to grow in the same direction. It was impossible to see if he tried examining it directly, but when he ignored it or stared straight forward, the 'path' became clear to him.
With nothing else to go on and unsure of how he had gotten there, though he did have a sneaking suspicion, he started to make his way down the invisible 'path'. What bothered him though, was that when he tried to go in a different direction, to get off the 'path', he would encounter a strange form of resistance. Like his body refused to follow his orders, regardless of how much he wanted to. Resigning himself to go wherever he was being drawn, he took a deep breath to steady his resolve and started walking.
Whatever the boy had been expecting, it wasn't what he found. For an hour he walked, and the view never changed. An abandoned child's toy, rotting food half eaten, and footprints in the patches of soft dirt. The only indication that he was nearing whatever his destination was, was the unavoidable fact that the signs of the previous inhabitants became more and more numerous. Eventually the dirt was tightly packed from the weight of constant feet pressing it downward and his sandals made padded thumps as he passed over the tatters of the past, disturbing the remnants for the first time in however long it had been.
Eventually his voyage began to bear fruit as the daunting silence of the fairground was broken. At first the sound was quiet enough to be inaudible, but as he neared the source, it got louder and louder until he was able to hear it clearly enough to make it out. Carnival music. The exact same kind that was prevalent at every carnival or fairground across the world. Accompanying it was another familiar sound, that of a Barker. The creepy man who stood outside one of the largest of the tents, that of one of the fair's biggest attractions, the Freak Show.
"Come one come all! We have gathered all manna' of beasties an' monsta's from around the world to bring you the only the best finest quality entertainment!"
Though faint from distance, Naruto could sense something... off, about the man's voice. A darkly layered echo, like multiple voices were trying to speak from a single throat. A sound that was vaguely familiar to him, as though he had heard it before and recently. Prodded forward by curiosity, the blond found himself walking towards the voice once more, despite the crawl up his spine.
"Pygmy savages from the great forests of the South! Mer-folk and Crocodile-men from the far East! Fortune tellers and witch doctors from the West! We have it all! For the laughable price of two bits you can sate your appetite of curiosity. See sights that you could only dream of in your coldest of nightmares, and your darkest imaginings!"
Turning a corner of food vendors, Naruto finally found where the other people of the carnival grounds had disappeared to. They all stood in a single large throng outside one of the biggest tents he had seen so far. Unable to see between the thick mass of people all trying to take a peek through the thick canvas folds, Naruto tried to push through the crowd, only to be shoved back angrily by an older man who gave him a dirty glare.
Ignoring the creepy man, the boy looked around for a suitable means of seeing over the crowd. His search paid off when he found an old milk-crate in suitable enough condition for him to push onto it's side and stand on. As he clambered onto the rotting wood, it occurred to him that not only was he no longer as tall as he was in the real world, (he had long decided that there was no way this could be real) but he was shorter than he had been in years, since before he had joined the academy. Aided by the crate, the young child was finally able to see over the heads of the crowd and see the speaker.
The man reminded him of the wandering traders who would pass through Konoha a couple of times a year. Their arrival was one of the few things Naruto had truly looked forward to and he eagerly anticipated whenever they would find themselves in the Village of the Leaves. Every time the men, women, and children would show up they would bring with them wonders from outside Konoha's walls. Pretty rocks, gems, and jewelry to be sold to traders and merchants. Exotic weapons and armor in styles highly uncommon in the Shinobi village. There was even one man in particular who called himself 'The Beast Master, who would show off his collection of strange and dangerous creatures he had gathered.
Along with the sights, sounds, and food, Naruto enjoyed their presence for another reason. They cared not for whatever reason he was different. To them, he was just another curious little boy with a bit of extra spending money and a hungry belly. They would sell him food and odd toys and trinkets for the same price as the next man, and they were never angry with him unless one of them was the victim of one of his pranks. After the first few times though, Naruto had come to appreciate their hospitality to such an extent that he was sure to behave himself whenever they were present, and never made them a target...mostly.
The short weeks that the road-weary people were in town were always the happiest of the boy's short life. For once he was able to run and laugh and play with children his own age without worry. He was able to get into trouble and pointless playful fights without fear of unfair retribution. He would even go so far as to say that some of the kids from their caravans were some of his closest friends.
The Barker who stood adressing the crowd was dressed in the style common of the gypsy-folk. Long dirty and torn cloack, dark colors and a tall black hat. Around his hands were filthy bandagse and his face was a step away from monstrous. His teeth were irregular and a mangey yellow, lips chapped and raw, and his skin was marred by multiple scars. As Naruto was examining the man, the Barker turned his eyes directly to him.
"Ah-ha-ha! And what do we have here? You! In the orange! Come here boy."
Naruto looked around in confusion of who the man was calling to, only to see everyone around him wearing a bland shade of dark grey. As every pair of eyes fell on him, he felt a blade of fear pierce his chest and his heartbeat caught in his throat. He didn't even need to look down to know that he was once more wearing his orange outfit that he had owned for so many years.
"Yes, you. Come here."
Naruto felt his body step off of the box and approach the man in slow motion, completly detached from his mind. The entire feel was as though he was watching himself go thruogh the motions with no call on what he did. As he moved, he had the mad hope that the crowd would refuse to let him pass, but that ray was buried when the men, women, and children parted easily to give him a straight path to the stage.
"Yes, I thought so. Do you know who I am, boy?" He merely laughed as Naruto shook his head, eyes wide in terror. Up close the man was even more terrifying than he was at a distance.
"No, of course you wouldn't. Why would you want to? Well allow myself to introduce myself."
The Barker tipped his hat with a dark grin, and a small business card fell from the brim to land on the ground at Naruto's feet.
"My name is Mikhail. This..." He spread his arms wide, indicating the massive grounds. "...is my world! Here your dreams are fantasies, and your nightmares are reality."
"How..how did I get here? Where am I?"
The filthy man laughed, and the faceless crowd watched on impassively and silently.
"You are in my realm boy!"
"What are you talking about! I was just in Konoha an hour ago! I was meditating in a chamber. There is no way I could be anywhere else. I wasn't traveling to new areas, I was exploring my mind!"
The man laughed and turned his back to the boy, tapping his long, bandaged fingers on the microphone. The malicious glance over his shoulder sent a cold chill down Naruto's spine.
"How do you know you aren't?"
"That's... that's impossible! There's no way. If this is my mind I would be alone. There wouldn't be all these people here. You wouldn't be here!"
The Barker laughed maliciously and a flash of lightning lit up his face hideously before it was once more shrouded in darkness.
"In a perfect world perhaps, but you my boy are anything but. These people are nothing but fragments of your memory. Faceless apparitions, nothing more. I am the one you need to be afraid of."
Naruto swallowed hard, forcing the lump down his throat.
"What are you?"
"Well that's a rather rude question don't you think? Someone might take offense to a question like that." Another lightning flash, this time followed cloesly by a loud roll of thunder. "I guess you should just count yourself fortunate that I myself am a gentleman."
The dark man stepped closer to Naruto, twirling his cane absently.
"Still, you seem to be a lad that doesn't like to beat around the bush, so I'll cut to the chase. I am a part of something you had thought you had lost."
Naruto's eye darkened considerably.
"Kyuubi?"
Mikhail snarled and waved his hand dismissively.
"A name given by these new humans, nothing more. But yes, you are correct. The 'Kyuubi' was more than just a tool to be used and discarded. As time went by after the apocalypse, after every life was destroyed by your Master,"
His lips drew back in a snarl as he spat the word.
"The nine beasts lay dormant. Pure power they might have been, but they still had to be a physical manifestation and those bodies were severly damaged from the weapon. By the time they had awoken from their slumber, the simple magiks the Sith summoned to control that manifestation had deteriorated. They simply weren't powerful enough to control them and the Dark energy began to hunger for more power, for knowledge. The shell wanted a life, a soul. With the power given to them by their creators, the beasts individually began to consume the life that had grown during their rest. Eventually the essence of those devoured began to meld, creating a single entity composed of knowledge and memory and intelligence."
The Barker stepped closer to Naruto, who equaled with a step back. The boy was unsure of what the man was getting at, but he was certain that he should keep as much distance between them as he could.
"Then these... humans, began to get wise. They started to fear us and what our power meant. What we could do to them while they were powerless to stop us. Over time they taught themselves ways to take our power away from us. They learned to hurt us, much to our disgust. Finally and only recently, they developed away to use their bastard powers to seal us away. To trap us in the bodies of their own."
"Yeah yeah, I know the history. They would seal you into human hosts, called Jinchuuriki."
Mikhail's eyes flashed red and thunder split the night sky, as though a manifestation of the being's anger.
"Watch yourself boy. You will address me with respect or I will slaughter you and take your body as a puppet!"
Naruto swallowed hard again, but refused to back down. He locked eyes with the man until he gave a reluctant smile.
"You are different from the others, there is no doubt. We will see how this serves you. I have had countless hosts, and every time one would die I would gain their knowledge, their essence, everything. With every sacrifice I would grow stronger. I guess you could say I had a pretty sweet deal going until your damn Masters screwed it up."
Frustration colored the beast's tone again, and he started pacing like a tiger in a cage.
"They are from the time before the end. They know my secret, and they took my power from me. All I have left are memories. This is where you come in."
"Me?"
"Yes, you simpleton. While I have no body, I can still extend my influence through you. There are those who are still loyal to us, despite our conditions. They have served us well and they will continue to do so."
Naruto crossed his arm in defiance.
"Why do you think I would help you? You're evil for cryin' out loud!"
Mikhail smiled cruelly.
"'Evil is a word used by the ignorant and the weak. The dark side is about survival. It's about unleashing your inner power. It glorifies the strength of the individual.' A Sith mentor, Zannah, once said that thousands of years ago. You will help me because I know things that those two fools couldn't begin to comprehend. They think themselves so high and mighty, but they are only afraid of the true power of the Dark Side. Even Bane falters in the face of true potential."
"And I am supposed to belive that you will just give me all of this out of the kindness of your heart?"
"Of course not. My worshippers have the means to release me from my chains. I may never return to my full power and even if I do it will take centuries, but at least I will be alive again."
"How do I know you won't betray me as soon as you get the chance? Maybe your 'followers' will kill me in order to free you. Why should I trust you?"
"I guess you will just have to go for it, won't you? Don't worry though, you have time before you have to make a decision. Before you start to think on it though, I am going to give you a taste of what I know."
The man spun around quickly, grabbing Naruto's arm in his vice-like grip. As soon as skin met skin, Naruto felt a searing heat flood his arm. The fire quickly spread up his arm directly to his head, which blinded him with a brilliant white flash. Despite being unable to see anything around him, he began to see flashes of images that weren't his. One after the other in instant succesion, the boy had no choice but to suffer through the onslaught until they finally stopped and he was able to gasp for breath.
Nodding at the boy on the ground at his feet, Mikhail stepped away from him to give him some space. After a few minutes of recuperating, Naruto stood up slowly and breathing heavily.
"What... What was that?"
"That was a memory of a time long past. Tell me what you saw."
When he was able to breath normally, Naruto rubbed his aching temples and focused on what he had seen.
"Two men, fighting."
"Do you know who they were?"
"One was wearing dark robes, a Sith?"
Mikhail nodded silently in approval.
"And the other was... Kyle!"
"Yes, that's right. It was a fight between your Master and a Dark Jedi years before my creation."
"If it was before you were made, how do you remember?"
The beast in human form just smirked and refused to answer.
"What else happened in your vision?"
"Well, Kyle and the man were fighting. At some point the Sith got distracted and Kyle used some kind of... technique, to kill him."
"What was the technique?"
Naruto closed in eyes in concentration, trying to recall the words that had echoed through his Master's mind when he manifested the weapon.
"Master Kyle had called it... The Spear of Midnight Black."
Mikhail grinned darkly, relying on his instinct to crush Naruto as he had others in the past.
"If you are truly worthy of the power you command, you should be able to use this ability. You have seen it done, you should be able to replicate it. Now prove to me what you can do. Show me."
Naruto focused on the lingering images of his Master and the faceless Sith fighting, trying to identify exactly what Kyle had done in order to create the shaft of darkness that had stricken down his opponent. He studied the scene frame-by-frame, entirely aware of the Kyuubi's presence staring at him. With a surprising amount of effort, he pushed his vigilant audience out of his mind, and a gain the fight played out before his time however, he caught a flash of something he had missed. There! A strange twisting motion with his right hand, followed by a shimmer around his arm as the Force performed its work.
Mikail was rendered speechless when the young mortal before him did the impossible. Despite never seeing the technique before, despite having no prior training in how to use it, Naruto was doing it. The unmistakable aura of the Dark Side was powerful as the invisible tendrils latched onto the shadows permeating the surrounding stage. With pulsing draws that could be felt to their very cores, the Force drew the darkness itself from the area towards the boy.
Fairly certain that he knew the secret to the technique, Naruto opened his eyes with a smile of confidence and with a deft twist, the boy mimicked Kyle's movement. He held one hand out in a loose fist facind downward, and his connection to the Force burned strongly as he commanded the near-sentient energy to obey his command.
As the Dark Side drew shadows from around him, Naruto used Neutral power to create an empty shell of a long shaft-like construct in his hand. When the air had hardened sufficiently to hold the darkness in place, Naruto gave the silent order and the shadows funneled into the shaft, filling it like water. When the basic shaft had fully filled, the remaining shadows organized themselves into a wicked head with a vicious blade, designed to tear and shred flesh and rend muscle from bone. When his effort was finally finished, Naruto gave a feral snarl and threw it with all his strength and a Force Push, launching the weapon at Mikhail. The Force Spirit was so surprised by the act of hostility that he barely had time to dodge the attack. Even then, the head had managed to rip through the side of his arm, tearing through the cloth easily and taking a small part of flesh to accompany it.
While the attack did no damage to the Barker whatsoever, Naruto was more interested to see the lack of blood from the wound. Rather, the affected area had emmited smokey black wisps before knitting itself back together, follwed closely by the fabric. The spear had continued on its path past Mikhail and had gone on to impale on of the faceless men in the crowd still surrounding the stage. The man gurgled in pain for a moment before both he and the weapon disentigrated, realesing the pent up energy they had both held.
The Dark-Construct glared at the boy in barely surpressed rage for a moment before his agner dispersed immideatetly with a simple laugh. Not only had the boy learned a Dark-side technique from only a memory, he had even had the gall to use it to attack one of the most powerful entities in the history of his world. Another laughed escaped him, and he looked at Naruto with a newfound respect. This boy truly did have potential. He hadn't expected for his jailer to be able to pull off the move at all, let alone in a single attempt. It should have been impossible, even for him! The boy had an affinity for the Force that surpassed even his own, as loathe as he was to admit it. If the two fools in the real world were allowed to have free reign to the boy's training, they would ruin all the boy could one day become. However, if Mikhail were to teach the boy what he could, not only would he have more influence in his development, it was also entirely possible that they would, eventually, find some way to destroy the seal that had kept him imprisoned for so long.
Unfortunately that day was, without a doubt, years from now. Still, at the very least he could use the boy to remind the world why it had once quaked in fear at his very name. No sooner had the mighty being thought that, a related thought struck him. This boy... he could reunite his brothers and sisters! The other eight Beasts of Power. Brought together under the command of a single strong leader, they could once more be a Force to reckoned with. Over the centuries, conflict had roared between themselves and in order to prevent a confrontation that would rock the world, they had been forced to seperate themselves from each other or risk total destruction. Beings of such power were destined to vie for dominance over each other, after all. However, if they were to be united by one with such a strong affinity to the Force... Mikhail grinned at the sheer possibilites of the thought. Oh yes, he would train this boy to be all he could be. And the world would once more fear the Beasts as they did before they began to fight back.
"Yes, you are indeed powerful in the Force, aren't you?"
Almost instinctally, Naruto beamed at the praise before frowning again at the Carnival figure.
"And it would be a terrible thing for all that power to go untapped now, wouldn't it? Leave this world and rest. The next time you meditate, I will have more to teach you. I warn you however, do not tell your Masters of your new abilities. It will raise questions that neither of us are ready to answer. Do you understand?"
The blond gave a silent nod before the world around him began to fade. Colors bled to various shades of grey, the people and buildings faded into nothing, and he was only left with a soft whisper, carrying over the winds of his mind.
'Take care, boy...'
- Meditation Chamber : 'Aquarus' -
Naruto jerked sharply as a wave of freezing cold water sloshed over him. At some point someone must have raised the difficulty setting on Aquarus, because the once calm waters had grown into a frenzious storm. Reaching out with the Force, Naruto manipulated the dial to a weaker state and waited patiently for the waves to die down. The muscles in his legs protested when he stood up, and he winced as the feeling flooded back into them. The large metal doors slid open to grant him access to the rest of the compound, and he shuddered as the cold hit his abnormally warm skin. That was one of the downsides to having a heightened body temperature, cold air sucked when you were wet.
His thoughts were filled with the Kyuubui's, Mikhail's face. Was he to be trusted? Why was he really going to teach him new techniques? One thing he new for certain was that answers weren't going to materialize out of thin air. Maybe a good night's sleep would help him out. A smile tugged at his lips at the thought of his warm bed, and his pace quickened. It would be good to get out of his wet clothes.
A/N : Well there you again. I know a couple of you were wondering what had happened to HK-47 but there he is. If anyone doesn't quite get what I'm doing with the Kyuubi or if you have any questions, feel free to ask me in a review or a PM. I do my best to answer every one I get, so I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Stay Frosty...
- Nikolai