AN: And here it is, the full product! Ladies and gentlemen, this one was fun to write, as is this entire story, come to think of it. Little to say at the beginning here other than a surprise awaits you all! Enjoy!
Chapter 5: Lost in the Dark
I see her face again. Twisted into a scream of pure agony, screaming out to me, begging me to kill her; that it hurts too much, that the pressure is too much for her… and then I see the planet imploding. I see Malachor cave in on itself; I feel the wave of suffering, of agony, of palpable and very real fear... I see her face again. The face that Sakura probably made before being extinguished by what we HAD to do to end the war. As I turn from the image of Malachor, another image flashes before my eyes, this one of some sort of space station shrouded within the shadows, then of three figures sharing in the shroud of darkness. The uneasiness I feel upon gazing at the space station is reflected tenfold when I approach the three shadows, who all seem to stare at me, piercing my very soul.
I pass by the station and the three shadowy figures and I trudge my way through a blasted, barren wasteland amidst the stars until a final pair of figures catch my gaze. I see a woman with brown hair, blue eyes… Master Surik? Meetra?! As I pick up my pace, the shadows seem to darken around me; everything goes black save for Master Surik and the lone figure… when very suddenly everything goes as red as the thing now burned through her chest. I recognize the thing as an activated lightsaber, and with a ferocious roar, I ignite my own orange one and dash at the THING who dared hurt my Master. The lightsaber is torn from her chest and she is tossed casually aside by the red lightsaber-wielding figure and as we cross blades, the orange of my own saber illuminates his hidden face.
A reflection.
A reflection of me, but at the same time not me.
This reflection had glowing yellow eyes and a pale, corrupted face with his whisker marks an almost solid black amidst the milk white of his skin, a color shared with his spiky and unkempt hair.
A reflection. A reflection of me, of what I was afraid of becoming.
"Revel in your future!" He cackles at me with the most sadistic smirk I've ever seen. "See what your pride had wrought, drink in this sight and DESPAIR!"
After another roar, I break the blade lock and flip over his head while spinning my lightsaber in an elegant flourish in order to block the incoming strike intended to hit me as I land. I block and parry his blade upwards and then I sink my blade through his chest, just like he did with Meetra.
"I am your future." He smirks again, unfazed by the saber burning through his chest. "Get used to this face; you'll be seeing it in the mirror for the rest of your very, VERY long life!"
"Na… ruto…" I hear Meetra gasp just as my dark reflection fazes out of existence, along with my lightsaber.
"Meetra!" A call out to her as I kneel down to cradle her in my arms.
"Help me, Naruto…" She begins crying into my robed chest. "I'm in so much pain… please!" Her body shakes with a violent sob. "I can't feel anything anymore! I… I'm scared!"
As she's overcome by even more violent sobs, she begins to disappear in my arms; fading away into nothingness until eventually I'm left alone in the darkness with her sobs intermingling with the insane and EVIL cackling of my reflection.
With a start, Naruto shot straight up from a dead sleep, a cold sweat clinging to his body and seemingly out of breath. As a shaky hand runs down his face, he takes in a few deep calming breaths and closes his eyes in an attempt to re-center himself.
'What the hell was that about?' He wonders to himself as he allows the living Force to flow through him in an attempt to calm his own nerves.
With the shakes now subsiding and his breathing now under control once again, he sighed as he threw the covers of his bed off, stood and made for his bathroom for a quick shower, images of his nightmare still clinging to the back of his mind. By the time he refreshed himself and donned his robes, there was a knock at his door.
"Come in." He called out as he finished situating his tunic.
"Master." Riza bowed as the door opened. "Did I wake you up?"
"No, I just got up a few moments ago." He turned and leveled a smile at his Padawan. "What do you need?"
"Fleet's dropped out of hyperspace and is currently in orbit around our target planet." Riza dutifully began the SITREP. "General Revan is requesting your presence aboard the Resolute, along with Alek's presence as well."
"An in person meeting?" The blonde hummed in thought. "Very well. You know the drill, Riza." He spoke as he reached out with the Force to his nightstand where his lightsaber sat and drew it to his waiting right palm, then hooked it to his belt. "You're in charge until I get back."
"Yes, Master." She bowed. "I'll send ahead for your shuttle to be readied."
(The Resolute: Minutes later)
"Reach out." Revan calmly counseled the young man meditating before him. "Can you feel it?"
"I sense…" Naruto bit his bottom lip as he focused on his sensory perception of the planet before them. "I sense… something."
If neither Revan nor Alek could sense what the surface of the planet held, then it was surely an enigma, though he was still unsure of why they'd turn to him; surely their senses were more attuned than his?
"What does it feel like, Naruto?" Revan pressed as he as well tried to attune his senses to what his young friend was sensing.
"It's…" Finally, Naruto's vice grip upon his lower lip released. "It's dark, Revan. I can sense the corruption even here in orbit."
"So Mandalore was telling the truth…" The Supreme Commander sighed as he cut his mental connection with the planet and ran a hand down his mask.
"About the so-called 'True Sith'?" Naruto raised an eyebrow as he stood from his lotus position. "Forgive me if I come off as unnecessarily blunt here, but what the hell?"
"I know what you're about to say, and trust me, I've told myself the same thing a thousand times already." The man turned away from his young friend and instead faced the icy planet which the bridge of the Resolute gave a rather spectacular sweeping view of. "Rekkiad… that's what Mandalore called this planet."
"It doesn't show up in any official star maps. I'll give it that." The blonde Jedi nodded as he joined his friend and Commander, linking his hands behind his back. "Either this is one hell of a wild goose chase, or Mandalore was actually telling the truth."
"We've come this far." Alek's sudden appearance on the bridge was announced with the closing of the doors behind him and the clinking of heels together as the bridge crew snapped to attention. "Any residual contemplation can wait for the shuttle ride down there, no?"
"For once, Alek and I agree." Naruto sighed with a sole nod of the head. "We're already here, Revan. If we're to investigate the validity of Mandalore's claims, best we get to it sooner rather than later."
"… Send for Ino." Revan turned to his communications officer. "Call her up here and tell her she's in charge while we're down there."
"Yes, General." The comms officer saluted before attending to her assigned task.
"Time to see what this mystery planet has in store for us…" Naruto smirked as his followed his two senior Jedi to the hangar bay.
(Coruscant: Same time)
'Force bless them both.' Meetra managed a smile as her two guests were all but hugging the windows of the transport they were on. 'First time on Coruscant, after all.'
To Shikamaru and Hinata's credit, it really was their first time visiting Coruscant and seeing the immensity of the place. Shikamaru had thought Meetra was bluffing when she had said that the entire planet was one big city, so when he actually saw it with his own eyes, even he was moved to awestruck displays of emotion and the same could be said for Hinata, who had finally broken out of her own shell after they had to leave…
Just a passing thought of him was enough to stifle Meetra's mood. Many times between their last meeting and arriving on Coruscant she had reminded herself that her Padawan was no longer her Padawan; that he was his own person and had made his own choice… and she couldn't blame him. Revan was always naturally charismatic and Naruto had hit it off with her former Supreme Commander rather well. As time had gone on, it felt to her more and more that her dear Padawan was slowly beginning to favor Revan over her, a suspicion that had evidently been confirmed when he chose to follow Revan instead of her.
'And knowing Revan, the grand reveal has yet to be put into action…' She mentally added as she stared out and into the busy Coruscant skylanes, Meetra let out a soft sigh, her thoughts now dwelling fully on the blonde ball of energy that was her former Padawan.
'I hope you can find it within yourself to forgive your fool of a Master, Naruto…' She thought. 'I left when you probably needed me the most. I left because I… I was afraid…'
"Master Surik?" Shikamaru called out to her. "We've arrived."
"Coming!" She shook herself free of her own reverie and took lead of the two Padawans as they strode into their destination. "Welcome to the Jedi Temple." She was smiling again as she took the opportunity to be their first official welcome.
Said welcome, however, was cut short when three Republic soldiers showed up and immediately snapped to attention. "General Surik, ma'am." The lead soldier, a Lieutenant, spoke. "The Jedi Council has heard of your return and has requested your presence in their chambers. We're to escort you there, ma'am."
"These two Padawans will be accompanying me as well." Meetra clarified to her escort. "Will this pose a problem?"
"None, ma'am." The Lieutenant shook his head as he gestured for her to take the lead. "Shall we?"
The entire walk to the Council Chambers was spent in tense silence. Both Shikamaru and Hinata had immediately picked up on the change in Meetra's demeanor on board the transport, even thought she was trying her damnedest to hide it for their benefit. Surely something was going on here that they weren't privy to, so they'd stay silent for now and merely watch. They weren't officially Jedi yet, after all, so it wasn't their business to poke and prod for information, especially when Meetra herself seemed to be preparing for something. Now coming upon the High Council's chambers, the Republic soldiers all saluted before returning to their prior business after serving their purpose.
"Alright, you two." Meetra took in a breath and put on a smile as she turned to face them. "Stay here and wait for me to clear things up with the Council. They'll call you in when they're ready for you."
"Yes, Master." They both intoned at the same time and merely watched as she walked into the room before them.
The eyes of the Jedi High Council were all upon her as she confidently strode into the room, matching the gazes of Kavar, of Zez-Kai Ell, of Vash, of Vrook and finally Atris, halting just a scant few feet away from the center stone of the chambers as she tucked her hands into the sleeves of her robe and bowed her head.
"Masters." She addressed them, head still bowed.
"Do you know why we have called you here?" Vrook gruffly asked as he eyed the woman before him critically.
"You have called me here to answer for my crimes on Malachor V." She answered smoothly as she raised her head. "And my crimes during the war as a whole."
"As Revan summoned you, so have you come full circle to return to the Jedi." Kavar stated almost sadly as he shifted in his seat.
"Return?" Hinata whispered to her companion. "Shikamaru-san, what do they mean by return?"
"Was Master Surik really not a Jedi…?" Shikamaru questioned, mostly to himself.
"Why did you defy us?" Zez-Kai Ell asked. "The Jedi are guardians of peace, and have been for centuries. This call to war undermines all that we have worked for."
"Is Revan your Master now?" Atris hissed with narrowed eyes. "Or is it the horrors you wrought at Malachor that has caused you to see the truth at last?"
"The truth is that the Mandalorians had to be stopped!" Meetra finally spoke up. "Without our intervention, countless more would have died! I recognize that I broke the Code by going to war, but this was a war of necessity!"
"You have shut us out…" Zez-Kai Ell shook his head disapprovingly. "And so have shut yourself to the galaxy."
"Masters, please!" Meetra pleaded. "Kavar!" She turned to the man she considered her closest friend. "Hear me out!"
"You are exiled." Vash coldly spoke, those three words crushing whatever hope she had left. "You are a Jedi no longer."
Slowly, Meetra unclenched her fists and bowed her head once again, knowing that the sentence had been cast and would not be overturned. As she turned to make her way out of the chambers, Vrook spoke up once again.
"There is one last thing." His gruff voice, at this point, really grated upon her last nerves. "Your lightsaber. Surrender it to us."
Pausing mid-step, Meetra stood there for a few moments, as if frozen in time before faster than even Kavar had seen her move, her cyan lightsaber was already ignited and held within her grasp, buried up to the hilt into the center stone, more specifically into the insignia of the Jedi that was carved into its face. On a heel, she then turned around and let her lightsaber linger in the stone before it shut itself off and clattered to the floor.
As the doors flew open, all Shikamaru and Hinata could do was stand to the side and watch as the woman who recruited them into the Republic, into the Jedi, walked away, disgraced, head bowed and fresh tears staining the ferrocrete below her feet as she passed them by without any regard. The High Council had then deliberated about something or other in hushed tones, but the two Padawans had tuned them out, opting instead to stare at the retreating form of the one proud and now completely broken Meetra Surik as she made her way out of the Jedi Temple.
"W-What's going to happen to her?" Asked Hinata as she began to fidget. "To us?"
"Whatever the Council decides." Shikamaru frowned. "And considering what just happened to Mater Surik, I don't rate our chances very high."
"Did Naruto-kun and Ino-san make the right decision?" She wondered. "Should we have followed them after all?"
"I'm starting to think that maybe we should have, yes." He admitted. "But, it's too late to turn around now; we're within breathing distance of the Council."
As she glanced back into the chambers, Hinata had a sense of foreboding about their meeting with the Council. She would have lingered on those feelings, but as she eyed Meetra's lightsaber, she saw it begin to shake, recognizing the telltale signs of a Force Pull. Partially out of instinct, partially out of respect for Meetra and partially out of hope that Naruto would one day return to her, Hinata rushed into the room, catching the Council by surprise, and reached out with her right hand to instead draw the lightsaber into her waiting grasp, shocking Atris, who had intended on taking the lightsaber for herself.
"This lightsaber is not yours to inherit!" The normally shy Hyuuga stood against the Jedi Master before her, whose shock had very quickly turned into outrage. "This belongs to someone else now!"
"How dare…" The words died in Atris's throat when she witnessed Hinata's eyes change form, her Byakugan now fully active for all the Council to see.
"Hinata!" Shikamaru exclaimed as he, too, ran into the room and immediately bowed as deep as he could. "I apologize for her outburst, Masters! She believes that particular lightsaber would hold sentimental value to one of our friends and she went about requesting it the exact wrong way!"
"I do not know you two." Kavar hummed after a shift in position. "Please, youngling…" He was now addressing Hinata. "Calm yourself; you may keep that lightsaber if you wish."
"… I too apologize, Masters." Hinata's eyes returned to normal as she followed her friend's lead and joined him in a bow. "But this lightsaber rightfully belongs to Master Surik's former Padawan now."
"Meetra never had any Padawans." Vash furrowed her brow. "None that I knew of, anyway."
"He's the friend we were talking about." Shikamaru clarified as he rose. "Naruto Uzumaki is his name. And my name is Shikamaru Nara. This is Hinata Hyuuga." He gestured to the girl beside him. "And we're not from any currently charted world that just so happens to not be in Republic space as well."
"Meetra found a previously unknown planet during the war?" Vrook also hummed. "And you two are from this planet?"
"Likely conscripted." Kavar nodded in understanding. "Though considering you wear the traditional Jedi robes, I should fathom to guess that you were taught the ways of the Force and lightsaber combat?"
"On the orders of Master Revan, yes." Hinata nodded.
"Master." Atris scoffed at the title the girl gave Revan. "Revan deserves no such praise as to be called Master."
"The Force is strong within these two." Zez-Kai Ell pointed out with interest as he shifted forward. "They claim to be from an uncharted world; if this enigma of a planet can produce natural Force sensitives of their caliber, this is certainly something we must investigate."
"The Force isn't our only weapon here." Spoke Shikamaru as he lowered himself into a squat and formed the Nara clan's signature hand seal. "Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique)!" He declared, his shadow below him morphing and shooting to his right to connect with Hinata's, who was forced into the same squatting position as her friend thanks to the nature of the Jutsu.
"Intriguing…" Vash also leaned forward with keen interest.
"This Jutsu, or 'Technique', is the Jutsu passed down within my clan, the Nara clan. It allows me to capture the shadows of my targets and force them to mimic my own movements." To drive his point home, he rose back to his full height and took his lightsaber from his belt and ignited it in all of its green glory, all actions Hinata was forced to mirror, complete with the snap-hiss of her own violet lightsaber springing to life.
"I don't know what you hope to gain by showing us all of this…" Atris was the first and only to speak, as the rest of the Council were still silently contemplating what they had just seen. "But you both were trained by that traitor Revan."
"Yet they both chose to come and face us, even as uncertain as they were." Vrook pointed out. "There was no guarantee that we'd accept them and they knew that."
"They're innocent of Revan's wrongdoings." Vash nodded in agreement. "They were recruited into a galaxy that they probably didn't know existed, into a war they didn't know was going on."
"You two and this Naruto were the only three?" Kavar asked.
"There were three others." Shikamaru clarified as he dispelled the Jutsu and deactivated his lightsaber. "Ino Yamanaka, Konohamaru Sarutobi and Sakura Haruno."
"Konohamaru was killed on Dxun by the Mandalorians." Hinata cast her gaze downward, mournfully. "And Sakura, she…"
"… Sakura met her end quickly on the surface of Malachor when the Mass Shadow Generator was switched on." The Nara finished bitterly.
"And what of this Naruto? And Ino?" Though Kavar had his suspicions, he asked anyway.
"They cut ties with us when we said we were following Master Surik here, to Coruscant." Again, Shikamaru elaborated. "They both chose to follow Revan into the Unknown Regions, to hunt down the remaining Mandalorians and force them to surrender."
"They are beyond saving, then." Vash concluded.
"I don't think so, Lonna." Kavar hummed as he sat back into his chair. "Like these two before us, they were conscripted and shown Revan's ways, not our own."
"They are likely following what they believe to be the correct teachings because they do not know any better." Zez-Kai Ell agreed with his friend and fellow Master.
"... No!" Atris, having read the feel of the room, exclaimed in outrage. "We cannot be considering letting them into the Order!"
"What would you have us do, Atris?" Vrook asked her rather harshly. "Confiscate their lightsabers and throw them back out into a galaxy they have yet to even fully comprehend?"
"They are in need of guidance." Kavar concluded with a nod. "Guidance that we can give.
"Then…?" Hopefully, Hinata spoke up.
"Welcome to the Jedi Order, younglings." Zez-Kai Ell broke into a slight smile.
"What about Naruto and Ino?" Questioned the Nara.
"Should they choose to return of their own free will, then we shall hear them out, at least." Vrook put the duo at ease. "It shall be difficult breaking them of Revan's teachings and ideologies, however."
"All we ask is you hear them out." Hinata bowed her head in gratitude. "Thank you, Masters!"
"As your first official task as true Jedi…" Vash began. "Would you mind leading a fleet to your planet?"
"We wish to establish contact with your homeworld." Vrook finished for his colleague. "Open negotiations, possibly in the future offer them a place within the Republic."
"That…" Shikamaru grimaced. "May prove difficult, but we'll show you the way."
"Outrageous." Atris was seething. "Letting these two into the Order is dangerous. Revan's influence may spread amongst our own once again! Her teachings are just as poisonous as her Master's!"
"Wait, wait." Shikamaru held up an unbelieving hand. "SHE?!"
(The Resolute: Some time later)
"The True Sith are real…" An awestruck Naruto spoke freely aboard the empty bridge of the Resolute, which had been cleared for a personal council meeting between the three Generals. "I can scarcely believe that Mandalore was actually telling the truth…"
"I can scarcely believe that they exist at all…" Alek shared his young friend's sentiments. "Is it possible that this is all just an elaborate ruse…?"
"Sadly, I think not." Revan shook his head. "The evidence was all inside that datacron we found, as well as the sarcophagus."
"What about the planet it's directing us to?" The blonde asked as he walked over to the navigator's terminal and pulled up the coordinates. "It said the planet's name is Dromund Kaas. Think it exists?"
"It has to." Concluded the Supreme Commander. "And our answers will await us there."
"So, we're really going…" Sighed Alek. "Very well. We've come this far."
"I'm with you, Revan." Naruto nodded with a smirk. "To the end."
After sharing a brief look with Alek, who nodded and made his way off of the bridge, Revan turned to face his young disciple.
"Naruto, know that you're most likely volunteering yourself to walk into your death, if what was stored inside that datacron is accurate." He warned the blonde. "Are you absolutely sure of this? Otherwise you have my leave to take your ship and your fleet back into Republic space."
"Hell no." Naruto shook his head negative. "I owe you a lot, Revan. Besides, I'm intrigued by this and it'd look bad if I just turned my fleet around out of nowhere and ran."
"You have so much faith in me, young friend…" Sighed the Supreme Commander. "Perhaps it's time I put some more faith in you as well…"
As Naruto was about to question what he meant, Revan answered by pulling down the hood of his cloak while raising a hand up to his mask. All too familiar with this trick, Naruto frowned.
"No offense, Revan, but my previous Sensei pulled this exact prank on me and my old team." He folded his arms across his chest. "Beneath that mask is…"
What he was about to say was utterly crushed when Revan removed his mask to reveal the face of a youthful woman. He had at one point thought that Meetra had been the most beautiful woman he had ever met, but the woman in front of him at this exact moment trumped every new expectation that he had. Hooking her mask onto her belt, Revan then reached up and undid her hair, sending her long raven hair cascading to just under her shoulder blades, and her eyes, by the Force, her eyes. They were a bright violet color that enraptured him fully. Her skin was pale and flawless, her hair long and black and her violet eyes only added to her untarnished beauty.
The tent in his robes returned full force, much to his own chagrin, and as he began shifting to hide it, she giggled.
"I'm sorry for keeping this big a secret for so long." Her voice was soft, melodic, yet carried a powerful weight behind it at the same time. "I didn't want the Republic to see the true me, you see. I adopted the mask to become a new person, the Supreme Commander that the Republic and my Jedi needed."
"When the true you is this elegant and still as inspiring to be around as when you have that mask on…" With a slight bashful smirk, Naruto scratched the back of his neck with a chuckle. "I don't see the problem here. With or without that mask, male or female, I would have still chosen to follow you, Revan."
"Which is why I'm asking again." She walked over to him and placed a hand upon his shoulder. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"One Master already abandoned me." He gazed into her violet eyes with conviction. "I'm not going to be the one to abandon my new one when she needs me most."
"Heh…" Again, she giggled. "And now I see what Meetra saw in you." She admitted with an absolutely angelic smile. "You are an extraordinary man, Naruto, and I'm lucky to have you by my side."
"I'll be there whenever you need me, Revan." He smiled right back at her. "It's a promise of a lifetime."
"Then… She took in a calming breath. "To Dromund Kaas we go."
"To Dromund Kaas." He nodded. "Time to see these True Sith with our own eyes.
They both knew they were marching into hell itself. But, as far as they were concerned, as long as they had each other, then the flames wouldn't hurt nearly as much as if they were separated. In that moment, Naruto and Revan's bond had strengthened tenfold.
And the limits of their bond would be tested very, very shortly.
AN: And done! So, Revan's a woman after all! Gonna admit here, I was on the fence the whole time, but decided to go ahead and make Revan a woman. That being said, with this revelation, should she be the second girl in this possible threesome? There's been heavy support for a non-Harem route, as well as support for a middle ground being the aforementioned threesome. As it stands, I'm in favor of the threesome idea with Revan and Meetra being his two girls, but I'm still a bit dubious.
What do you guys think, though? Should Revan be the second girl? Should this just be a full blown harem? If so, how many girls? Personally, if this were to turn into a harem, I'd stop at either three or four, but I want opinions! Threesome? Harem? Single pairing with only Meetra? Give me some good, convincing arguments for or against your choice!
This is ZeroDivisionRaijin, signing off!