Chapter 15

Lair of the Jackal

Concentration was the key. One did not just summon such a powerful attack into being and throw it. One had to train until his chakra could be used to the perfect amount. Too little and it would fall apart. Too much and it would explode in the users face. This technique needed perfect chakra control, calculating every micro-ounce of exertion.

First Naruto called upon his infamous Sage Mode, and allowed the changes to take place. The red pigmentation which formed on his eyelids, the very eyes themselves change colour to yellow and the pupil morphing from round to that of a bar. His senses heightened including hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell. In this form he could unleash any offensive or defensive move in his arsenal without an aide.

He raised his hand, open palmed, fingers bent upwards and concentrated chakra into it, knowing the exact amount from instinct. The Rasengan came first, a swirling ball of pure chakra, blue as the deepest ocean and swirling as fast as a whirlpool. Then he added his element to it, knowing that again the amount had to be pinpoint accurate with the same results as possible when it was first formed. The chakra was added, the shape was pictured in his mind and held and the wind was stable and ready.

With that the ball of energy which was once a Rasengan became something more, four blade like points seemed to form from it, giving the energy the shape of a shuriken. It spun so fast that any observers would only see a near blur. A bell like sound resounded throughout the warehouse, a warning to his enemies and a signal to him that he was ready.

With an almighty cry of exertion he threw the Rasenshuriken, noticing a blaster beam impact off the ground a few feet away from him. His friends had done their job of covering for him well, and now it was his turn. The shuriken shaped projectile flew in a curved angle, aimed for the walkway where the majority of the bounty hunters were taking cover. It didn't explode on contact, it cut right through with a sharp squeal as the metal was sliced, followed by the bodies of whoever was behind the railing guard.

There was a moment of silence, followed by a screech as the cut through metal slid down and fell to the ground below with an almighty impact, the bodies of the five bounty hunters followed; landing on the decking in a cacophony of meaty thuds. This was what the Rasenshuriken was capable off, a destructive Jutsu which annihilated everything and anything in its path. It was up to the wielder if the target was cut in half or destroyed at the cellular level.

He chose the latter, easier to clean up.

In one fell stroke he annihilated two thirds of the enemy, and the spectacle seemed to have the desired effect on the survivors. They fled the scene, firing sporadically, and the Rangers were able to kill another one before they managed to break through the door at the other end and out of sight.

Cristo was shouting from his position, "Mathews, Crisis, take a unit and give chase. I don't want them leaking our position!"

The two men yelled an affirmative before calling out a list of names of people they were taking with them. Ten Rangers rushed forwards to the hatch nearest to where the mercenaries escaped from, armed with military grade blasters.

"What the hell was that!"

Naruto looked over the Dass before he finished. "My deadliest technique and one I don't use lightly."

"That was badass." Bomo muttered, and looking around as a medical team moved to the still alive woman in the open he scratched the back of his head. "And if you didn't use it we'd probably have suffered worse."

"That we would have," the group turned to see Cristo, half supporting half carrying his female companion, Serena, before carefully handing her off to a couple of medics. She looked alright, just a shot in the shoulder which had a bacta patch over it. "Three dead, five wounded. I thought you led them right to us, or were allied with them."

"And why would you think that?" Dass asked with a frown.

"You could have been a Jedi, but there are rumours of Jedi going turncoat and working for this new Empire." Jack replied with a shrug. "I had at least three men with rifles aiming at you guys, but good thing they didn't shoot."

"A very good thing," Schurk replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Indeed," Jack replied before looking around him and sighing. "It was a good place to hide, but not anymore. We're packing up and moving out to our secondary safe house, going to have to hide all of these ships as well."

"What about our bargain?" Schurk asked.

"Oh we want that ship, you can bet your ass we ain't backing out of it, but as to the transaction well." He scratched the back of his head. "It's going to have to be put on hold until we can get re-setup."

"I understand," Dass nodded before turning to Bomo. "Raise the Uhumeleand tell Crys to get out of there. Can you tell us where this secondary safe house is?"

Cristo frowned but nodded as Bomo wandered off and began talking into his personal comlink. "Sure, it's on the other side of the district, I'll get my people to contact your people when we're setup and sure that we've lost the authorities, could take a couple of days though."

"We may not have a couple of days," Dass muttered.

"We got trouble," Bomo yelled. "The Uhumeleis under attack, at least two platoons worth of bounty hunters. They're holding their own for now but they may need some help."

"Tell them to hold out," Dass replied as he walked over to the small armoury of weapons from Naruto's scroll, picked up a carbine and slammed a fresh magazine into place. "Schurk, you stick with these guys and let us know when they're setup again. The rest of you with me, we're going to knock some skulls."

Schurk nodded and followed Cristo as he moved, shouting orders to the men and women around him. Already a few ships were powering up and taking off, the thrums of several engines slowly filling the air. Naruto saw a YT-1300 freighter power up its thrusters and fly out of the still opening hanger bay doors.

"If Aayla and Celeste haven't done it first," Bomo muttered under his breath. "I've seen what Jedi can do when outnumbered and it's scary."

"You're forgetting Mezgraf and Ko," Naruto replied. "Those two could take out a small army themselves."

"Sith me those hunters don't stand a chance do they?"

"Probably not, but let's not take the risk shall we," Jennir shot back as he finished arming himself.

Naruto grabbed a passing by Ranger and smiled, "Can I have my blasters back now?"

The two of them were in the thick of the hunters within barely a second, lightsabers ignited, singeing the air as they swept and sliced. Three hunters fell to the ground, miniscule lines of burning flesh the only evidence of how they died as the two Jedi continued their advance into the mess of bodies. Blaster bolts were fired sporadically at them by the surprised hunters, but neither showed much exertion as they ducked, sidestepped and parried anything that came their way.

Mezgraf and Ko had already taken cover, toppling over a small pile of crates carrying foodstuffs and spare equipment. The Blood Carver dragged the heavy blaster with him, hauling it on top of their makeshift barricade and taking aim, not at the skirmish taking place in front of them but at the group of hunters firing from the rafters high above.

"Only got another six seconds of ammo left in this," Valkier growled as he took aim and squeezed the trigger enough to send a seconds worth of repeating blaster fire against the rafters, watching as they left scorch marks on the heavy steel railing.

"Then use it wisely my friend," Mezgraf replied as he un-slung his long barrelled blaster rifle from his back, adjusted the scope and aimed down the sights, frowning as he attempted to track the hunters firing at them from above.

"What about our Jedi friends?" Ko asked before he heard yet another cut off scream from their general direction. He chanced a glance, noticing that they must have thinned the enemy's numbers by at least a third in a matter of a few seconds. Bodies covered the decking, some alive though missing a limb, others didn't seem to be nearly as lucky.

Mezgraf released a throaty chuckle. "I believe our friends over there have things well in hand."

Ko nodded his head before aiming his heavy repeater back at the terrace and opening fire with a two second round, peppering the rafters once again with crimson blasts of fire but growling in frustration as he knew they hadn't connected with anything. "We need something with a bit more bite."

"I agree," the towering feline sentient replied before tapping the button for the built-in comlink in his shirt. "Crys, we need some of the heavy stuff."

There was a crackle of static before her voice filtered through. "Already on it Mez, give us a moment."

The rear gun turret was already swivelling into position even before she finished speaking, bringing its two quad-laser barrels to bear against the rafters where the sharpshooters were firing from. Two beams of green light ripped through the rafter in an explosion of flame and steel, sending the bodies of at least three hunters falling to the decking far below.

What fell to the ground weren't bounty hunters.

They were droids.

Ko and Mezgraf cursed within seconds of each other, but it was the Blood Carver who voiced the obvious first, "A diversion!"

"Thank you for noticing."

The two spun around, wide eyed, in time to see a male human with short black hair standing over them, blaster pistol held at waist height. Two more sentient beings approached, flanking him. The one on the left was a Trandoshan, and the one on the right was a Rodian. All three had blaster pistols drawn and held ready to fire.

"Would you please put your weapons down?"

Mezgraf growled in annoyance, but dropped his sniper rifle, following by Ko a few moments later. The link near his ear suddenly went dead, followed by a beeping noise from the comlink of the leading bounty hunter. He smirked as he reached up and clicked it on. "Yes?"

A drawl of laughter filled the static filled channel before a raspy voice spoke. "We've taken the ship, no resistance, just a girl, a Nosaurian infant and a rodent."

"Very good," the human nodded before clicking it off. There was a clank of metal and they all looked around to see the two Jedi women standing a few meters away from them, lightsabers still ignited and held at the ready. The few dozen thugs behind them now nothing more than bodies scattered across the deck, some silent, others moaning in pain, all defeated.

"You Jedi really are a deadly bunch," the man said before aiming his blaster right for Ko's head. "Drop your weapons or we start killing people."

Both women didn't respond, still holding their weapons at the ready. The man sighed, and with an almost idle movement fired his blaster, hitting Mezgraf in the shoulder and sending him falling onto his back, emitting a growl of pain but little else. The Twi'lek held her lightsaber closer to her side, almost as if she were thinking of rushing in.

"I wouldn't try that," the hunter replied as he fired another round, this one leaving a scorch mark in the metal, barely a few centimetres from where Mezgraf had fallen. "The next one goes into his chest, or would you rather I drag the woman out here and start shooting off her limbs?"

Aayla's eyes could have melted steel, but after a moment she relented, lowering her weapon and extinguishing the blade. She dropped her lightsaber onto the decking and took a step back, hands held up to show her lack of any other weapons. The other Jedi's eyes flashed angrily before she lowered her weapon and extinguished the blade.

"Clever girls," the man whistled with a grin motioning for the Rodian to pick up the weapons.

Before the Rodian got within a meter of the discarded lightsabers he was struck by a crimson blast of blaster fire, slamming into his chest and sending him to the ground in a heap, front smoking from the killing shot.

The human and the Trandoshan, surprised by the sudden strike, looked up in time to see a small cluster of small round objects fall at their feet. They hit the decking with a series of metallic clanks, some rolling a few inches, others bouncing, before exploding in unison, blinding all in attendance with white light.

Flash grenades.

There was a roar of a jetpack, and crimson blaster fire peppered the remaining two bounty hunters in sight, killing them in a hail of blaster bolts. A single silhouette hit the ground in the middle of the group in a crouch, wearing heavy armour of camouflaged green with gray and red lining over a jumpsuit of creamy gray. The armour was chipped and worn from age, and a type of clothe was wrapped around his torso, but anyone could tell where such armour hailed from.

It was the armour of a Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian looked up and in a quick flash drew a hold out blaster in time to fire three shots, all aimed at the two bounty hunters rushing down the ships rampway. Two hit the first one, one in the chest and the other in the shoulder, while the third slammed into the face of the man right behind him, both fell onto the ramp and rolled onto the decking, coming to a stop.

The Mandalorian remained where he was, surveying the area to make sure that no one else was lying in wait before he began moving, hands blurring into his utility belts to drop small cylindrical objects onto the ground, which began spewing white gas upon impact. The gas filled the nostrils of all those still alive, their eyes watered and their throats began to burn.

It was tear gas.

Celeste was barely able to see. The flash grenades, then the tear gas made her barely able to do much more than hack and cough, let alone fight back. But she had her ability to sense the force, and so reaching deep within herself attempted to clear her mind, clearing her eyes and removing the chemicals as best she could before she saw Fett stand over a kneeling Aayla, who was even now coughing and rubbing her eyes with her hands, levelling a blaster pistol right at her.

He fired.

The beam slammed into Aayla's chest and she was thrown back, landing on her back and rolling onto her side before lying there, unmoving. Celeste forced herself to her feet, calling her lightsaber to her with the force and igniting it with a smooth motion. Her eyes simmering as she raised the blade over her head and attempted a hoarse war cry.

He spun around, raising his blaster at waist level.

"Damn you, Mandalorian!" she sputtered in anger.

He fired a round, and it slammed into her thigh, sending her spinning to the ground. Pain did not meet her, but instead there was a feeling of numbness, as if every nerve in her body had been charged with enough electricity to render her incapable of movement. She fell onto her side, attempting to rise but unable too. She struggled and struggled before it hit her.

She hadn't been shot by a blaster bolt.

She had been hit by a stun bolt. It was the far future after all, so she guessed blasters may have been adapted from her time till now to be able to fire both killing beams and stun bolts. She looked up in time to see the Mandalorian lift Aayla up with little effort and sling her over his shoulder, checking her pulse with his free hand and nodding to himself before looking back at her.

His jump-pack activated, sending him and his captive high into the atmosphere, out of the opening high above, over the edge and out of sight leaving a mass of dead corpses and stunned bodies behind. Ko and Valkier were still trying to stand, but they were still groggy from the combination of flash grenades and tear gas, and wouldn't be able to catch them. Crys and Ratty were moving down the rampway, but neither was capable of giving chase to, let alone defeating, a Mandalorian. That left her, and she was stunned.

Celeste slammed her left hand into the decking, growling in anger as she looked up to the toxin filled sky. He had her, she was defenceless, and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. Even with healing meditation it would take her precious minutes to remove the shock of the stun blast from her system, and by then he would be long gone.

"Get to the com," Ko ordered sharply to Crys who was already running up the ramp. "Contact the others, tell them Aayla's been captured! Mez get Celeste inside and get ready to take off. I don't want to be here when the authorities arrive."

It was a well-thought-out choice, Celeste knew, none of them were able to follow Aayla or her captor and the only others who had the slightest chance of getting her back were in the other group, but even then the Jedi knew that the chances of them finding her were slim to none. She had only known Aayla for a short while, but she knew a good person by instinct. She was kind, strong, courageous, a defender, and a protector. Aayla was someone who thought of her fellow sentient being before herself. She had only known her for a few days, but that was her appraisal.

The man in black armour, flowing black cape and lightsaber the colour of blood crept into her memory, even as Mezgraf lifted her up and carried her to the Uhumele.If he got his hands on her, what would he do to her? If only she were stronger, if only she were faster, if only she was at her best instead of just recovering from shellshock.

She could have ripped that young Mandalorian pup apart.

She would have seen the mercenaries coming, instead of being in a daze while she was aboard the ship. Aayla was capable and strong, but she was also young, impetuous and had just gotten over a similar traumatic experience to her own. A fine Jedi she was, but she wasn't nearly as experienced.

If the others couldn't find her within five hours then she would be lost.

Fett landed on the oval shaped roof of a high block of flats, checked his jetpacks fuel gauge, and with a deep breath activated it again, sending him into another propelled leap to the next structure. He still had a long way to go before he got a safe distance from the space port, and a long way to go before he felt he was a safe distance from any pursuers.

The only other person who looked capable of following him was that black haired woman, the one who wielded a lightsaber much the same way as the Jedi who was even now held over his shoulder, unconscious and oblivious to her fate.

Many who looked at Boba Fett without his armour would consider him to be too young for this kind of work. Even his fellow Mandalorians, who had been trained in the warrior arts since they were able to walk, would consider him too young for such assignments. He was only thirteen years old after all. The armour he wore, his father's armour as an adolescent was still a little too big for him to wear.

He would endure though. He had been a ten year old boy when he witnessed his father being murdered before his very eyes, on the arena floor of Geonosis three years ago. The day when the Clone Wars began was the same day his father had fallen, fallen by the blade of a Jedi Master. Ever since then he had trained continuously in his father's peoples arts, learning the warrior ways of the Mandalorian and preparing for the time when he would enter such a world.

He would become a great Mandalorian warrior like his father. No, he would become better than his father, a Mandalorian whose name would be edged in history, and through that the clan name of Fett would be remembered.

He landed on the roof of the next high rise building, and very nearly lost his balance, almost dropping his unconscious quarry to the streets far below. He moved at the last second, grabbing her wrist before she slipped over the edge and holding it with an iron grip. She was still unconscious, unknowing that she was teetering on the edge of death as he pulled her back onto the roof with great physical effort.

It was only then that he got a good look at her.

By whatever higher powers above she was beautiful.

She was also a Jedi.

Of the same ilk that murdered his father within that arena that still haunted his nightmares.

So he shook his head, dismissing any fantasies of a pubescent boy as he hauled her over his shoulder and activated the jetpack on his back, sending him rocketing through the air towards the next structure on his journey. He landed without much difficulty and surveyed the area, looking for the next building to jump to.

He was completely unaware that a single figure was following him with the utmost secrecy, keeping to the shadows of the skyscrapers as he kept pace with the young Mandalorian warrior. An un-ignited lightsaber hilt was held in his right hand as he watched, waiting for the right moment to strike.

"Uhumele to ground crew, do you read me, over?"

Schurk blinked at the sudden, near hysterical voice which broke through their end of the comlink, and looked over at the other three members of his party before moving to the side and tapping his own personal comlink to receive. "Ground team to Uhumele, is something wrong Crys?"

"We were attacked by bounty hunters and their hired muscle, at least two dozen of them." She replied with as calm a voice as she possibly could. "They overpowered us, but then a Mandalorian came in and-"

"Calm down Crys," Schurk soothed through his comlink; "Take a deep breath and tell me what happened."

There was a moment of silence, probably for the pilot of the Uhumeleto take his advice and regain her breathes before continuing on any further. When her voice returned to the link it was a little calmer, but still seemed a hairsbreadth away from becoming frantic once again. "I'm sorry Captain, but we were attacked by bounty hunters."

"What's the situation," Schurk urged calmly. "Is anyone hurt?"

"Mezgraf took a hit to the shoulder and Celeste got one in the thigh. They're both stable. Most of the bounty hunters are dead as well, but a Mandalorian came in and took Aayla from right under our noses." She replied.

"A problem?"

They all turned to see the Colonel walking over to them, letting his men continue loading all of the supplies into the freighters which were even now taking off through the makeshift hanger bay doors. Dass turned to the Colonel and motioned him over. "Our ship was attacked by bounty hunters, and they made off with one of our friends."

"Which one?"

"The other Jedi in our group," Naruto said gruffly as he shrugged off the crates he was carrying and looked over at Dass. "I'll look for her."

"You can find her?"

"I lived with her for a few months in Felucia. I know her scent as if it was my own."

"Her scent?"

Dass sighed as he turned, "Naruto here isn't your regular human being. His five senses have been tuned to near ten times the sensitivity of most humanoid sentient beings. If it's someone he knows he can probably track them by scent alone."

"He can catch a person by their scent on a city planet with a population of nearly twenty billion?" Cristo raised his brow in disbelief.

"We won't know until I give it a try," Naruto bit out before pumping chakra into his legs, preparing for a leap. He got off to a running start, taking ten steps before leaping high into the air, landing on the shattered remains of a large window sill and swinging his way through the opening, out of sight.

Cristo watched the empty space for a while before turning to Jennir, "Are you sure he isn't a Jedi?"

"Quite sure," Dass replied.

"Tell Crys to move to the secondary point," Schurk said to Bomo who nodded and began speaking into the comlink.

Naruto landed on the ground and began running down the side alley, his nose already sniffing the air for any sign of the scent he was looking for. His senses alone were not up to the task, but if he tapped into his prisoners demonic chakra and allowed it to seep into his nostrils then he would be able to gain the sense of smell of the Kyubi no Yoko, and the sense of smell of a tailed beast was at least a hundred times better than that of anything else.

His nose went through so many smells that his human mind was struggling to keep up, yet he persevered until he found the scent he was looking for, an unmistakable scent which was Aayla's, desert flowers of some kind. He had never smelt such a thing before he met her, but he knew deep down in his mind that it had to be the smell of a flower, and considering the planet where she was born was a non-rotating desert world then it would have to be a desert flower.

"Crys, do you read me?"

He waited a moment, and allowed a sigh of relief when she responded. "Loud and clear Naruto, what do you need?"

"I need to know what Aayla's kidnapper looked like. Can you tell me?"

"I can do better," she replied. "Do you still have that band I gave you?"

He looked at the small metallic band around his wrist, with a small bowl shaped engraving. "Yes?"

"There's a small button on the left side, silver. Can you see it?"

"I think so." He replied.

"I'm sending security camera footage now, press the button."

He did so, and watched as a holographic image came to life over his wrist, so sudden that he nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise. He took a deep breath, thinking about yelling at Crys for not telling him what the band was, but putting it aside as he watched the footage. It was without colour, being only in greys, whites and blacks, but he knew that the figure before him would be easy as hell to spot.

"Crys," he said as he watched the footage, memorizing the figure before him before shutting it down. "I could kiss you right now.

"You're not my type." She laughed in response before becoming deadly serious once again. "Get our girl back, Naruto."

"You don't have to tell me twice." He replied before pumping more chakra into his legs and jumping high in a leap, aiming for one of the smaller rooftops high above.

Fett jumped back, just missing the slab of broken concrete by mere millimetres before turning his attention back to his attacker. He fired three bolts of blaster fire, watching as all three were effortlessly deflected by the cloaked figures emerald lightsaber blade.

The enshrouded figure had attacked out of nowhere, throwing several roof tiles right at him, one of which slammed into his torso while he was in midflight and sent him spinning off course. The Twi'lek Jedi had been thrown from his grasp while he was spinning, and as he hit the ground he looked up in time to see her suspended in midair, with the cloaked figure with his hand outstretched just a few feet away from her.

Another cloaked figure had appeared, and the first one had allowed the female to float unharmed into the arms of the second. The moment the second one had her he, or she, vanished into the shadows, leaving Fett alone to deal with the original assailant. He tried to follow, but a few more slate roof tiles shattered at his feet, and he was forced to backpedal to avoid another two.

Now he was fighting for his life against another force-sensitive opponent. He dived away from another duo of tiles, falling into a roll and back on his feet as he spun around and fired another four shots from his blaster pistol, all four were once again effortlessly deflected.

Then his opponent was on the move, rushing right at him, lightsaber blade spinning with finesse as it deflected and blocked his blaster fire. Fett was reminded of watching his father's final moments on Geonosis as the force-sensitive advanced, all those years ago and still fresh in his mind's eye. Fett was not his father though, and being a clone trained in combat since infancy had its advantages.

He activated his jetpack, launching himself into the air and out of the force-sensitive warriors reach, aiming down with his blaster pistol and squeezing the trigger. Another four bolts volleyed down to strike the enemy, all of which were once again deflected before his opponent jumped high in pursuit thanks to a force leap.

Fett couldn't see his enemies face. The hood and the night sky held enough shadow to keep him concealed, but he guessed that the man fighting him was human or near-human, just by seeing his gloved arms as he weaved his lightsaber with expertise borne from years of training and more years of combat.

The young Mandalorian watched as the emerald blade effortlessly cut his blaster pistol in two, midway along the barrel. Releasing the now useless weapon, he used his other free hand to deactivate his jetpack, allowing gravity to save him from being sliced in half at the waist. He reached into his second thigh holster, drawing another pistol, aimed and fired.

This one wasn't a blaster pistol.

It was a single shot grenade pistol, capable of firing a single grenade of any type at the enemy. Sadly he hadn't equipped himself with any deadly grenades for this mission, preferring to take his targets alive. The Imperial agent had been lying. The bounty for the female was a hundred thousand credits for her dead, but a hundred and fifty thousand for her alive. She must have slighted some well connected Imperial for the agent to leave out that piece of information.

The pistol fired a flash grenade right into the cocky bastards face. The explosion would have blinded him if it wasn't for his helm, and the t-shaped visor which dimmed the very millisecond the grenade detonated. His armour may be old, but it was still one of the best suits of combat armour in the galaxy.

He landed hard on a rooftop. The air was wretched from his lungs from the impact, and as he forced himself to roll over he noticed that his weight had cracked the concrete tills under him. Pain lanced through his body from the impact, and it took him a few precious moments to be able to control his breathe. He cursed inwardly at how inexperienced he still was.

His father would have fired off his jetpack to soften the blow.

He managed to make it up to a knee and look up at where he had fired his flash grenade. The force-sensitive was nowhere in sight, and he allowed himself a breath of relief before realisation on his situation dawned on him. He had lost his bounty.

"Nice try,"

He froze, blood pounding in his head as he looked up to see the hooded figure standing over him, emerald blade of his lightsaber activating with a snap-hissbefore being pointed to within millimetres of his bullet-shaped helm. Fett tried to think of something to counter him with, but any offensive movement he would make would have been met with a lightsaber blade through his visor.

"Care to tell me why you had my former apprentice hung over your shoulder, like some war trophy?" the man asked as the blade came a millimetre closer to his visor.

He heard a hiss, and only noticed that it was the locks of his helmet coming undone when it was wrenched from his head and tossed aside, showing his face to the man who had bested him. He hesitated, before lowering the blade ever so slightly. "A child, the Mandalorian Death Watch is using child soldiers now?"

Anger boiled within Fett at the mere mention of that separatist faction of his father's people. The one's who were responsible for so much of his late parents suffering. He hated the Jedi first and foremost. The Death Watch was a close second. "Do not speak of them in front of me if you value your life!"

The blade was so close to his face that he felt its overwhelming heat against the skin of his nose. "Do not get smart with me, youngling. You were about to carry off someone precious to me to a death sentence. You're lucky I'm not the type to slaughter children."

"Then what are you going to do to me?"

"I haven't decided yet," the man replied.

"I'll make the choice for you," Fett responded as he activated his jetpack, using the momentum to slide him off the roof and to the dark back alleys below. Before the Jedi could follow he threw two small grenades onto the roof, watching as the smoke bombs detonated and covered his escape with a thick layer of black smoke.

He managed to land roughly on the cracked concrete of the side alley, sliding for several feet before being forced off them into a roll and back up to his feet again. Then he was running, labouring under the weight of the armour but still running none the less.

He rounded a corner, then another and was about to run through another before an arm made contact with his exposed neck, slamming into his Adams apple and sending him to the ground with a painful thump. The air was knocked from his lungs, and as he attempted to roll to his side to breath he felt a foot kick him with enough force to put him back onto his back, a foot landed on his chest, keeping him in place while a blaster pistol was pointed for his forehead.

Fett looked over the muzzle of the blaster pointed at him to see a tanned human with spiky blonde hair and whisker like markings on his cheeks.

"Yep! You're my guy, alright," the blonde said in an even voice with an almost playful smirk.

"Who are you?" Fett managed before the foot slammed onto his chest hard, forcing the air from his lungs for the third time in five minutes. He opened his eyes to see that his captor's expression had darkened noticeably.

"You're my prisoner, punk! I'll be the one asking questions, here," the man growled out gruffly before sitting down on his chest with such speed that the young Mandalorian had seen only a blur. There was such weight on him that he could barely breathe. He tried to move his arms only to discover that he could not. When he looked to see why, he saw that the blonde was not only sitting on his chest, but was also using his knees to pin his arms to the ground.

Fett then heard a quick grind of metal, bringing his attention back to the face in front of him, only to almost poke his own eye out at the pinpoint of a knife barely a millimetre from his exposed right eyeball.

As the big blonde man looked him dead in the eye, Fett saw something…something that he wasn't expecting. These were the eyes of a warrior; of a man who had seen countless battles, and was in some cases probably the only person to walk away from them. These were the eyes of a man who knew no fear on a battlefield! His eyes were the eyes of…a Mandalorian? No…not a Mandalorian; something more, if that was even possible. Not even his father had such a battle-hardened look in his eyes!

Boba Fett, in the short time he'd been bounty-hunting, had already killed a few Jedi, and wasn't afraid of facing any opponent, knowing that given enough time, he'd be able to find a weakness in even a Jedi's defences and be able to exploit it. Seeing these eyes, he knew that if he were to ever engage in combat against this man, he'd stand no chance at all. He found himself unconsciously holding this man in very high regard, and began to feel great respect for this…whatever kind of warrior he was.

He was pulled out of his thoughts as the blonde spoke, "Tell me where my friend is or you start losing body parts one at a time, starting with your eyeballs."

And for the first time that Boba Fett could remember, he felt something else in addition to respect for this man: terror.

Author Alert 1: Star Wars and Naruto are the properties of Masashi Kishimoto & Lucas Arts, not particularly in that order.

Author Alert 2: A big thank you to ncpfan for acting as my Betareader for this chapter. He did a few corrections and added a little bit of his own writing finesse at the end which I thought was cool. He says he'll be happy to take on the Betareading role, and I am happy that he is aboard.

Author Alert 3: I got a bit of flak in adding Sasuke into the mix, and I will admit that it left me a little surprised. In the Prologue of the story I said that Sasuke was trapped in the same seal that Naruto was, hence I implied that he may be making an appearance of some kind in this story. I understand some people didn't want me to add Sasuke into the mix, but it was always an idea of mine that he make an appearance in this story, how much of a role he will play is still up in the air.