Chapter 3
Learning Old Tricks
Victory, the war is over
It is learned today that the Separatist leaders of the Confederation of Independent Systems have been found by an elite unit of our own Galactic Republic Advanced Recon Troopers. It is reported that despite repeated attempts to reach a peaceful settlement the Separatist leadership fought to the last.
With the death of the Separatist Council, as well as the deaths of Supreme Commander Dooku and General Grievous the head of the Separatist dragon has been severed. The war is over.
Second Assassination attempt of beloved Emperor
It is reported that another Jedi attempt has been made against our Supreme Chancellor, now first Galactic Emperor, Dantius Palpatine. The assassin, revealed to be the Grand Jedi Master himself, infiltrated the Senate building, killed several members of Senate security and caused massive destruction to the great meeting chamber.
However, before he could deliver the final blow our beloved Emperor was saved by a small unit of elite ARC Troopers. Grand Jedi Master Yoda was able to escape, and is currently still at large. It is another example of the corruption and devious methods of the power hungry Jedi Order. A bounty of five hundred thousand Imperial credits has been offered to anyone who can capture the traitorous Grand Master, dead or alive.
It was a surreal experience to be in the shoes of a teacher. It was even more surreal to be teaching a woman who was at least three years his senior and was fully capable of sending him flying with a thought. Yet here he was, sitting cross-legged on the forest floor, looking at the beautiful form of Aayla Secura, who likewise was seated cross-legged right in front of him.
He was teaching her for many reasons, the most of which was that he knew she needed something to get her mind off what had happened to her over the last week. Being betrayed by your comrades, seeing your friends die, it was something that left a hole in you. He knew this all too well.
"Right, so let's get started. The first thing I am going to have to do is check to see if you have a chakra circulatory system." He said with a slightly nervous smile, reaching out with his hand. Aayla blinked, before taking his in hers, marvelling at how large his calloused hand was compared to her slender one.
He pumped a little of his chakra through his arm and into her. It was like someone had hit a light switch to a power grid not used in years. The natural reserves in her body flickered before flowing through the mass of chakra pathways, activating what had laid dormant for all of her life. Aayla gasped, feeling her own energy increase tenfold and flow through her just like the force did.
"Hmm," was the first thing that left Naruto's mouth as he gently opened all three hundred and sixty one of her tenketsu points, allowing the chakra to continue its flow. "Your chakra coils are average, but your pathways are solid and healthy. I think you will be able to manipulate and use chakra with no problem."
She nodded, but found that she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Naruto seemed to catch on, for as he released his hold he looked into her eyes and smiled. "Want me to explain?"
"It would help," she relented.
"Okay, where to start." He thought about it for a moment, before taking a deep breath, "Chakra is a form of energy which all living individuals naturally produce to some degree. It is a mixture of the physical energy present in every cell of the body and the spiritual energy gained from exercise and experience. Once mixed, it can be channelled through the chakra circulatory system, which is to chakra as the regular circulatory system is to blood, to any of the three hundred sixty one chakra points, called tenketsu, in the body, with me so far?"
"I think so," Aayla replied with a nod. It sounded an awful lot like the force, but instead of it being an energy field which surrounded all life it appeared to be a reservoir of energy from within oneself.
"Through various methods, the most common of which would be hand seals, the chakra in the body could be manipulated to create an effect which would not be possible otherwise, such as walking on water and-"
"Wow, wow, hold on a minute." Aayla said suddenly, gaining a frown from the blonde. "Did you just say walking on water?"
Naruto looked at her for a moment, blinked once or twice, and then broke out in a wide grin. "You guys don't know how to walk on water?" Aayla starred at him incredulously for a moment, and then dumbly shook her head. Naruto's grin did the impossible when it widened further. "I don't believe you. It's considered a basic chakra control exercise along with tree climbing."
Aayla looked ever so slightly agitated. "Well excuse me if we can't perform miracles."
The blonde raised his hands in surrender, "Sorry, sorry, I forget where I am sometimes. Tell you what, I'll show you the exercises I'm talking about. If you want to control your chakra you're going to have to learn these two techniques."
Aayla sighed, rubbing her forehead with a hand before nodding. Naruto, still grinning like a fool rose to his feet and walked across the clearing to one of the towering mushroom shaped trees of the Felucian forest. He looked up at the long, branchless trunk and grumbled something before bringing his hands together in a hand seal, explaining to her in a clear voice as he went. "For beginners it's usually easier to concentrate your chakra through hand seals, so I'll show it to you."
Aayla complied, her annoyance forgotten and replaced by curiosity. She stood up and walked beside her teacher, taking close note of the way his hands formed a strange seal. She felt a surge of energy at the soles of his feet, and watched with ever rising curiosity as Naruto stepped forward, placed his right foot against the bark and began to walk. He walked vertically up the tree, without needing anything to hold him in place. She gapped in surprise, he was basically defying gravity. Sure she could do it too, but in the form of force augmented jumps and dives, not physically walking up vertical surfaces.
Her surprise lengthened when he reached the mushroom shaped shoot and kept going, now standing upside down right above her. He looked down with a sheepish smile, "With me so far?"
She nodded dumbly, and immediately berated herself at being so mystified with what Naruto had called a basic training exercise. His grin widened as he spoke. "First I will teach you the twelve basic hand seals needed to channel chakra into Jutsu, then when I'm sure you know them I will teach you the basic Ninjutsu and Genjutsu that we're taught at the academy back home. I considered teaching you Taijutsu, but I'm guessing you already know an assortment of fighting styles."
It took Aayla a while to catch on to what he was saying, but she was never the sort of person to shy away from asking a question. "I'm sorry. What are Ninjutsu, Genjustu and Taijutsu?"
He blinked, before offering her an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I keep forgetting I'm not at home anymore. Taijutsu translates as the physical arts. It's basically martial arts and fighting styles. Genjutsu stands for illusionary techniques. That's the ability to create illusions on yourself or against your opponent. Finally there's Ninjutsu, my favourite, which creates all of the really cool techniques, including elemental and clone Jutsu."
Aayla nodded, absently feeling her neck muscles protest at her looking up for so long. Naruto chose that moment to release his technique, performing a flawless somersault as he fell and landing in a crouch right beside her. He sat down, and she mimicked his movements, listening intently to what he was saying. "There are twelve basic hand seals to learn, but once you know them well enough the sky's the limit. I will begin by teaching you these seals." His hands came together to make each seal as he introduced them, and she watched intently. "The twelve seals are bird…boar…dog…dragon…ox…tiger…serpent…rat…horse…monkey…hare…and ram. Usually it takes an academy student months or even years to perfect these seals, but I'm confident I can have you commit them to muscle memory within three months."
"There's a chance we'll be found sooner." Aayla told him, "They have air units here as well as ground."
"Air," Naruto asked with a frown, before he looked at her in complete confusion. "You mean they can fly?"
Aayla raised a delicate eyebrow, "How else do you think the Republic spans over a hundred thousand worlds?"
"Don't forget your talking to me, a guy whose people's idea of a technological marvel is the invention of the telephone." Naruto said dubiously, "By the Sage I'm way out of my depth here."
Aayla smiled coyly, "Good thing you have me then."
Naruto chuckled himself, "Yeah, a beautiful tour guide. A guy could do much worse."
She blushed slightly at the compliment, but forced it down and berated herself for beginning to feel the way she did. It was a core rule of the Jedi Order that any kind of emotional attachment was forbidden. It was a central rule of the order, to stop them from feeling negative emotions which came with feeling for someone.
"Uh," she realised that she had not uttered a word to him, and he was looking at her with a slightly nervous expression, "Aayla, are you ready to start or what?"
"Oh," she started, before shaking her head, "Yeah, let's begin."
And begin they did. Naruto began slowly, spending three hours making her go through the basic twelve hand seals to the point where her hands and fingers hurt from the continuous movements. He spent the rest of the day going through the basics of Ninjutsu. According to him there were three basic Jutsu that all beginner Shinobi needed to learn, those three were the Bunshin no Jutsu, or Clone Technique, the Henge no Jutsu, or Transformation, and the Kawarimi no Jutsu, or Body Replacement.
The Bunshin was a more basic form of Naruto's signature technique, what he called the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, or Shadow Clone and was a mostly Genjutsu oriented technique. It allowed the user to create an exact replica of the wielder, illusions which could be used to spring traps or impersonate opponents. Aayla quickly learned that these were not like the ones Naruto used, while his were solid copies these were simply illusions, and if looked at closely enough one could distinguish them by the lack of any changes to the environment around them, like kicking up dust or crushing grass.
The Henge was simply a technique which could transform someone into either an object or in a more advanced form into the appearance of someone else, another Genjutsu oriented Jutsu designed mainly for stealth and spying. Aayla found this to be one of the most interesting of the three, and considered that if the Jedi knew this technique then so many of their operatives within the Separatists would have been saved.
Finally there was the Kawarimi which was the most interesting of the three in that it allowed to user to change places with another nearby object, like a piece of debris, an animal or even, to her surprise another person. She was surprised, and slightly hesitant to believe that it was a type of time and space manipulation Jutsu, capable of bending reality around someone to make the switch. Naruto had explained to her that there were other, more advanced forms of this technique, and that all were useful or deadly against opponents.
That night they hunted, cooked and ate what they could, and during this first of many sessions she learned a great deal about the young man, his people, his culture, his civilisations hierarchy, and most important to her was that she learned more about him, as a person. He had a harsh life, both of his parents was killed by a creature called the Kyubi when he was born, and he had lived most of his young life as an orphan, scrounging around and living as best he could.
In return Aayla told him about herself, as well as everything about the Order she was a part of. She told him about her time as an apprentice under Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, the places she had been too and the people she had met. Then she told him about the war, and how the Jedi had been changed from peacekeepers and mediators into soldiers and officers.
"Why were the Jedi forced to become soldiers?" Naruto asked with a confused look. "Didn't this Republic have an army of its own?"
Aayla shook her head, "The Galactic Republic hadn't needed one until now. We had been enjoying peace for over a thousand years, and during that time the army was downsized again and again until there was nothing more than a small judiciary force. The individual member states were left to govern their own defence. Sure small conflicts cropped up every now and then but when that happened we were usually called to settle them."
"So when these Separatists appeared with mass armies of these…droids, there was no battle hardened soldiers to meet them, and considering the Jedi were the only ones with combat experience they were asked to become commanding officers." Naruto surmised, taking a bite of his meat as he spoke. "Is that about right?"
Aayla nodded her head, "That's right. There was no time to gather and train a traditional army, so we were asked to lead a new army that the Republic had secretly been assembling, an army of Clones."
"Hold on," Naruto cut in lightly, "If the Republic knew this war was going to break out why did they create a Clone Army? Why didn't they just assemble an army of volunteers to meet them?"
"Training an army of the size needed was impossible. It would have taken far too long, and by the time such an army was ready the Separatists would have won." Aayla explained, "The Clones could be grown and made combat ready in a quarter of the time it would have taken us to train regular soldiers."
Naruto nodded, absently finishing off his meat.
Two Weeks Later
CC-5052 or Clone Marshal Commander Bly stood at perfect attention as he watched the Theta-class Shuttle slowly descend upon the makeshift landing pad. The ships two large wings folded up around her as her stubby landing struts hit the metal with an audible thump, and almost immediately the landing ramp located in the rear opened with a hiss of hydraulics.
Bly, flanked by two battle-hardened ARC Troopers watched with a mixture of horror and fascination as the Emperor's agent walked down the ramp. He was a tall and imposing figure, hooded and cloaked in maroon robes. As the man walked down the ramp of the shuttle Bly could just make out the glint of dull gray armour and a black cylindrical hilt of a lightsabre latched to his belt. Flanking him were no less than four members of the Republic's Elite Senate Guard, or Red Guard, dressed in their crimson robes and bullet shaped helms, Force Pikes against their shoulders.
His voice broke through the Commanders reverie. "Report, Commander."
Bly stood solidly to attention, snapping a salute as he reported on his progress. "We have confirmed the deaths of Jedi Knight Barriss Offee, as well as the three Padawans. However we were unable to find the body of Jedi Knight Aayla Secura."
The Inquisitor began walking across the pad, past Bly and his two ARC guards and down the main ramp to solid ground. The entirety of the 327th Star Corps had assembled just outside of Felucia's main settlement of Kway Teow. Huge swaths of forest had been felled to make way for the army. The main fortress of former Commerce Guild President Shu Mai nothing more than a burning ruin, smoke billowing into the skies just a couple of kilometres away. The Separatist presence on the planet had been thoroughly purged. All ten thousand Battle Droids and their mechanised units had been destroyed down to the last scrape of metal.
The newcomer walked through the ranks of men and machines as the Marshal followed, continuing to give his report. "I have sent out a full brigade in search of her, as well as a squadron of LAAT's to continue searching from the air. So far Senior Commander A'den has reported no sign of her and is requesting additional units to help with the search."
"Order the Senior Commander to pull his Brigade back here. You and your Corps are being reassigned."
Bly blinked, before frowning. "Sir, we haven't completed our mission here. Not just in our failure to completely carry out Order 66 but we haven't been able to nullify the contagion the Seps have placed in the water supply."
"That is no longer your concern Commander," The maroon robed figure rebuked, "Your Corps are to pack up and prepare for redeployment. You on the other hand will remain, along with the men on this list."
Bly looked down at the datapad the Inquisitor held out to him, took it and began scanning through the list of names. The list of individuals included himself, and several individuals from the Star Corps ARC Trooper contingents. The best of the Corps he saw, many of whom were trained by the General herself. The Marshal looked up at the Inquisitor questioningly, and after a moment he spoke. "Begging your pardon sir, but what is this about?"
"You and the men on that list have been reassigned to the 501st Legion under the command of new Supreme Commander of Imperial Forces Lord Vader." This statement made Bly look at the names again. The 501st were considered the elite of the Grand Army, the best of the best. It was an honour to be reassigned to this force. "I will also require you to list a battalions worth of your best Clone Troopers to remain here with me. One's who are not on that list."
The water was cool and crisp, cleansing her of all her aches and pains as she dived into the crystal clear lagoon, sending splashes and ripples across the otherwise calm and still lake. It was a stroke of luck that they camped nearby one of only a few pools of water which was predator free. Which just two weeks before she thought was impossible.
A moment passed before Aayla exploded from the depths, taking a deep gulp of air before she fell back. She took a deep, cleansing breath, enjoying the feeling of the water bathing her naked form, caressing her skin in chilly tendrils, droplets running across her tender cerulean flesh in rivulets. She laid back and let herself float, arms and legs stretched, looking up at the Felucian sky.
Her leather clothes lay on the shore, hung over a low lying branch to dry after she had washed them. It would take an hour or two for them to dry under the Felucian sun, and she wanted to wash the dirt and grime from herself while she waited.
Aayla didn't worry about being caught. Naruto was at least a kilometre away hunting for their next meal. The Felucian jungle was full of edible things including plants and animals so there was no real worry about keeping themselves fed, and with his skills catching prey was as simple as breathing, but it would take him an hour or two at least to find what they needed.
She owed Naruto so much, and she doubted she could ever repay him. The blond haired Shinobi had saved her life at least three times, and had taken care of her when she was hurt and vulnerable, nursing her back to health when if she was alone she would have surely perished. More still he had willingly shared the basic knowledge of his people with her, someone he had just met, and she was thankful to him in his efforts to teach her.
She never knew she had her own personal reservoir of power, something she could now call upon and manipulate at will. He had taught her the twelve basic seals that aided in the drawing of this power with great care and an abundance of patience. He was a great teacher, despite him thinking otherwise, and her progress had only solidified that. He had taught her the three basic Jutsu, as well as showing her the two basic exercises to harness and control her chakra.
Aayla had already mastered the tree climbing exercise, and was well on her way to walking on water. She giggled at the memory of slowly walking across the water in the same manner one would walk a tightrope, Naruto was nearby, sitting at the edge of the lake and offering her pointers when she needed it. She had fallen into that accursed stream more times than she could count, and she was still falling. She was determined; if for no other reason than that the silly oaf had dangled the promise of learning stronger techniques if she proved she could do it.
Aayla sighed, realising she had more fun training with him than she had in a long time. The war seemed to have sucked all of the joy from her life, replacing it with a need to keep her and her troopers alive. How she missed the days when she was a simple apprentice, training with her master and learning new and exciting things every day. She missed those days. She missed Master Vos, Master Tholme, Tra'saa and Yoda, whose old sagely voice was better than a glass of warm Bantha milk to a child. She missed the younglings at the temple who she played with when she wasn't stuck on a far off world fighting for her life. Their happy faces and playful laughter assaulted her ears, and she felt a pain in her chest.
She would never hear those voices again.
Images of Barriss vanishing in a ball of fire invaded her mind, of the three Padawans lying dead in that communications room, of Galle holding a blaster to her forehead.
Aayla felt a tear trace its way down her cheek before she dunked her head under the water's surface.
Naruto took a deep breath as he walked towards the small lagoon, absently taking off his jacket and shirt as he walked. The hunt had been fairly simple this time around. Barely a half hour in and he had managed to catch and kill one of the strange reptilian birds that were common on this world. He already had it over a fire when he left. Leaving a Kage Bunshin to watch over it and make sure it didn't get burned.
The blond had not bathed in almost three days, and even he was beginning to notice the stench rising from his clothes. He needed to wash them, and then wash all the grime off of himself in order to keep his sanity intact. Naruto didn't know where his comrade was, and hoped that Aayla hadn't gotten the same idea as he had.
Thinking of Aayla brought many emotions and unanswered questions to the blond. After living with her for two weeks he thought he was getting to know her quite well, and what he had surmised was that she was a strong and courageous woman, if a little impulsive at times, jumping headfirst into a situation instead of standing back. She kind of reminded him of himself when he was a teenager, only more refined, more calm and in control and not the tornado of barely controlled energy he once was.
She also possessed a healthy dose of curiosity, listening to every word as he trained her in the basics of a Shinobi's abilities. Aayla had proven to be a fast learner, willing to train for hours or even days on end to master a certain technique. He remembered after he showed her the basic hand signs and handed her a scroll on the subject she spent another three hours reading through the parchment and going through the hand seals.
He reached the last line of trees, and stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw. Aayla walked through the shallows towards the beach, completely naked to the world. Quickly the blond jumped back and hid behind a tree, quietly berating himself. Of course she would want to take a bath. She hadn't bathed in a while either.
He knew he should have just turned his back on the scene, gone back to camp and watch over the food. But that stupid perverted impulse of his kept him routed firmly in place, and made him turn around and survey the form of perfection before him. Her body consisted of a supple form and flat stomach, pure unblemished cerulean skin which sparkled thanks to the droplets of water clinging to her flesh. Her breasts were a little over a handful and her legs were long and seemed to stretch for an eternity with every fluid step she took. Those two long head tails followed her, swishing backwards and forwards, touching her firm backside on more than one occasion. In fact every inch of flesh on her body was firm and toned, showing that she took her physical health very, very seriously.
By god she was a sight to behold. Naruto suddenly gave his head a violent shake, before considering smashing it against a tree trunk. He loved that old sage like a father, but damn Jiraiya to hell for turning him into a pervert. He turned, took a deep, calming breath and marched back to camp, unaware that as Aayla reached her now dry clothes her head shot up and darted from left to right, almost like she was looking for something.
She reappeared five minutes later, fully dressed and drying off her long lekku with a towel. Naruto sat rigidly in place, Shadow Clone dispelled and watching the meat as it darkened. She took several steps closer, eyes closed and features relaxed. "I really needed that."
Naruto looked up to her, trying desperately to stop the full blush from forming on his cheeks. He apparently failed miserably. "Naruto, are you alright?" Aayla asked with a little worry, kneeling beside him and placing a delicate cerulean hand against his forehead. "Do you have a fever? Your face is all flushed."
"Nope," Naruto replied, taking those images and violently flushing them from his thought processes. "Just a little tired is all, and I'm in real need of a bath."
She smiled a delicate, beautiful smile. "Well I'm finished bathing, so you can go if you want. I'll keep an eye on the food."
Naruto nodded and stood up, trying and failing to not notice the cleavage showing thanks to her leather cut off top. "Thanks."
Aayla starred after him as he disappeared into the forest, a little confused from the change of his aura. When he saw her walk into camp she felt that he was embarrassed and a little guilty. Why would he need to feel guilty? After a moment the young Knight shrugged, and finished drying off her lekku.
Major Garn looked up as the last wedge shaped Acclamator-class Assault ship disappeared in the surrounding cloud cover over the capital, the seven hundred and fifty meter long warship transporting sixteen thousand of his brethren to their next assignment. He had heard that although the Separatist leadership was destroyed there were still worlds refusing to adhere to the new Empires control, and almost half of the Grand Army was being rerouted to deal with them. Six months, the Lieutenant considered the last Confederate resistance would fall within six months.
That was not his concern however, not anymore. His attention was once again fully on this Inquisitor, an agent of the Empires new Inquisitorius, who he considered was a replacement for the Jedi. The Inquisitor here was definitely a force sensitive individual, but immediately he decided he didn't like him. Something about this man made his hair stand on end, not like Lady Secura or Lady Offee, who had a calming aura about them. He didn't even know the man's name.
Garn had been handpicked by his former Marshal Commander to lead the chosen Clone squads during his operation. The Major found himself in charge of over five hundred veteran Clone Troopers, a battalions worth taskforce gathered to help in the hunt for their former General.
Several meters away was the intimidating form of a small column of modified AT-RT artillery walkers, given to them to serve as mobile command centres, a further six LAAT gunships lay nestled to his left, already filling up with a platoon of thirty Clones each.
"Are you listening Major?"
"Yes, Inquisitor," Garn replied, looking over the holographic view of the jungle for at least fifty kilometres in every direction, "This section of jungle stretches for at least three hundred kilometres in every direction, and with her abilities Knight Secura could be well out of range by now."
"There is no need to worry about that Lieutenant," the Inquisitor replied, "If she was injured she would not be able to run far. She would be looking for an open space, with a water source and enough cover to hide."
The Major thought about it. There were only a select few locations which had water supplies as it was the middle of the dry season. From atmospheric scans he knew that there were only three small pools of water in this section of jungle, and a stream which was continually shrinking as the weeks passed. "Then I will order the gunships to survey these three areas for any sign of her."
"See to it that it is done Major." The Inquisitor replied, turning to make his way towards the open ramp of the AT-RT, "Her survival is a black mark on the 327th Star Corps, makes you look like you cannot complete your assignments."
The lieutenant grit his teeth at the man's statements, yes he was beginning to miss the Jedi already. If he could he would rather kill this man instead of his former General. Garn had deep respect for her, as a warrior and a person. He would fulfil his duty, but he didn't have to like it.
"That's it," Naruto said with a smile as he watched her, "I think you got it."
Aayla breathed a sigh of relief as she put one foot in front of the other, still amazed every time she looked down to see the crystal clear water lapping at her bare feet. She was soaking wet from several failed attempts, her skin glistening in the midmorning sunlight, but she did it, she was walking on water.
A genuinely happy smile curved her lips upward as the young woman looked down at the mass of life beneath her feet. She clasped her hands behind her back and leaned down to look at the small shoal of alien fish flitting through the deep water of the pool. At that moment she felt different, happy and relaxed. Aayla looked up to see Naruto standing before her, a smile of his own adorning his whiskered cheeks.
"There you go Aayla, knew you could do it." She blushed ever so slightly at the compliment, before offering him a quick bow, hoping the sudden movement hid the darkening of her cheeks. Sadly this did not go unnoticed by the blond human. "Hey, are you blushing?"
"No," she replied with as much indignation as she could muster, which wasn't much considering her happy mood.
"You are blushing," he exclaimed with a chuckle. Aayla's blush darkened, before she felt her control slip and she fell back into the water with a squeak of surprise. Naruto moved quickly, grabbing her by the sides before she went under and pulling her back up to a standing position, "Sorry, sorry. Concentrate on the soles of your feet. Good, gather your chakra."
Aayla regained her footing, and sent a dangerous look to her teacher, "That was not funny."
"I disagree," Naruto replied with a grin, turning around to walk back to dry land.
He managed three steps before Aayla jumped him, sending the two of them cascading through the lake's surface. A second passed before the young Twi'lek exploded from the water, concentrating her chakra into the soles of her feet to keep herself stably on the surface. She was soaked to the bone again, but surprising her teacher had been worth it.
Or so she thought, she waited for a minute before she began to get worried. Naruto hadn't resurfaced, and as she walked in a circle, absently calling out his name, and getting no reply, she really started to worry. Aayla was completely unaware of the dark shape keeping stride with her from beneath her feet, not until a pair of hands exploded from the water and latched onto her bare ankles. The young Knight was barely able to squeak in surprise before she was pulled down, losing control of her chakra.
Both resurfaced at the same time, only their heads visible. Naruto shook his head violently, tossing a mass of droplets from his hair in every direction, including on his bemused student. Aayla frowned at him, before a rueful smile curved her dark lips, a smile which the blond returned. Both concentrated their chakra into the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet, forcing themselves out of the water and into a kneeling stance.
Both looked at each other for a heartbeat, before the young woman playfully stuck out her tongue, "Catch me if you can,"
With that she performed a perfect backward somersault, her body diving into the water, kicking up splashes which drenched Naruto once again. The blonde shook himself, looked at the disturbed water's surface, and grinned, "What you think I can't swim?"
He took a few careful hops before jumping into the air in a chakra propelled leap, and streamlining his body dived into the water, following his student through the clear lake. Both flew through the water as if being in such a place was as natural as breathing. Aayla continuing to lead Naruto on, performing beautiful and tantalising acrobatics to keep herself just out of her teachers reach. She hadn't had so much fun in years.
Both were completely unaware that a single Clone Trooper was watching them from the far side of the lake, looking through the scope of his sniper rifle. He had a perfect shot at Aayla's head, but didn't take it. Instead he began discreetly sending a communiqué to his superiors.
Author's Note 1: Naruto and Star Wars are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Lucas Arts respectively. I make nothing from this story.
Author's Note 2: Once again thank you all for the response to this story so far. I really wasn't expecting so many people to like it, and it pleases me to see so many people do. Some people have voiced their concerns that this is going to turn into a copy of Swords and Magic. It's not, I have a whole different idea for a story in my head, they won't be stuck on Felucia for too long, and they won't be meeting up with Shaak Ti, which may come later.