Chapter 16

Reunion

"So someone else took her?"

Naruto sighed before looking down at the small holographic figure, about twenty centimetres tall, standing on his wrist. He was amazed by how lifelike the spectre before him was. As long as one discarded the simple fact that the only colour accumulating from the hologram was an amber hue and the occasional flickering which distorted the form it looked like Crys.

"Looks like it," the blond replied. "By the look of this kid, he was just in a fight and he was forced to retreat. He told me that two people, hooded and cloaked, ambushed him on the rooftops. They took Aayla from him and fought him off."

"Are you sure we can trust his information? He is one of the bounty hunters out for her blood, after all."

"Believe me, Crys," Naruto replied. "When I get serious I can be pretty persuasive."

Her lips quirked up into a small smile, "I'm sure you can, but he is a Mandolorian. They don't break easily from what I hear."

"An adult maybe," the Shinobi shrugged. "But this one's a kid; tough kid, but still a kid. I doubt he has the mental fortitude to withstand one of my people's interrogation methods."

"Interrogation?"

"We were soldiers, Crys," the blond pointed out.

"Can you still follow her scent?"

"It's faint…" he replied as he took an experimental sniff, "…but yeah, I think I can still follow it, and if not, I'll just follow her chakra signature. The only active signatures on this planet are mine and hers, so it shouldn't be too hard to do."

"Then do that voodoo thing you do and get moving."

"You're getting pushy these days, aren't ya?" Naruto smiled before his features turned into a frown, "How are the others doing?"

"Mezgraf is stable. So is Celeste…though she's blaming herself pretty badly at the moment."

"Tell her not to worry," he replied, face as sombre as stone, "I'll bring Aayla home. Naruto out."

Crys nodded before her hologram fizzled out with a snap, leaving behind nothing but darkness as his communicator went offline. He turned his head, watching his captive with a harrowing glare before turning fully to face him. The runt was propped up against the wall adjacent, arms and legs immobilised by steel wire, not easy to break from. A few meters to his left, in a pile, was all of his equipment, blaster pistols, jetpack, grenades and his helmet.

The child glared right back at him before scoffing lightly, "Special interrogation techniques? A knife to the eye is not a special interrogation technique."

Naruto shrugged, "Simple yet effective. The trick is in making the captive think you're going to do it."

"So it was a bluff?" Fett snarled.

"I didn't say it was," Naruto replied with a gaze which would melt steel. He then began walking to the end of the side alley, seemingly ignoring the Mandalorian.

"Hey, you're just going to leave me like this?" the teenager snarled in barely restrained fury.

"I don't need to," Naruto replied as he placed his hands behind his back in his traditional uncaring pose. "You cut those wires two minutes ago when you used that wrist mounted blade of yours. Tell me: do all Mandalorians have one?"

He spun around, hand flying up with blurring speed in time to grab the wrist of the mercenary before his hand got anywhere near him. Naruto smirked at the look of rancid rage on the boy's features. There was anger there; a LOT of anger.

"Those gloves too. They're capable of crushing anything from bone to metal, CrushGaunts; isn't that what they're called?"

"How do you know that?" Fett asked, his anger now coupled with suspicion.

"The friend you kidnapped has been teaching me plenty about the galaxy." Naruto grinned then, eyes narrowing. "Can't let those gauntlets touch me, can I?"

He used the boys own momentum against him, sending him over his shoulder in a Judo toss and slamming him to the ground with enough force to make the air leave the boys lungs. He then jumped back, narrowly dodging the wrist-mounted blade by a hair's breadth before landing in a crouch and drawing a kunai from his wrist-mount.

"Come on, punk," Naruto growled as he narrowed his blue eyes in a feral manner, "I'll show you how a real soldier fights!"

Fett jumped to his feet and rushed right at him, stabbing out with his wrist-blade in repeated attempts to impale the man before him. Yet every time he tried to stab him, the tall man would dodge his strikes with perfect timing, sometimes sidestepping, sometimes leaning back, sometimes ducking, sometimes just bending over backwards or rotating his body at unnatural angles. Fett found himself getting more and more frustrated at the blonde, whose mocking smirk never left his face as he made evading Fett's attacks look so easy.

As the Mandalorian attempted to turn his stab into a horizontal swing, Naruto once again used the young man's momentum against him, grabbing his arm and slamming him back down to the ground courtesy of another Judo toss. The boy had talent Naruto had to give him that. He also trained hard, Naruto could see that as well…but his movements were still jittery and sloppy, and he frequently overextended himself when attacking with that wrist-blade of his. He also let his rage get the best of him far too easily and quickly.

"Why do I see such anger in you? Where does it come from?" Naruto questioned as the boy got back to his feet, shakily, but still stubbornly determined to continue the fight, his eyes burning pits of dark, simmering flame as he glared at his blonde adversary.

"It comes from looking at you," the boy snarled as he began inputting commands into a wrist computer before aiming his arm right at him, a barrel popped up and fire spewed from the miniature flamethrower, encompassing the cramped side alley and burning everything in its path. "It's because a warrior like you is a friend to a Jedi! A Jedi!"

The gouts of flame ceased, and all that remained was a side alley, caste aside rubbish burning and walls blackened. But there was no body, no traces that a sentient being had met his end here. The smell of cooked meat did not reach the young Hunters nostrils. Fett soon realised that he didn't even hear a scream.

"I see, so that anger of yours stems from the Jedi does it?" He heard the blonde ask, turning in the direction the voice was coming from, only to be met with the heel of his palm to his jaw, sending him falling to the ground in a heap. The blond human stood there, not even singed by his flames.

He was on him in a heartbeat, legs pinning his arms as he sat once again on his chest, a hand grasped onto his flamethrower and with a hue of blue light tore it from its wrist-mount. Fett could do nothing but watch as the man casually inspected the sparking scrap of what was once his weapon before idly tossing it over his shoulder.

Naruto turned back to face the raging eyes of the young Mandalorian, "What could the Jedi have done to receive such hatred from you?"

Fett growled up at his enemy, knowing that the man was stronger than him and that he couldn't get out of his grasp through muscle. He was pinned, and he couldn't move. His breathes came and left in gasps, eyes narrowing and becoming feral, mind overcome with a need to fight as he shouted out, "They killed my father!"

His blade slid out of it's sheathe as he was just able to break that arm free from the man's grasp. The young clone was just able to see the widening eyes of his opponent before he jumped back, missing his blade but allowing Boba to jump back to his feet and rush into the offensive. All the while shouting and roaring at him.

"They killed him like some nobody, taking his head off and leaving him where he fell. He was the only family I had and they took him from me," he yelled as he lashed out with as much speed and power as he could, watching with satisfaction as the man was forced to draw one of his knives to continue blocking and deflecting his strikes. Yet that satisfaction fled him the moment he saw his face, not an ounce of worry or fear, but a stony expression.

Fett continued shouting out accusations against the objects of his hatred as he continued assaulting the man before him, "The Jedi murdered him on Geonosis and I won't rest until all of them are drowning in pools of their own blood!"

"Revenge is not the way, son…" Naruto said plainly, looking into the boys eyes and seeing other faces. He saw Sasuke, family dead, eyes full of hatred: first at his brother, then at his village. Then he saw himself, standing over a burning wreckage of Konoha, bodies everywhere with eyes of crimson and a face distorted in rage. He added regretfully, "…I know that all too well."

"Shut up!" Fett roared as he continued his advance, running, stabbing; attempting to overwhelm his opponent through sheer force and speed, "What do you know of my pain! What do any of them know of my pain! The Jedi sat there on their towers while the galaxy burned! You stand there like my better, what do you know!"

"Everything," Naruto replied, and the look in his eyes made Fett hesitate for a moment, eyes of a seasoned soldier, and eyes of a broken soldier, eyes of a dead man or someone who at one time wished for death. "I know everything."

"I don't believe you," he said, his hesitation carrying into his voice as he stabbed out, putting all of his weight into the thrust, only to see his assailant sidestep the potentially lethal strike. Fett did not allow himself to stagger, but continued running, circling around his enemy before jumping in again, reeling back with his sword arm and lancing out. The man simply stood where he was, eyes closed. It infuriated him even more as he shouted out, "You know nothing of my pain!"

His wrist-blade grinded to a halt as it connected with the blond mans knife in a hail of sparks. "You know nothing of what I went through! You don't know what it feels like to be all alone, to lose everyone! You don't know!"

There was silence. The blond man didn't reply, and then something happened, something which brought a chill to the young Mandalorians spine. The air went cold, and then became heavy. Fett found himself frozen in place, unable to move as the man before him opened his eyes to pierce that same gaze Fett saw when he first met him. The gaze of a soldier who had lost everything, who had experienced battles of such savagery that it would be unimaginable. There was something more to the gaze, something truly terrifying. Fett looked into these eyes and saw loss, true inconsolable loss, coupled with anguish that he couldn't even begin to measure; it might have given his pause to think if the blonde's eyes hadn't changed colour from blue to red and developed slit-like pupils.

"What do I know? You arrogant, little Mandalorian punk!" With a sudden movement he put his weight into the stalemate and threw Fett's arm into the air. His free hand reached out, grabbing his wrist-blade and holding it there. Blood soon streamed down the man's hand, but it wasn't his hand which lost the exchange of flesh against steel. Boba watched with awe bordering on dread as his blade cracked, then shattered under the man's grip.

When Fett returned his gaze to Naruto's own, he saw a man who was as angry if not angrier than he himself was, "You lost your father? It was war, boy! And your father chose to participate in it! He died because his opponent was a split second faster than he was! It's tragic, but that's war! And in war, it's kill or be killed!"

"Shut up," Fett ground out.

Naruto's own voice lowered, but took on an ominous tone, "It wasn't personal, kid. They were just two warriors on opposite sides; that's it!"

"Shut up."

"Do you know how many Jedi died on that field, that blood soaked field?" Naruto asked, voice low yet carrying such anger. "Two hundred Jedi went in, less than twenty came out."

"Shut up!"

"You think you're avenging your father? Your father's killer was likely just avenging the comrades that he lost at your father's hands! That's war!"

"Shut UP!"

"And once you've had your fill of vengeance, how long is it going to be before someone comes seeking vengeance from you, huh? WHEN DOES IT END?"

"SHUT UP!" Fett roared as he tried to draw his hold-out blaster from the hidden compartment in his sleeve, but Naruto, moving faster, grabbed his arm and forced it to the ground with enough force for the small weapon to fall from his grasp and slide just out of his reach. He tried to reach for it, but it was no good. It was too far.

"Do you know what it feels like to know your parents died to protect you?"

His eyes met the eyes of the blond man before him, and widened at the deadness of them, the lack of any life other than sorrow beyond what a normal man should feel.

"Do you know what it feels like to see your friends die in front of you?"

There was also anger, a lot of anger. It wasn't in his voice, or his demeanour. It was all in his eyes, blazing pools of fiery-red which held such fire that Fett knew he would be burned if there was any actual heat. Then the anger exploded from his voice and his demeanour, like a pressure cooker which had been beyond its limits for far too long.

"Do you know what it feels like to hold the woman you love in your arms, telling her that it will be alright when you know that it won't? To watch the life drain from those beautiful lavender orbs while you tried to tell her that it will be alright? Do you know? DO YOU?"

Fett felt the weight lift from his chest, and jumped back to his feet in time to see his enemy standing right before him, eyes simmering with a mass of emotions he could barely comprehend. There were unshed tears in his eyes before he violently shook his head, dispelling them. When he looked at Fett again his eyes were once again azure blue his gaze cold, hard, and steely.

He spoke in a tone that was just as cold as his gaze, "I am Naruto of the Uzumaki Clan, Jōnin of Konohagakure. I am a Shinobi; the last of my kind." He said those words with great conviction. "Maybe when you think like that you will know my pain, and Aayla's pain. Her people teeter on the edge of extinction, just like mine do."

Fett looked into this man's eyes, feeling that it would be dishonourable to look away, and saw this man for what he was. A man who had fought wars and battles beyond his imagination, who had survived by the skin of his teeth, and sometimes been the only survivor of them, someone who watched those most precious to him die in his arms and was unable to do a thing about it.

"Kid, you need to learn that as rough as you've had it, there are people who've been through a lot worse," he said at last with a sigh, looking up at the stars for a moment before meeting his eyes once again. "You're young. You have a life ahead of you. You might meet a girl, fall in love, and have a family. I'll give you this piece of advice: cherish those you love. Do not abandon them or forsake them, because in doing so you waste your life and you may ruin the lives of those you leave behind."

He moved in a blur, and Fett didn't know what had happened until he was on the ground, body curling into a fettle position as the pain from his punch to the stomach took its toll. The hit was at just the right point, immobilising him. He was just able to look up at the blond-haired man as he looked down at him and said a few simple words.

"Your father died, kid. In war, people die. It's tragic, but that's war."

He knelt down beside Boba Fett as he continued with a firm yet understanding posture, "Don't ruin your life over revenge, son. I doubt your father would want that, and the Jedi who killed him is probably dead already."

"He is," Fett managed.

"Then someone has taken your revenge for you," Naruto replied as he stood up. "Don't aim your revenge at those who had no part in it."

"But your friend was there," he rasped.

"I know, she told me." Naruto replied with a smile, a sad smile. "But she was nothing more than a soldier following orders. And sometimes she wakes up at night crying out the names of her friends who died in that coliseum. You're looking for revenge in the wrong place and honestly, she's suffered enough."

He began walking away from Fett's prone form, for all the fight had left the aspiring young bounty hunter. He watched the man's retreating back for a moment before he spoke, "Wait…please…"

Naruto raised a surprised eyebrow at this boy's sudden humility. Fett continued, "Naruto of the Uzumaki Clan, Jōnin of Konohagakure, the Last Shinobi. My name is Boba Fett, son of Jango Fett, of the Tribe of Mandalore! You have earned my respect as a warrior this day!"

Naruto simply nodded in acknowledgement to Boba's declaration. Boba then asked, "This Jedi woman, what is she to you?"

His step faltered, but only for a moment before he started walking again as he answered, "A precious person. Theprecious person."

"She is a Jedi," he replied from his prone position, still unable to move, "She cannot return your feelings."

"I know," Naruto replied simply. "But I'll protect her to the death regardless."

The look in his eyes as he uttered those words, half turned to face him, told Fett that this man was not making an idle response when he spoke them. Those words were something that he would put his life on the line to accomplish. He would protect that woman until his dying breath.

Naruto turned around to address the young Mandalorian once more, his own eyes gazing at the boy with mutual respect, "See you around, Boba Fett, son of Jango Fett, of the Tribe of Mandalore."

He raised his hand in farewell before vanishing in a blur, leaving Boba to ponder his words.

Schurk watched as the Uhumele slowly entered the large bay doors of the Rangers new location. It was a warehouse located on the other end of the sector, nowhere near as large as their original hideout. At least thirty men and women were rushing back and forth, carrying equipment to where it needed to be, either for usage now or into storage.

Apparently it was one of several such smaller locations that their benefactors had set up just in case their original storehouse was ever compromised. Besides the Uhumele,which was only now settling down in its berth, there were two other ships of similar size, a YT-1300 freighter and a Z-95 Headhunter.

"Any word from Naruto yet?" Schurk looked over to his crew. Dass and Bomo were a few feet away from him, obviously discussing their current predicament.

"Yeah," Bomo replied with a frown. "He caught the hunter who took her, but apparently someone beat him to the punch. He's still sniffing around."

"Other bounty hunters, maybe?" Schurk asked thoughtfully.

"They don't think so," Bomo said as he looked over. "Whoever took Aayla from the hunter used a lightsaber, so he guessed it was either a Jedi or some other force-sensitive."

"It could be the other Jedi Cristo was telling us about," the Captain pointed out hopefully.

"Or it could be one of those Inquisitors the Empire's been recruiting lately." Dass frowned before sighing heavily.

"That too," Bomo agreed, looking over in time to see the Uhumele settle into its berth, engines dying down to a hum as its landing ramp lowered. A handful of men moved over to give aide to the crew. "Come on. Let's see if we can help."

Dass and Schurk nodded before following the small Nosaurian over to their ship, seeing Mezgraf and Celeste being helped down the ramp by Ko and Ratty before being handed over to the approaching Rangers for treatment. Crys came down next, a wide eyed and scared little Resa held in her arms. The girl was looking at everything, little clawed hand gripping Taanzers sleeve tightly before she saw her father.

"Daddy," she whimpered as Crys let her down.

She literarily jumped into her father's arms. "Are you alright sweetie?"

"She's fine Bomo," Crys consoled as she kneeled down beside the two. "Just a little jumpy after what happened."

"She's going to be alright, right?" the child asked worriedly as she looked up to her father. It was obvious who she was talking about.

"Don't you worry, sweetheart," Bomo consoled his daughter softly. "Naruto's out there looking for her right now."

She sniffed, but nodded.

"That's a fine ship you got there." The crew looked up in time to see a Ranger walk up towards them, dressed in gray fatigues, a utility belt carrying tools and a small blaster tied securely around his waist. He was human and young with curly brown hair and tanned skin. He extended his hand to the Captain, who took it in greeting. "The names Turk, boss says we should do you guys a favour with your ship."

"Schurk-Herren," the Captain returned before frowning. "What does your boss want to do with my ship?"

"Changing the transponder codes, frequencies, access codes, give it a new paintjob, change the identification plates and possibly the name if that's alright with you." The young engineer replied as he looked over the Uhumelefrom where he stood with a critical eye. "Boss says you guys have had a few too many run-ins with the Imps; you can't be too careful."

"He's right; we have…" Schurk allowed, eyes narrowing slightly, "…but…how much will this favour cost us?"

"Nothing," the kid replied with a wave of his hand. "The boss says that bringing a few more Jedi to us is more than enough for us to do at least this much. We've been trying to set up an underground with other resistance cells sympathetic to the Jedi, to save as many from the Imperials guns as we can."

"Thank you," Crys piped up with a smile. "It'll be just what we need."

The kid blushed ever so slightly, hand reaching up to absently scratch his chin as he smiled back and spoke. "Don't worry about it, least we can do."

"And he'll start on it now," Cristo called as he approached the group, a bandaged Serena following him as he walked. The woman's shoulder had been bandaged by bacta wrap, but she kept a brave look on her face as she remained by her commander's side.

"Yes boss," Turk snapped a salute before spinning around and beginning to walk briskly towards the ship, passing a glance in Crys direction before beginning to call for his crew.

"He likes you," Bomo teased lightly.

Taanzer gave him a wry look before shrugging, "Not interested."

"Thank you for repairing our ship," Schurk bowed his head lightly to the Colonel, who waved him off.

"Don't worry; least we can do." Cristo smiled lightly before looking right at Dass, "I have my men aiding in looking for your friend. If she is theAayla Secura then we'll have to find her before the authorities. There's a rumour that she's become one of their main targets now, something about a run-in with their new Supreme Commander and surviving."

"That was a close call."

"So it's true?"

"More or less," Dass nodded as he scratched the back of his head, "We survived by the skin of our teeth, there."

"Sounds like an interesting story."

"Interesting, yes, but some of it you might find very hard to believe."

"When Jedi are involved, it often is," the Colonel chuckled dryly, "We can arrange a meeting between you and the Jedi already here if you like."

"We would be indebted to you." Jennir bowed his head slightly as he spoke. "May I ask who the Jedi on this planet are?"

"Three Masters like you." Cristo replied before scratching the back of his head, "Jedi Masters Tholme, Tra'saa and Vos."

"Vos," Jennir muttered thoughtfully before it clicked, "Quinlan Vos?"

"The one and the same," the Colonel replied.

"Who's he?" Crys asked.

Dass looked over at her for a moment before answering, "Aayla's former Master."

Aayla awoke slowly, her frayed senses slowly coming back to her one at a time. First it was her sense of hearing which slowly came back, though her only way of knowing this was the constant drip of water hitting a solid surface. The next sense to return was her sight, also slowly, beginning with a dark blur before other colours began separating themselves from the dark, finally ending when her eyes focused with clarity.

She didn't know how long she laid there on the floor, and she wasn't aware of where she was until she had regained her senses enough to know of her surroundings. She was in a small room, walls coated with cracked and worn paint, with a floor of equally worn and stained timber and a ceiling with large damp patches. Water was dripping from one of those patches across the room, and the sound of said drips of water could be heard once every few seconds.

The young woman in her thought about panicking to her situation, whereas the Jedi in her urged her to calm down and assess her surroundings. The Jedi won, thankfully. She raised her head with great effort to see that a blanket had been placed over her body. She attempted to raise an arm, and was only able to do so with difficulty.

Immediately Aayla dispelled the notion that she was dead, although her last memories of being shot at point blank by a mercenary made her cringe ever so slightly. Her mind assessed the situation quickly, taking in the slowness of returning senses and the numbness in almost her entire being.

They were textbook cases of being hit by a stun bolt.

Her memories of the event continued to flood in, and she began worrying about her comrades on the Uhumele. They had been at the mercy of bounty hunters and their hired thugs, and some of them had managed to get behind them. Crys, Ratty and Resa had been captured, Ko and Mezgraf had been ambushed from behind, Mez had been shot in the shoulder. They were at their mercy. Then another hunter had jumped in, killed the others, and used flash grenades and tear gas to incapacitate them before turning on her.

She hoped they were alright.

The return of the memories brought with them other questions. Was she still in the hunters clutches, or had he deposited her to his benefactors and left her to her fate?

Footsteps caught her attention, echoing as they struck the worn wood. She tried to look in the direction of the source, but her body was still so numb. Not one limb obeyed her mental command to move. She was completely at the mercy of whoever else was in this room. Aayla hated it: the idea of being helpless.

A hand came within view, four fingers and a thumb encased in a black leather glove. The palm made contact with her forehead, fingers closing in around her skull, and she attempted feebly to break free, knowing that it was a wasted effort. A voice broke through her fog, not angry but aged and full of authority.

"Hold still."

She complied without complaint, and hated herself for it, idly thinking of how they were going to torture her for whatever information they wanted before disposing of her. Then she felt it. The numbness in her body began to recede, from her head down to her shoulders and beyond. She began to feel her limbs again. The fog around her mind, hampering her efforts, began to lift. It took her a moment to realise what he was doing.

It was a type of healing meditation, one which aided an injured comrade, a technique that only a seasoned Jedi Master was able to accomplish. It took a few moments for her mind to completely clear, and only a few moments more before she completely felt all feeling in her limbs.

The moment the healing was complete the stranger released her from his grip, but remained where he was, kneeling beside her as if waiting for her to turn and face him. Aayla hesitated a few seconds, still getting used to the return of her senses, before she turned her head to see the face of the man who removed the effects of the stun bolt from her system.

She gasped.

He wore the traditional Jedi clothes, a cream-coloured tunic, brown pants, a dark cloak with the hood lowered. His weathered features showing him as a human in his later years. His wrinkled face and sharp dark eyes, trimmed black hair which was just in the process of turning gray, a scar over his left eye, running diagonally from the left side of his brow to the right side of his cheek.

She would have recognised him a mile away.

He was the Jedi Master who finished her training, and the one who was the teacher to her first Master. Aayla fought past the last strains of numbness as her hands reached out to cup his face, eyes widened as she fought with all her might to contain her tears. He smiled at her gently, allowing her hands to roam his face without a word of complaint.

Her words came out weakly, "Master Tholme?"

"Aayla," he said in reply, true happiness in his voice as he smiled at her.

"This isn't a dream, is it?" A hand placed itself gently on her bare shoulder before pinching her exposed skin. "Owe!"

"Apparently not," he smiled.

She lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and digging her face into his chest. Tholme, surprised at first, smiled and wrapped his arms around her in response, returning her embrace. His playful smile gave way to a frowning expression. "You seem a little too thin Aayla."

She laughed shakily before she finally broke away from him, lifting her hands to unconsciously wipe the unshed tears from her dark eyes. "I'm sorry master, I couldn't-"

He raised a hand, stopping her, "I thought we taught you better than to apologise for your own feelings, my girl."

She smiled as she unconsciously wiped the last tear from her eyes. "I suppose you're right."

He grinned this time, before rising to his feet and dusting off his knees. "Wait here; there are some people who want to see you."

He stood and walked to the door at the other side of the room, and she sat there for a moment before deciding otherwise. She rose to a kneeling position, testing the feeling in her left knee before bringing her right knee up in a similar examination, sure that they were ready and already in a crouch she straightened them, bringing herself back up to her full height.

She took a single step, and stumbled, only to be caught by a pair of slender arms. "I swear, my dear, didn't he tell you to stay where you were?"

She looked up in surprise, before her features relaxed into a soft smile. The woman before her, so much older, was as beautiful as she remembered. Her cool dark skin and thick strands of wood which looked a great deal like hair. The way she dressed with a simple yet elegant classical Jedi robes, just like Master Tholme, cream-coloured tunic, brown pants but with a pair of dark brown Jedi robes, heavier than her last Masters cloak.

She held Aayla steady as her legs collapsed, and slowly lowered her into a kneeling position so that the younger woman could catch her breath. Stun blasts always carried such nasty side effects with them, such as a temporary loss of strength of limb and breathe. The woman was beside her the whole time, calmly patting her back. "Master Tra'saa."

Tra'saa smiled warmly before hugging the younger woman. "You're alive, thank the Force."

Aayla was surprised for a moment at the Neti Jedi Masters lack of protocol before shrugging it off and returning the hug, happy that there was one more Jedi that survived Order 66. She didn't know how long they were like that before a pair of shadows blocked out the light of the corridor beyond the room.

Aayla looked up, eyes widening at who she saw at the frame of the door.

He hadn't changed, at all. His skin was still tanned, more so than Naruto's, black hair braided into dreadlocks which fell beyond his shoulders, yellow stripe across the bridge of his nose and dark, piercing eyes which were widening in joy right at her. He dressed in a black tunic, pants and a dark cloak just like Master Tholme. He stepped forward, narrowing the distance between her and Tra'saa within a moment. He fell to his knees, embraced her tightly and held her.

"Aayla," he said as he hugged her. "You're here, aren't you?"

She smiled, and hugged him back, breaking out into deep sobs as it hit her that this was no dream! Her three friends and teachers were all here, right in front of her, hugging her and letting her know that they were really here, as solid in flesh and blood as her.

It was the greatest feeling imaginable; a feeling that she had all but given up hope in knowing again.

"Quin," she croaked, hesitating for a brief moment before digging her head into his shoulder and allowing a loud, powerful sob to shake her very being. "Quinlan, it is you, right? I'm not dreaming or anything?"

Quinlan Vos, taken aback by his apprentices sudden tears, smiled softly and returned her embrace, making sure that his forehead touched hers as he spoke those few words that she needed to hear above all else.

"It's me Aayla, I'm here."

"Right, she's definitely somewhere around here," Naruto frowned as he closed his eyes and centred himself, allowing his chakra to encompass the area and look for the chakra signature that he had been seeking for the last hour or so.

He had narrowed it down to this very spot, using his shadow clones to aide in his search before once again picking up and following his kidnapped friends trail. It had taken a while, but he had found what he had been looking for. The only question now was: In which building she was being held? Then he would need to take her captors by surprise and knock them out of the fight before they could try and use her as a hostage.

He sighed before falling into a cross-legged sitting position, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, frowning as he relaxed his thoughts and attempted to find that relative centre of peace to activate Sage mode. After a brief moment he found his ideal mindset and activated his technique. In a blink of an eye his chakra sensing abilities rose sharply.

He found her within a moment, three buildings to his left at the other side of the street, fourth floor, third room. He deactivated his Sage mode with a thought before jumping to his feet and running across the rooftops until he was standing across from the building, looking over at the tall structure across the street, right at the window of the room where he sensed Aayla's chakra signature. It was boarded up.

He wasn't surprised, this entire estate seemed to be almost completely abandoned save for a handful of homeless and a few groups of thugs. He guessed this area must have been a residential area at one point before something happened, and whatever happened had left quite the mark. Some buildings had been burned out. Many others looked like they had sustained enough damage for their windows to be boarded up.

That didn't matter to Naruto at the moment. He took several steps back, took a deep breath and broke out into a run, pumping chakra into his legs before throwing himself off the roof. He flew through the air, bringing his feet up so that they would collide with the wooden board between him and his friend. His feet connected with a crack as the wood gave way and he flew into the darkness of the room beyond, falling into a roll which brought him up to his feet.

There was silence, and then a flurry of snap-hissesdrew his attention to the area around him. There were three figures in the room, two men and a woman and they all carried ignited lightsabers in their hands, two azure blades and one emerald humming in the low light. Naruto in return allowed a kunai to fall in his hand thanks to his wrist launcher.

"Who are you?" the woman asked firmly.

"A friend of someone you kidnapped," Naruto replied just as firmly.

"Naruto?"

He blinked, and then looked behind the central figure. Aayla shakily got to her feet, allowing the younger male to give her support before waving at him. "It's alright, these are friends of mine. You can put that kunai down."

A tense second passed before Naruto sighed and put his kunai away, in response the three Jedi hesitated for a moment more before deactivating their lightsabers and putting them away. He gave Aayla a slightly annoyed look as he checked her over. She had been crying. After a moment more he straightened, put his hands to his hips and blew out a breath.

"I swear, are there any times when you are kidnapped that you are actually kidnapped?"

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

Author Alert 2: Thank you to ncpfan again for the betareading. He did a great job in that department, and also added a little of his own flare during the Naruto/Fett scene which just made it better. It appears that things have begun to go a lot smoother now that I have a second opinion in a writer. It just feels that much better to have someone go over it, make improvements and give it back.

Author Alert 3: In the next chapter the Uhumele crew finally begin negotiations with the Rangers, Aayla's master sits her down and Naruto will be getting a very big 'meet the parents' vib.