A/NI thought I'd combine both chapters. From now on I'll try to pump out chapters of this length.

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Mace Windu had died. At least that is what everyone believed. Hell, he himself believed it until...

Mace sat up with a sharp gasp, immediately regretting the action. Palpatine had done numbers on him, and he could not move without his body either aching, stinging, or both. Not to mention that Skywalker had cut off his arm, betraying him, and the entire order.

'I have to warn the council!' Was his first thought, before taking a good look around him. He realized that it was daytime, which started setting off alarm bells in his head. He took a deep breath to calm down and collect his thoughts. He first looked around him, assessing the situation. He fell behind a dumpster, behind a couple of buildings in a somewhat upper level of Coruscant. As he moved his head, he saw his reflection in a window of a building, and it left him stunned. Back at him was staring a brutally scarred old man, several years his senior

His only hand shot to his chin, stroking the beard that had grown there 'That... cannot be me... that means I have been out for years' A feeling of dread creeped up his back slowly 'This... This is bad' He thought, the feeling of dread starting to take hold of him even more, before he shook his head. 'I need to find answers'

Feeling out for his lightsaber, he quickly force-pulled it close to him, the metallic pipe slamming against the wall above him

'Hmm... My control has gotten sloppy.' He hid the saber in his tunic. He did not know why, but the force told him to do it.

He started getting up slowly, his body still sore and aching all over, and eventually made it to his feet


Mace walked into a random bar, looking for intel. He sat down on a stool at the counter, ordered a drink, and started talking to the bartender, a Zabrak. He needed answers, and he needed them quickly.

"Can you tell me what happened to the Jedi?" He tried to act like he did not know why he asked that question, but deep down, he knew that the answer was not good. He could make an educated guess based on the clones, at least he thought they were, out patrolling the streets

"The Jedi? Look, from one ol' man to another, that word's taboo. Be careful when talkin' about 'em, alright?

Mace nodded, the feeling of dread started making itself known again and was quickly forced down. He was never the perfect Jedi he tried to be, but he hadn't slipped up like this since he was a teenager

"Them wizards, or whatever the hell they were, apparently committed treason. Took one of 'em to turn on 'em and wiped almost all of 'em out. Very few still walk on this galaxy, and even fewer make themselves known. I say that 'cuz most of 'em been killed. All I know is, it was better before the empire ruled... Ya didn't hear that last part, by the way."

"That's impossible." Stated Mace matter of factly "Only one Sith couldn't take down the whole Jedi order."

"Well, what can I tell ya? Ya been in a coma or something? it was pretty big news."

Mace sighed. "Something like that." He said, taking a sip of his drink. Drinking was looked down upon in the order, but for the life of him, he couldn't bring himself to care. "How long has it been since then?"

"Hm... 'Bout 6 years"

Mace let out yet another sigh, which had become a recurring theme for him that day. He very quickly realized he was not welcomed on Coruscant anymore, and if anyone found out about his status, He'd be in grave danger.

"Thank you for your help" Mace downed the rest of his drink. He sat up, still a bit painful, and looked at the bartender.

"You will let me out of here without paying" Said Mace while slowly moving his hand in front of the Zabrak's face

"I will- No, What?! Why would I do that"

"You will let me out of here without paying" Said Mace while slowly moving his hand in front of the Zabrak's face, for the second time

"I will let you out of here without paying"

Mace frowned, his wrinkles from the electricity stretching along his face 'My control really has gotten sloppy. I used to be able to do this even without using my hand'


The dark-skinned man made his way to a hangar, where he spotted an unattended ship, with what looked like the owner refueling it.

"Excuse me" Said Mace, walking over to the man

"Oh uhh... How can I help you, sir?" Responded the man, clearly confused

"Is this your ship?"

"Yes, yes it is" Said the man with a hint of pride in his voice

"You will let me take it" Said Mace while slowly moving his hand in front of the man's face

"I will let you take it"

'At least he was too weak-minded for my mind trick to work immediately' Thought Mace with the slightest amount of amusement. He quickly sped off in the ship, with only one destination in mind: Unknown Regions. It really didn't matter to him which planet he landed in, as long as he could lay low in it.


Mace was flying through hyperspace for a good few hours. He allowed himself to relax, though he was still alert. He let himself silently mourn the deaths of his fellow Jedi, and he hated it. He was supposed to not feel, so why was he suddenly so susceptible to emotions?

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a huge force presence. He jumped out of hyperspace and was greeted by the sight of a blue planet, practically radiating with the force. The planet was practically a beacon of the force, really, how hadn't the order discovered this planet yet? He started to land his ship in a forest, seeing that it was close to civilization. Mace decided not to make himself known and instead decided to live out in the woods. He felt oddly at peace, surrounded by the force.

His peace was short-lived, however, because he felt something... evil. Evil was the only way he could describe it... It tainted the force, and it felt suffocating. Oh, and it was headed right to him... rapidly Mace drew his weapon, ready to ignite it at a moment's notice. The bushes in front of him rustled and out of them came... A blond boy... no older than 6...


Uzumaki Naruto's life had been... awful, to say the least. He was kicked out of his orphanage, for no good reason, and had to live in the streets, until the Hokage found him and put him in a small apartment. The blond boy occasionally passed the orphanage in his strolls of the village, but it was staffed with different employees. He knew, or at least thought he knew, that the Hokage had something to do with it.

He tried walking into a store. The lady at the register greeted him with a warm smile, which fell when she saw who had walked in.

"Get outta here ya damn brat!" she shouted, clearly annoyed by his presence. Naruto, having gotten used to this, just sighed and walked out, disheartened.

He shook his head at the memory and looked up at the starry sky

Today was his birthday, to boot. He just wanted to buy something nice for his birthday, but he couldn't even get that. For years he had wondered why his life was like this. what had he done to deserve this, but just couldn't figure it out. The villagers were always mean and harsh to him, especially on his birthday. They didn't beat him or anything, but some people hated him even more, some throwing things at him occasionally. Why? About 6 years ago, the 9 Tailed Fox had attacked their village. It had destroyed a good chunk of the village, and killed a lot of people. And what does that have to do with a seemingly random 6-year-old? Well, the 4th Hokage, Namikaze Minato, had sacrificed his life to seal the beast into Naruto, saving the village. Some villagers hated Naruto because they couldn't see past what was sealed within him, and could only view him as a reincarnation of the fox

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The boy grew to resent his birthday and hid in the forest. The forest always brought him a sense of calm and serenity, especially on this day. One of his favorite pastimes was stargazing, which is what he was doing at that moment. So, you can imagine his shock when he saw a star starting to descent into the forest he was currently in. He saw the flying metal object and Naruto, being the way-too-nosy-for-his-own-good boy that he was, went to investigate.


Mace felt oddly at peace, surrounded by the force.

His peace was short-lived, however, because he felt something... evil. Evil was the only way he could describe it... It tainted the force, and it felt suffocating. Oh, and it was headed right to him... rapidly. Mace drew his weapon, ready to ignite it at a moment's notice. The bushes in front of him rustled and out of them came... A blond boy... no older than 6...

Mace stared at him, his guard lowered the tiniest bit. Naruto looked at him curiously

"Hey mister, do you know anything about that thing behind you?" asked Naruto, innocently.

Mace kept his guard up, still looking at the boy in front of him apprehensively. Naruto stared up at him with an expectant look on his face

Reluctantly, Mace responded. "Yes, I do know about this ship. I landed it here"

"Ship? This doesn't look like a ship"

'Must be an underdeveloped planet' thought Mace, lowering his guard fully and sitting down at the base of a tree

"Go away, child"

"Nah, I'm gonna stay here"

"You will go back to your house, and leave me alone," said Mace, waving his hand slowly across the boy's face

"I... I will go back to my house, and leave you alone" With that, Naruto left and headed back toward the village

Mace sighed as he watched the kid leave. Really, the similarities between him and Skywalker were uncanny. In character, that is. He used a pile of dirt as a pillow and drifted away to sleep.


Naruto awoke feeling rather confused. Last thing he remembered was talking to a creepy-looking dude in the forest. He was intrigued by him, mostly due to his non-automatic dismissal of the boy. and when he did dismiss him, it wasn't with malice or anything. He actually didn't know how he got back home. Now that he thought about it, the whole situation sounded like a dream. But it felt too real to be a dream. He decided to visit that spot again, just in case it was real. He got out of his bed, had a quick breakfast, put on a t-shirt with the Uzumaki spiral on the front and black shorts, and ran out

As he approached the place, he started wondering if anyone else had gone there. He slowly made his way to the small clearing he saw the... "Ship". After a good while of walking, he pushed through the same bushes he had last time and saw that the man was still there, around a campfire, eating what seemed like a rabbit. Naruto decided to sit opposite to him

Mace looked up, meeting the boy's gaze "Boy, I told you to leave me alone, did I not?

"Yeah but... you somehow feel... different. Most grown-ups l meet are mean to me... you weren't" said Naruto, looking down at his lap

"Really? And why are they mean to you?" Asked Mace, his brow furrowing

"Dunno. Must hate me for the pranks I pull. It's the only way they notice me really" Responded Naruto with a shrug

"Hm... I see..." Now that Mace got a good feel for the boy's force presence, he realized that he had two different force presences inside him, which piqued his curiosity. He decided that deeming a 6-year-old a threat wasn't the best idea.

"Hey mister, why don't you have a left hand?" Asked Naruto innocently

"You ask me such personal questions, without even telling me your name?" Said Mace, a hint of amusement in his voice. Naruto blushed and rushed to stammer out a reply.

"M-My name is Naruto Uzumaki, sir." Naruto looked up at Mace hesitantly, expecting the man to suddenly recognize him, and hate him like the rest of the villagers.

"It's nice to meet you Naruto, My name is Mace Windu" Responded Mace, the amusement was more apparent this time in his voice. "As for my hand... I lost it in a fight"

"A fight..." Naruto furrowed his brow, before lighting up in excitement. "Wait, are you a ninja?" he looked at Mace in awe

"Ninja... No, no I am not... Would you mind explaining to me what a ninja is, Naruto?"

"Y-You don't know what a ninja is?" Asked Naruto, dumbfounded

"No, no I do not"

Naruto gathered his thoughts before speaking "A ninja is this super cool fighter that uses this... uh... chakra... thing, to fight bad guys and serve their village. And then there's the Hokage, who's like the top boss of all the ninjas and is like, respected and loved by everyone. I'm gonna be Hokage one day, believe it!"

"I see..." Mace had started to gain a decent understanding of how this planet works. Clearly, they weren't an advanced civilization. Also, he figured this "Chakra" thing was some bastardized version of the force.

"Hey so, anyway mister, where are you from?"

a pause

"I come from the planet Coruscant."

"...Planet? S-So you're an Alien?" asked Naruto, with his eyes as wide as saucers

"...Yes, I am."

"Wow... that's so cool" Naruto looked up at Mace with awe. "so do you have like any super cool alien powers?"

"...Well..." He thought hard about what he should do next. In hindsight, he shouldn't, but he really had nothing to lose. The order had fallen, and maybe this could be a step in rebuilding it. "Let me ask you something Naruto... does this "Hokage" protect the entire village?"

Naruto thought about it for a moment and rapidly shook his head. "Yes, the 4th Hokage literally sacrificed his life protecting our village from the 9 Tailed Fox! I really want to be just like him y'know"

"What I'm about to tell you must be kept a secret, alright?" he asked. He knew that there was practically no chance that people from the empire would be here, but he didn't want to risk it

"Mhm, you can tell me."

"I am part, well, used to be a part of, an order of... some powerful people called the Jedi. We used to be peacekeepers, protecting the galaxy"

"Why are you not part of it anymore?"

"...Because most of us are dead. I thought I was dead for years, till I woke up recently." He hated to admit it but the boy was growing on him, rapidly. "I am willing to teach you the ways of the force," He said, lifting a nearby rabbit and hovering it in front of the boy. Naruto looked at Mace. Then at the rabbit. Then back at Mace with a beaming smile."

"Really? Thank you so much Old Man Windu!" He exclaimed

'I'm not that old...' thought Mace, sweat dropping. He cleared his throat "It's Master Windu, now"