Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
A/N: OK this is the reason why I've been a little late in updating anything, a mass update for all of my stories. Another reason is Oct-Nov I have friends and family who uses their time off/sick days for 3/4 day weekends and I usually visit them or they visit me/need help with something and that also cut into my free time on weekends not counting the errands/chores that get pushed onto the weekends.
remember to vote in the new poll if you haven't!
Beta: Chaos-PSD. Contributor: Kuronodono12.
Chapter X: Clone Cadets.
Brothers In Arms Are Brothers For Life.
Clone troopers unite! As war rages across the galaxy, the Republic's clone army strives for victory against the evil forces of the Separatists. Bravery, valor, unity, the lifeblood of victory on the battlefield, and in space. It all begins on the planet Kamino, where Jedi General Shaak Ti oversees the training of clones with the help of contracted bounty hunters. Bred to be perfect soldiers, these cadets must first be subjected to intense physical and mental training before heading off to war.…
Coruscant, Knights Billet.
Naruto sat in his chair at a desk as BD looked at him before he opened the scroll.
He saw he was from Jiraiya before he started reading.
Hey Gaki (Brat). I see that your knack for getting into these situations went into overdrive this time. Any sexy ladies there?
Naruto's eyebrow twitched at the thought of Jiraiya sneaking a peek at Aayla before continuing.
Well, anyway, I hope you're alright after these three years, here's an outline of my seal that I used to get in contact with you. If you can copy it you should be able to send something back.
Naruto looked at a seal on the bottom of the scroll before remembering the seal he had a vision of before blinking as something hit him. "Three years?!"
Kamino.
In a training obstacle course room, Naruto with his tunic and pants watched a squad known as Domino Squad in practice armor each having a number on their shoulder or chest from 1-5 in black.
Naruto looked to see Shaak Ti who was the Jedi stationed to monitor the clones on Kamino and the two bounty hunters the Council hired to train the clones while they're here.
The first is a humanoid alien with pale skin and a large oversized head that resembles the lobes of a brain.
This is Bric.
The second is also a male alien with a flat, anvil-shaped head, sharp four-fingered claws, clear, marble-like eyes, and thick, protective skin that's green.
This is El-Les.
Naruto then turned to watch the clone group as BD jumped on the console to watch as well before beeping as he looked back at Naruto. The clones are in the midst of a pre-graduation exercise in preparation for the front lines. The purpose of the test is to reach the beacon atop a citadel guarded by various practice droids.
"Guys! We've got to follow orders. Come on!"
However, the five-clone squad's teamwork is dysfunctional as they argued, didn't stay with each other, and was ultimately shot with the stun lasers. Naruto noticed during the training, one clone repeated any order given over the speakers as one was ahead with a min-gun. 'I heard the group call him Echo.'
"It's Fives! My name is Fives!"
Naruto heard another clone yell out. 'Glad to see the naming thing is going around to them.' Naruto thought before Shaak Ti spoke.
"This particular unit seems to have some trouble."
"They're a little rough around the edges," Naruto said walking to the railing. "But some of my troops were the same."
"I say they fail," Bric said from his spot. "Send them down to maintenance with 99 and the rest of the rejects."
"We can't fail them yet," El-Les said. "This is only a practice run."
"And I failed my military test three times before I graduated," Naruto said looking as another clone started picking up the droids after the test was over.
He's a disfigured clone with the left side of his face drooped and he has a hunch on his back, his right shoulder almost turned into his back. His head was shaved, and he's wearing a blue-gray janitorial outfit that had a bright sash over the left shoulder.
This is 99.
Naruto then walked out as BD jumped on his back as well as Bric and Shaak Ti who walked up to Naruto.
"I know you hold a great deal of respect for the clones Naruto, but you don't need to lie for one group that's struggling."
"I didn't lie, Master," Naruto said glancing over at her. "I wasn't well-liked in my village so I had to hide how smart I was. But most of my teachers never tried to teach me and the test to graduate required me to use a small amount of Chakra that I had a hard time doing. Like using the Force to lift a pebble but always end up using as much to lift a large boulder."
"You never told us that before."
"It's not something I like to talk about," Naruto said before he continued walking down the hall.
Later that day, Naruto was in the quarters of the clone and listened to the Domino Squad bicker as 99 was also there trying to cheer them up by saying the majority of clones did pass before Echo started to fight with CT-782 causing Bric to break them up. Bric, gives all of the cadets in the area yet another demeaning lecture, stating that they are all a waste of his time. As Bric walks away, CT-872 attempts to go after him but is stopped by Fives.
"I know he's tough."
The clones turned to see Naruto walk around the corner. "But he's just pushing you to be better."
"General Uzumaki!"
"Look, you're missing the importance of the test. Teamwork." He said before telling them a story about a team of three kids who had to fight their teacher for two bells.
And the students were to take one of the two bells from their to-be teacher within a set time limit to pass. He explained that since there are three students, it would seem that one of them will be sent back to the Academy no matter what. This, however, is a ruse to test out whether the three can work as a team: if they ignore the fact that only two bells are available and be willing to work together, they might have enough skills to take the bells and be allowed to pass.
And because the Jōnin is usually too strong for the Genin to beat in any way, shape, or form, the true test is the Genin's ability to work as a team and as such, the Jōnin has to give them just enough allowance so they can't obtain the bell without teamwork.
"So teamwork was key. My first teacher always had a saying… Those that abandon the rules are scum. But those that abandoned friends/family, are worse than scum." Naruto finished before walking away. "If the way the other clones finished doesn't work for you. Find another way." He said over his shoulder before leaving through the door.
In another room, Shaak Ti was talking to a male Kaminoan about the failing Domino Squad. Shaak Ti, who does not seem in favor of this, explains to him how the clones should not be 'cast-off'. And that since Jango died, they've had to stretch his D.N.A., which started to cause a 'deficient' clone from time to time.
The next day, some ARC troopers, arrive at the facility to observe the cadets' final test.
"Gentlemen, who wants to be an ARC Trooper?" Bric asked the cadets who were all in the practice armor holding their helmets and each group had 1-5 on their armor.
"I do sir!" They all replied standing at attention.
"You have to pass your final test first. I want you to meet Commander Colt of the Rancor Battalion."
An Arc Trooper walked up with red, black, and grey on his armor.
"I want you troopers to remember, we're shoulder-to-shoulder on those front lines. Brothers! And sometimes we may quarrel, but no matter what, we are united. Rule one, we fight together. So, who's ready to step up first? Let's start with the group that ran the test in record time. ARC Trooper time."
"Think he means us, boys?" Echo asked the others in Domino Squad.
"Bravo Squad."
They all then went to the test site where Naruto was standing watching a squad finish. Bravo Squad then swiftly and successfully capturing the flag at the top of the fortress.
"They're good," Colt said arms crossed. "You trained them well. Who's next?"
"Domino Squad," Naruto said, looking as Domino Squad was watching from the top before they walked to get ready.
"How are they?"
"A bit rough, but nothing some personal time from whoever gets them won't fix," Naruto replied as Bric scoffed. "There a problem?"
"No sir, just wondering why you're sticking up for them."
"Because any Squad that doesn't pass falls on you. The Squads continue to fail, and we find a better teacher."
Naruto then turned to see the Domino squad to take the final test. The squad seems to be in high hopes and performs well for the first few moments, however, all goes wrong when Droidbait is hit and the others continue leaving him. The test shut down as Colt walked down and berated the Squad for leaving a man behind.
"You can try again tomorrow," Naruto said from the intercoms.
"Why? I say take them down to maintenance." Bric said to Naruto who looked at him.
"And I say they get one more chance or do you want to try and go over me?" Naruto asked as Bric stayed silent. "Thought so."
Later, Naruto and Shaak Ti were at the platform of the training room as Echo and Fives walked in wearing a red shirt and pants.
"You two want to transfer?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms as BD popped up over his shoulder. "Well, you two are where you need to be. Just remember what I told you earlier."
The two clones hesitantly nodded before leaving. "What did you tell them?" Naruto turned to his former Master before speaking.
"I told them my graduation test in that I and my squad needed to work as a team to pass instead of doing what our teacher wanted us to do. After all, those who abandon friends are lower than scum." Naruto said before leaving.
He then saw Domino Squad's CT-4040 walking out to the hangar to meet with Bric. Following after, Naruto heard Bric wanted to accuse him of his whole team's failure in person, only for the clone to brush him off. Overturned by his anger, he beats on him and refers to him as a 'real cut-up'. The clone thanks him for giving him this nickname, however Bric is not amused as he leaves to his living quarters.
Naruto then appeared in front of Bic before punching him in the stomach forcing him to his knees. "Next time you hit a clone outside of a training exercise, I'll remove your head. That's not a threat." His saber turned on right by Bric's head to where he could feel the heat. "It's a promise."
Naruto then walked to the barracks where he saw CT-782 getting his gear before being stopped by 99.
"Hevy."
Hevy turned to the clone expressing he was leaving.
"You're going AWOL, aren't you?"
"Just go back to sleep, this doesn't concern you."
"But you're abandoning your Squad."
"We're nothing but 'Bad Batch' failures, like you," Hevy said with a sigh.
"Yeah, but… How can I be a failure when I never even got my chance? A chance you're throwing away. You're always trying to be the anchor, Hevy. Always doing it on your own. Maybe you should embrace the fact that you have a squad… See, I, I never had that. But, you need them and they need you. Don't carry such a heavy burden on your own. When you have your brothers on your side Hevy."
"Stop calling me that! We're numbers… Just numbers."
"Not to me… To me, you've always had a name." 99 said as Hevy took his gear and walked past the pod beds and lockers.
Morning.
The next morning, Domino Squad heads out to the training arena to retake their test. Showing great teamwork through the test, El-Les, Naruto, and Shaak Ti seemed pleased. When Domino Squad finally reaches the citadel after destroying all the Training Battle Droids, they panic, finding that they do not have their ascension cables.
"Where's their ascension cables?" El-Les inquires to the Jedi and Bric.
"Must have gotten lost," Bric said shrugging as EL-Les' attempts to persuade Shaak Ti to stop the test.
Shaak Ti declines EL-Les' request and continues to observe what Domino Squad would do without their ascension cables.
"But since Bric took the cables, if they do fail this time, they'll get another chance with them," Naruto said before looking to Shaak Ti. "Or do you overrule that?"
"With your record of successful missions with clones, I trust your judgment with them."
Back on the field, Domino Squad comes up with a plan to deactivate the wall turrets and use them to scale the wall. The plan works and Hevy triumphantly captures the flag.
Barracks.
Soon after, the cadets receive their badges and are promoted to clone troopers.
"Congratulations. You graduated. At ease." El-Les said before he left Bric, leaving Naruto with the Squad who cheered.
"Next stop, ARC Troopers."
As the small graduation ceremony ends, Hevy bids farewell to 99, giving him his badge. As Hevy and the rest of his group head out to board the attack cruiser, he promises that they would meet again.
"Well… Guess this place needed a heart." 99 turned to Naruto who stayed. "Look after the ones like Hevy who need a talking to, 99."
"Roger, sir."
Naruto's Star Destroyer.
"OK men," Naruto said to the group he got from the new graduation before taking them down the hall. "I'll give you a quick tour and you can choose what you want to do."
"You're not going to assign us, sir?"
"Nope. Just pick what you want to do." Naruto answered as they stopped at the medical room. "This is the medical room for anyone interested in being a medic," Naruto said, showing the training of the clones in the room. He then took them to another room. "The snipers or sharpshooters, their best friend in the field are the specialized DC-15x sniper rifles, DC-15A blaster rifles, auto-turrets, thermal detonators, and the R-1 recon droids."
"Their main mission on the battlefield is to eliminate your targets from a distance or use your recon droids to carry out short-range reconnaissance. Our snipers are chosen from only the most accurate and alert Clone troops, and may receive specialized training from clone assassins… Who are also in this training room."
Naruto finished showing clones shooting from a sniper rifle or hiding from an assassin clone via camouflaged mesh cloak over them. He then walked to another room before stopping. "Reconnaissance or intelligence gathering. Here you'll be given training on gathering intel that we can use for a mission. You'll be paired with a sniper team for any infiltration mission."
Naruto then took them to the final room of the tour before speaking. "And here's the heavy weapon specialists and any weapon specialists. Here you'll receive training on heavy weapons like mini-guns, rockets, mortars Etc, etc. As the name implies, here you'll receive training in weapons for those that like the heavy equipment. Anything else like ARC Trooper or pilots require training elsewhere or you need your commanding officer's approval/admission to do so. Dismissed!" Naruto finished as the men saluted.
To Be Continued.
A/N: Thanks for reading and let me know of any mistakes.
Beta: Chaos-PSD. Contributor: Kuronodono12.
This is the reason why I've been a little late in updating anything, a mass update for all of my stories. Another reason is Oct-Nov I have friends and family who uses their time off/sick days for 3/4 day weekends and I usually visit them or they visit me/need help with something and that also cut into my free time on weekends not counting the errands/chores that get pushed onto the weekends.
Remember to vote in the new poll if you haven't!
Nothing else to say.
Talk To You Later,
Lone Wolf Out.