Author's Note: If you haven't watched the Clone Wars ( 2008 ) TV series, I highly recommend doing so or at least read the story for Ahsoka Tano – and watch the final few episodes of season 5, it certainly gives much better depth to the prequels as a whole and to Anakin's decision to join the Dark Side as well. Not that I agree with him... it's just great story and great fiction.
"I see you haven't gotten it down just yet. Don't be disappointed, though, it took me a few months to do a proper Raikiri." I had been training the whole week, with just a few Shadow Clones, the chakra requirements were really intense. I was trying but my control was always just a little off, never quite there.
"Just keep trying, it'll come to you." Kakashi said and I remembered something. I was having no more of this.
"Do or do not, there is no try." I exclaimed and finished the last hand seal. Lightning chakra built up around my hand and circled my position on the ground, the sound of a thousand chirping birds filled the air. I ran to the first rock and slammed my hand across it, not touching it, but not very far either.
"Raikiri! ( Lightning Cutter/Blade )" nothing seemed to happen but both Kakashi and I knew that wasn't the case, he was now in front of me and giving me his signature eye smile. He touched the rock gently and the top third slip perfectly from the base, embedding itself into the soft ground, a perfect cut now marring both of the pieces.
"That's quite the efficient mantra. I'm very impressed, my cute little student. I didn't think you'd be able to make it, but I keep my promises." he ruffled my hair and then reached into his pouch and took out a small scroll, he unravelled it and with a small 'Kai!' it puffed into a scroll five times as large.
"No way! You're letting me sign the Hatake contract?" I asked, breath hitched. Kakashi hadn't chosen a proper successor in canon, his Hatake ninken would have been orphaned if he had died.
He nodded once and pointed towards a blank space next to his own name, I cut my finger on a kunai and signed my name and then placed a hand print on the scroll, he sealed it back up and motioned me to sit down.
"Now I want you to be very careful with the ninken. As one of their summoners, you have to treat them as your family now and their life is in your hands." I nodded solemnly and he seemed happy with his decision "now why don't you give it a try? Pump as much chakra as you can for the first time."
I did as I was told and did the handseals slowly, to have time to channel the chakra needed, I slammed my hand into the ground and shouted "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" ( Summoning Jutsu ). An impressive amount of smoke later and what stood in front of me was a ninken that I didn't recognize from Canon, and I knew all their names for god's sake. It was a slightly larger than normal Tibetan Mastiff, and they were pretty large already. He had red to dark orange fur and looked similar to a lion with lots of fur.
"Who summons me, hmm?" he said in a gruff, aged voice. I turned my head towards Kakashi in question and his single eye was wide open in surprise.
"I summoned you, Inu-san ( Dog ). Forgive me, but I am not familiar with your name." I bowed to the large dog and he lowered his head in a bow at the same time.
"That's Hachikou-sama... Only my father could summon him... he's the Alpha of all the ninken tribes, including the Inuzuka." Kakashi said in awe, now that's an expression you don't get to see on Kakashi's face too often!
"It is an honour to be your summoner, Hachikou-sama." I bowed again and he threw me a dog smile, if that's even possible.
"Enough with the formalities, pup. Just call me Hachikou. What's your name, little one?" he asked and was now sitting comfortably on the ground.
"Menma Uzumaki, heir to both the Uzumaki and Namikaze clans." I said with a smile, Kakashi just gasped behind me, I hadn't told him I knew of my heritage.
"Ah, so you're the son of Kakashi-kun's Sensei, the pups tell me all about Kakashi-kun and his adventures!" he chuckled, it sounded more like a kind grandfather than anything.
"It's good to be out and about after all these years, I was beginning to think that nobody ever wanted me anymore" he pouted "Although you're going to be summoning me a lot, aren't you Menma-kun?" he said with puppy dog eyes, I was melting inside.
"Of course, Hachikou. We're family now, right?" I said and buried my hands in the dense fur around his neck, which was incredibly soft and fluffy, he leaned into my touch and gently wagged his tail.
"Oh, that's the spot." he said while kicking with his right hind leg, he coughed once and regained his composure, now on all fours.
"As much as I want to stay around here and be petted, I'm a century too old for that. I'm draining your chakra constantly while I am out and you will be getting close to exhaustion. I'll alert the others that we have a new summoner. I wish you a peaceful life, Menma-kun, Kakashi-kun." he bowed respectfully to each of us while saying our names and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kakashi put his hand on my head and had a fond expression on his face.
"I never thought I'd meet Hachikou-sama again after my father died. Thank you for that, Menma-kun." he said and was now ruffling his hair, I just smiled at the grateful gesture.
"I'll be giving the Genin test tomorrow, you're dismissed for the day, don't give any of them any tips about it, I trust you. I can't exactly fail them because the council gave me express orders to pass the Uchiha..." Kakashi said in an angry tone, Sasuke being pampered by the village wasn't the ideal view on the education of his best friend's last clansman.
"You'd be surprised, I don't think the council's ultimatum would make any difference, Kakashi-sensei. Have some faith in the younger generation." I said and bumped his shoulder playfully with my fist, at this he turned a slightly uncomfortable gaze on me. Okay, note to self, don't act buddy-buddy with Kakashi.
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"I wonder how our team will be like... and what the test will be about." Naruto was pondering his future as a team.
"Don't worry, just remember what I've taught you and you'll be fine." I said reassuringly an he nodded.
"I'm really happy about the choices in the team, I mean, Sasuke is an arrogant bastard but he's an orphan like us and he's seriously strong, it's a shame he's the avenger type... you should take him as an initiate, I bet learning how to be a Jedi will be good for him." what Naruto said really threw me for a loop. I hadn't thought about it, because I knew what Sasuke would become in Canon and, at the same time, I knew he'd turn out to be a good guy in the end... He just doesn't know the whole story yet... He could turn out like another Anakin, be that good or bad I don't know... or better... possibly worse.
"Meditate on that, I will." I said in my 'Master' voice and ended this current debate."
"And then there's Sakura! She's really pretty... her hair reminds me of the cherry trees outside, in the forest. And she's nice to me too! Except for when I ask her out on dates... she hits me those times... but I tried talking to her without mentioning that word and she's really nice!" Naruto said happily, it seemed that Canon Naruto was too obnoxious for Sakura but my brother was getting along with her.
"Just remember, Naruto-kun, it's her decision whether or not she will continue to pursue Sasuke or choose to establish a relationship with you, respect her decision, okay?"
"Nii-chan, if she is happy then that is enough for me!" he said with his trademark grin and a thumbs up, his heart was in the right place.
"If you pass the exam, there will be something waiting for you at Masamune-san's shop. It's about time you meet him and I figured you'd want to be there for the final touch-ups. There is also a package for Anko-chan, bring that with you as well." I said, I had already had a talk with Masamune-san and we figured out the right options for them both.
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They had passed the test with flying colours, I had stationed a Shadow Clone to watch their progress and surprisingly, things went better than canon, Naruto was more composed, less reckless and thankfully didn't get hit by the Thousand Years of Death and Sasuke wasn't as reluctant to work as a team. They didn't get the bells, of course, but they touched them on several occasions and they DID share the food, Kakashi was so impressed that he took them on their first D-rank right away, saying that the sooner they could get the minimum number of them, the sooner they could go on their first C-rank. When they returned at TG3, I was already waiting for them, gently caressing the surface of the Memorial Stone, where Minato and Kushina were inscribed.
I sense them coming from a mile away and was now smiling in their direction. Kakashi gave me a quick 'Yo!' and Naruto was grinning widely at me.
"Congratulations on becoming Genin! A little bird tells me you passed the test with flying colours." I smirked and the reactions varied. Naruto nodded determinedly, Sakura gave a formal 'Thank you.' and bowed but was trying to hide a smirk and Sasuke merely raised his chin and gave a 'Hn' like there was no way the last Uchiha could fail.
"Where were you, anyway? Chickened out?" Sasuke asked with a smirk and I just shrugged, Kakashi intervened with an exasperated sigh.
"Menma-kun over there is my personal apprentice. I know that he is qualified to be a Genin, he will also only be joining us on C-ranked or higher missions, he will be training and doing simple solo-missions in the meantime." explaining to them how I was actually an undercover ANBU and how regular ranks didn't apply to me would anger Sasuke enough to probably complain to the Council, and there was no reason for them to know I was an ANBU, either.
Sasuke, on the other hand, was seething, his teeth and fists were clenched and he was burning with fury.
"Why does he get to be your apprentice?" he asked in a growl.
"My, my, there's no need to get angry, my cute little Genin. It is simply because he has shown a natural aptitude towards the skills that I also have, he was also the odd man out when the teams were formed." Kakashi eye smiled and Sasuke seemed to calm down a bit, at least content with the answer. Naruto, though, was grinning with pride because he knew I was actually an ANBU and he didn't mind at all, he knew I was a better shinobi at the moment, but he also made a promise and he would get better soon.
"I want to fight you, Menma." Sasuke said through clenched teeth and was now preparing a battle stance.
"I don't think that's a good idea, teme." Naruto remarked and tried to put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder to stop him, but he turned a heated look towards my brother and he backed off. Kakashi, on the other hand, seemed intrigued. He knew I wouldn't actually hurt Sasuke and he reasoned he needed to be put in his place at least once in his life, now how to go about it...
Sasuke charged and flew at me with a right hook, way slower than what Anko's looked like, I turned counter-clockwise, now inside his guard, threw my hand around his neck and grabbed his right hand with my left, between my left elbow and ribs, I threw my right leg over his right knee and executed a textbook Harai goshi ( Sweeping Hip Throw ), slamming Sasuke with his back onto the ground, I didn't put much force behind the throw, merely used Sasuke's own momentum against him. He grunted in pain and I extended a hand to raise him to his feet, he took it grudgingly.
"You can come train with us, if you want to, of course." I offered, since he actually accepted the helping hand. His eyes widened for a second and the narrowed with suspicion, eyeing me over, looking for any hidden intent. I smiled warmly and exuded a calming aura via the Force, he simply nodded once, albeit a bit slowly.
"Now that that's settled, how about some teamwork exercises?" Kakashi said while rubbing his hands together, this was going to be a long day.
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Naruto had gone to Masamune's shop to receive his graduation gift and I was meditating, I could now lift three Muntuur stones during meditation, and those weighed several tonnes. Master Yoda was said to be able to lift five of them and Master Fae Coven, the author of the Jedi Path, could life six. For regular Jedi, even lifting one was an impressive feat in itself. I was finishing up with my meditation and I lowered the stones slowly, when I opened my eyes, they were met with the sight of a grinning Naruto and a similarly looking Anko, both holding their new weapons.
Naruto was holding a sword not unlike mine but with a curve in the hilt, at the pommel, perfect for use of Form II: Makashi. Anko, on the other hand, now held a weapon radically different to our own, it was inspired by a Saberstaff, it had a long hilt, rectangular in shape and weighted down to create the peculiar balance of the weapon, it had two blades, one on top of the hilt and another at the bottom, one facing forward and another one backwards. Anko was extremely flexible and adopted a rather fierce, bordering on sadistic combat style. A Saberstaff would be the perfect weapon for her, but extremely difficult to master, that's if a crystal could be found, but I had my hopes. The Zhaboka, as it was called in the Star Wars universe, would be a suitable stepping stone. She was studying Form VII, with its two variants, Juyo and Vaapad, I could provide no instruction to her since I was only mildly familiar with the styles, but they relied on channelling both one's inner darkness and utilising the opponent's aggression against them, notable practitioners included Mace Windu and Satele Shan who also held the title of Grand Master. Many conservative Jedi had expressed their dislike towards the form. Yoda said, when talking about Mace Windu that 'Six there were for generations of Jedi. The seventh, is not well-known. Powerful form it is. Deadliest of all. But dangerous it is, for its master as well as its opponent. Few have studied. One student alone, to mastery has risen.' and Mace Windu himself said that it lead through the penumbra of the dark side, but at the same time he said 'I created Vaapad to answer my weakness: it channels my own darkness into a weapon of the light.' It was my duty as Anko's master to encourage the practice of the form that best suited her.
Anko and Naruto's expressions turned completely serious and then they thanked in unison and bowed deeply.
"You deserve it, my Padawan. Now how-" I was interrupted by a beeping on my belt, I had devised a sort of low-range comlink, similar to a walkie talkie. It wasn't exactly a comlink, but a radio receiver and emitter, although I liked comlink better. I had it connected to both Naruto's and Anko's and also the front gate, since it WAS locked.
"Excuse me for a moment. Who is this?" I asked in the comlink and Sasuke's voice came through the speakers.
"Sasuke Uchiha, and how the heck did you wire a radio in your gate? The batteries shouldn't last this long!" he said exasperatedly, technology DID exist in the Narutoverse, they had TVs and what not, but they all worked on batteries so a device that was on all the time didn't exactly seem plausible.
"Well... it's actually based on seals, whenever someone gets close to the door and it's not myself, Naruto-kun or Anko-chan, it basically feeds on your chakra, it's an infinitely small amount, but if you spend a few days in front of the porch it will drain you... Anyway, come on in." I said, now opening the gate.
"Who's this 'Anko-chan'? Your girlfriend or something?" he asked suspiciously and just then Anko and Naruto came strolling in front of us.
"Why, brat? You jealous?" Anko asked and was now hugging me from behind, pressing herself against my body, chin rested on my left shoulder.
"Enough with the teasing, Anko-chan, he's already embarrassed as it is." she straightened up and now gave me a questioning look.
"What do you mean? I haven't done anything till now..." she said with a pout and her face scrunched up, trying to recall the recent events.
"That's not what I meant. Sasuke-san had to overcome some personal... obstacles in order to accept my offer of training with us." I explained and Anko didn't seem exactly pleased.
"So we're going to be training with him? Why?" she asked disinterestedly.
"Firstly, it is our responsibility to train others, we don't follow the Rule of Two. ( Author's Note: For those of you who don't know, there can be only two actual Sith at a time, ever since Darth Bane. A Master and an Apprentice. Once the apprentice kills off his master, then the line can be renewed. ) Secondly, he's not much different to you when you first started out, Anko-chan, give him a chance. And we're not going to be teaching him THAT just yet, we're going to start out with shinobi training."
"What do you mean by 'THAT'?" Sasuke asked, now extremely confused but mildly interested.
"You'll see... In the meantime, Naruto can teach you some basic chakra control exercises and then you can get started on mastering your Fire affinity." he nodded after a moment of consideration.
"How do you know I have a Fire affinity?"
"You're an Uchiha, even if you didn't have one, the coming of age rite of your clan is the Gōkakyū no Jutsu ( Great Fireball ), is it not? That means that even if you have a different affinity, they drill their mislead ideals into you from a young age, because 'every' Uchiha 'must' have a Fire affinity. You may go your whole life believing that, but you're actually developing a minor affinity in the process, I guess there's a little good in all evil." I said and he was angry for the duration of my statement but seemed to relax when I finished, it seemed that he was beginning to respect his Master, good progress if I may say so.
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"I want you to teach me." Sasuke said with a bow.
"I am already teaching you." I said simply.
"No, I mean. Teach me whatever it is you also teach your brother and Anko-san." he clarified.
"And you believe that you are ready? What would you use my teachings for?" I asked, now interested in what he had to say.
"I do not know if I am ready or not... I do not know what I would use them for either. That is why I wish to learn." he said and looked disappointed with myself and his explanation, it was a good answer, though, certainly better than 'To kill a certain someone.'
I reached into a pouch behind my back and brought out a minuscule scroll, I enlarged it in a puff of smoke and looked over it, found what I had been searching for and with a swift drop of blood and a 'Kai!' later, in my hands was now a leather-bound edition of the 'Jedi Path'. I sealed the scroll again and put it back in my pouch.
"You are not to speak to anyone other than myself, Naruto and Anko about the contents of this book and I do mean, NO ONE." I said sternly and he looked almost fearful for a moment before nodding determinedly.
"Read this. Study it. Understand the hidden meaning behind every word and sentence. When you have done so, you will have the answers to those two questions. If they are truthful, to both me and yourself, then I will decide if you are to begin your training." Sasuke seemed to have a battle with himself and then bowed once again, taking the book and bowing a little bit deeper.
"Thank you, for this... for trusting me. I... I thought that I didn't need any help, but that was a mistake, I apologise for my earlier behaviour." he said and a stone seemed to have been lifted off his shoulders, I smiled at him and put my hand on his left shoulder.
"There's good in you, yet, Sasuke. I'll leave you with one final piece of wisdom until you open that book and study its contents, do keep it in mind while you are doing so. Let there be truth between your heart and the Force. All else is transitory."
"What's... the Force?" he said with joined eyebrows and raised shoulders.
"Everything you need to know is contained within those pages." I said conspicuously and Sasuke seemed to take my words for granted, this time. He was coming a long way from what he was in Canon at this particular moment in time. Maybe... just maybe... he would make a good Jedi. It all depended on my guidance, and I just hoped that I had what it takes, that I would not become the next Obi-Wan and he the next Anakin.