[Amegakure; ?]
It has been three weeks since the sudden attack occurred on Konoha. Only a few casualties were reported, with many more being lightly injured. The real damage was mostly done to the village itself, with many buildings and trees either burnt down or blown up.
Officially, it was reported to the world as a random attack by a group of thugs from outer space. One, which they successfully fended off with no major loss.
However, a certain group of people knew better. Those group of individuals knew the truth, and were coming together to hold a meeting about it.
…
As implied by the name, Amegakure was a village that was always raining. On the days when the rain would come pouring extra hard, it was quite useful for shinobi, since the rain would help mask their presence.
In this case, it would help the two individuals, who were wearing dark cloaks with red clouds on them, intrude the village. They were currently walking through an alleyway, doing their best to avoid detection.
The two cloaked men peeked at a homeless man to their left from under their straw hats, who was currently trying to stay warm and dry under a makeshift tent. Trying to keep the fire alive in a small pot, the dirty, homeless man looked up at them. Seeing the cloaked men, he nodded at them, his false look of misery and fear turning into one of determination and duty. The two men nodded back, before they continued down the alleyway.
They made a few turns, and found the entrance to a large sewer tunnel. Checking to see if they were being followed, they entered the entrance to their secret, underground base.
"Man, it's been such a crazy few months, wouldn't you agree, Sasori?" Deidara finally said. The cloaked hunchback, who was now revealed as Sasori of the Red Sand, a missing-nin from Sunagakure, just nodded. "I do wonder why our boss decided to summon us all together in person. I mean, we got these rings for a reason, you know?"
Sasori just rolled his eyes. "I'm sure the leader has a good reason for such an order, Deidara. One attempt to take over a village because they're fools."
Sasori was referring to the fact that Pain, their mysterious, orange haired leader, had decided to overthrow Hanzo to take over the village. He had rallied most of the people with him, which was the first step to his plan for taking over as the village's leader.
Due to the civil war they were undergoing, the village had closed itself off from the rest of the world, which, according to their sources, was now being called "Elementia." Part of the reason to why the people had decided to rebel against Hanzo was because of the declining economy the village was suffering from. Hanzo, being the paranoid man he was, refused to open up to the other nations and villages. This, aside from the fact that it was always gloomy and wet, made the people more miserable and poor, and thus, more hungry. On top of that, Hanzo refused to let the people in or out, which again, contributed to the poor lifestyle the people had to undergo.
The final straw would be the Galactic Republic's presence on their planet. Offering food, superior technology, and other supplies to anyone who decided to join them, the people had hoped that their leader would accept their offer. Much to their displeasure, he flat out rejected their offer, and thus, sending the village into further despair.
Then came along Pain, the strange-eyed man who seemed to have the powers of the gods. He seemed to swoop down from the heavens, offering them food, warmth, and hope of a better future. And just like that, almost half of the village joined him in the war against Hanzo, the Paranoid Tyrant.
"You know, thinking about how the civil war got started reminds me of something. I think your old village joined the Republic, right?" Deidara added. "Meanwhile, the old geezer in my old village took the other way, joining the Confederacy or whatever. I guess it goes to show that petty rivalry extends beyond the stars, huh?"
"That we can agree on."
The two of them stopped in their tracks as they finally made it to the secret underground room. Regarding the two rebel guards, they pushed open the large doors, and stepped inside.
"Looks like we've arrived." Deidara said, looking up at the large statue in front of them. Despite seeing it before in a different location, it never failed to amaze him.
That statue was the Gedō Mazō, or also known as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. It stood taller like any other monumental or religious statue that could be seen across the Shinobi lands.
The statue was sticking its hands out of the earth, its hands spread out in a prayer, giving the demonic being a sense of ancient, godly power.
Deidara shook his head, and shifted his focus to the other apparitions of the rest of the Akatsuki members, who were standing on the fingers of the large statue.
"You've made it." The green eyed, masked figure said. Despite how dimly lit the room was, he could still see the scratched out Takigakure symbol on his forehead. "Good. Now that you're here, it will only be a matter of time before the leader comes in."
"Kakuzu." Deidara called the member out with a smile. "How are you doing, my man? Don't you have any accounting to do or something?" Kakuzu was infamous for two things: His freaky immortality, and his greed for money. Deidara always liked to poke at his lust for money, which was always fun to do.
"Don't talk to me about counting money, Deidara. Ever since the Republic rolled in, they're now using a different form of currency, which is annoying to learn, and equally annoying to convert to." Kazuku growled at him. "Besides, I haven't been able to make any money at all. Not since we had to stay low for the past few months to take part in this civil war. And what doesn't help my mood is my idiot, zealous freak of a partner and his stupid, religious rants!"
"Ey, fuck you!" Hidan shouted at his partner. "You can speak easily, I have convictions! How can I honor Jashin if I cannot spill blood!" "You have it easy, man! I have convictions! Faith! How can I honor my god jashin if I can't spill any blood?!"
"Like I care about your stupid convictions, Hidan."
"How dare you-"
"Can you both just shut up?" Sasori sighed, being the mediator for once. "Nobody has been doing anything then except for gathering information now. I think we can all agree that we're all unable to do our favorite activities, so enough with the pointless banter."
"Sasori's right, you know." Deidara agreed with a chuckle. "Besides, it's not like it hasn't been a complete bore these past few months. I mean, who knew that politics can be so interesting, especially these days."
Just before someone else can say anything else, two more holographic images appeared on the statue's fingers. These two were quickly recognized, with the large sword and a particular set of red eyes making it easy to deduce their identities.
"Well, look what the cat brought in." Deidara said, upon recognizing the two other members. "Itachi, Kisame. Its been awhile since we heard from you guys."
"Hey yourself, Deidara. Sasori. Guys." Kisame smirked under his robe. "I've been missing these kind of conversations."
"That's a lie, and you know it." Kakuzu said to the rogue Mist shinobi. "Got any word from the situation in Kirigakure?"
"Yeah, but I'd rather disclose it when the leader is here." Kisame turned to his partner. "On the other hand, Itachi and I found some interesting news about Konoha. Something about their Jinchuuriki."
"Oh, that village, huh?" Deidara chuckled. "I heard it took a beating from some bounty hunters from outer space. Pretty embarrassing for them, huh? Deidara taunted at Itachi.
Much to his slight disappointment, Itachi didn't even blink at his jab.
"Like what my partner said, I'll wait until our leader arrives before disclosing details."
"You won't have to wait long."
The rough voice came from the ground, and Deidara and Sasori watched as a plant-like man began to sprout from the ground. The man, much like the rest of them, wore the same cloak as the rest of them, and like the rest of them, this member was different from the rest of them, with the difference lying in the fact that he was plant-like (much like how Kisame was part shark), and with the fact that the right half of him was pure black.
"Zetsu." Sasori nodded at the plant-man, who nodded back at him.
"They're here."
Moments after he said that, Sasori and Deidara heard footsteps behind them. Turning around, they found themselves staring directly into the strange, rippled eyes their leader held, as well as the blue-haired woman's amber ones.
"I've arrived." Pain said, announcing his entrance. "I see everyone is present. Let us not waste any more time. If you have any important intel, speak now. Itachi? Kisame?"
Usually it was Itachi who gave the intel, but Kisame, who was bored out of his mind, decided to do the talking for once.
"I'm guessing that everyone knows of the attack that happened at the Hidden Leaf Village, right? Well, we just managed to figure out that it wasn't a random attack by criminals. No, they had a specific target in mind to capture. And captured one of them, they did."
"Who was the target?" Konan asked in place of her friend and leader.
"Naruto Uzumaki, the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails."
This news came as an unpleasant shock to the group, particularly towards Pain, who narrowed his eyes at the two.
"...Is this true, Itachi?" Pain slowly asked. "If so, any idea on who's responsible, and why?"
"It's as you he said, Pain-sama." Itachi nodded. "According to our intel, Naruto Uzumaki was the target these criminals were after. Mercenaries, excuse me. For what purpose, even they did not know. The only notable fact is that they were of varying sentient species, they are quite infamous in the galaxy, and that they seemed more concerned about leaving with their target than confronting the shinobi."
"Well that's just fucking great!" Hidan shouted. "You're telling me that this little bastard is now somewhere around this big, fucking galaxy!?"
"Shut up, Hidan." Kakuzu snapped. "Your complaining won't get us anywhere."
"Well excuse me, Kakuzu-"
"Silence!" Pain snapped, which stopped the bickering. "This is no time for this sort of nonsense!"
He then fell into silence as he began to process this new information. With the capture of one of the jinchuuriki, especially the one with the nine-tailed fox, their plans were ruined. It didn't matter how many they captured now. So long as one of them - ONE of them - was out of the picture, they couldn't continue on with their plans.
"While this setback is regrettable, this changes nothing of our plan yet." Pain finally continued. "We must search for the jinchuuriki in the stars. We'll scour every planet if we must. However, our access to the lands beyond the stars will not happen unless we claim Amegakure for ourselves. Once we overthrow the Paranoid Tyrant, not only will we possess the political immunity for our arrests, but we will also be able to negotiate the foreign governments for space travel. This is where every single one of you will come in."
"With all due respect," Itachi began to ask. "How can we be of any help? The majority of us are infamous missing-nin. If anything, our very presence unnerves the rebel soldiers in this hideout. I can tell that their trust and faith in this organization is wavering."
"And that is why all of you will do your best to correct that." Pain simply replied. "This will be your chance to become saviors instead of mindless killers. With your heroic acts to fight against the mighty tyrant, your name will be cleared enough where the future leader of the village will grant you immunity."
"I see." Itachi nodded. "Then we shall do our best to support the troops and the people."
"Same here." Kisame grinned. "Man, this is gonna so fun. This almost makes me forget about my village's news."
"What about your village, Kisame?" Konan couldn't help but ask.
"Well, there's whispers of the civil war coming to a close in Kiri." Kisame announced to the group. "The word on the street is that Mei Terumī's forces are finally making a breakthrough, penetrating the Mizukage's defenses thanks to both the Republic and the Separatists' forces."
"Wait a minute, both of them?" Konan raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that the two were on poor terms with each other. Unless…"
"You guessed it." Kisame nodded, his grin never leaving. "They're having a free trial on who can offer the best deal, which includes supplies, men, you name it. Oh, and get this: Since the Republic couldn't actually help them with the fighting, due to the lack of troops, all they could do is send in some humanitarian support in between the fighting, which is basic stuff like food and medicine. The Separatists, meanwhile, sent those - what do you call them? Droids? Yeah, droids. They sent a lot of them to help with the war, and not to mention the same thing the Republic offered, but in bigger quantities. If the rumors are true, Mei's gonna join the Confederacy, which is funny, considering how the Separatists are being called the bad guys and the traitors by the Republic."
"Interesting." Pain nodded in thought. "Thank you, Kisame. This intel may actually prove valuable to our cause, should we ever have to pick a side when we overthrow Hanzo."
"Happy to help." Kisame just shrugged, before he finally finished, allowing Deidara to jump in.
"So Kiri's about to join the big C." Deida chuckled. "That's good to know, since my village also joined that side. According to Sasori, Kumo is on its way to join them as well, which means that so far, three of the five major villages have joined the Separatists."
Pain turned to the the puppeteer master. "Sasori, what's the news coming from Suna?"
"Suna has renegotiated their treaty with Konoha after their failed invasion. My spies have notified me that they are almost done completing their treaty with the Republic as well, and are now on their way to receiving the gifts and technology they had to offer. Furthermore, it would appear that their jinchuuriki has now taken over as the next Kazekage."
"So that's three major villages against two." Konan rounded up, before moving on to the next question. "What about the smaller villages?"
"My village has already announced it would join the Republic." Kakuzu, said gaining everyone's attention. "The village leader stated that out of respect for the late Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, he will remain an ally to Konoha, and thus, an ally for the Republic."
"Urgh!" Hidan hissed. "My village doesn't exist anymore. Turned into a fucking hotspring resort. No shame-"
"Shut up, Hidan!" Kakuzu snapped at his whining, before turning back to the leader.
"What else on the villages, Kakuzu?
"Kusa has decided to remain neutral in this political clash. No surprise really, considering how their skills in diplomacy far outranks its neighbors, like Iwa and Konoha. They did, however, offer to be the middle ground so that they can act as the mediator, should any potential conflicts arise in the future."
This was actually good news for the group, since Amegakure shares a border with them in the north. "Hoshigakure has also decided to join the Republic, which, given their friendly relations with Konoha, is no surprise. Meanwhile, the other independent countries like Nami and Haru have quickly declared neutrality, but decided to continue their equal trade for both sides the same."
"And Oto?"
"Pff." Deidara rolled his eyes. "Like you could call that a proper village. It's more like Orochimaru's side project..."
Ignoring his comments, Kakuzu answered Pain's question. "Orochimaru hasn't answered either's calls, and it's most likely that he wants to keep it that way. For the other non-shinobi villages, I have no information about it."
"Good work, Kakuzu. We'll keep that in mind." Pain said, before turning to the plant-man. "Zetsu, I want you to continue to gather information about the other countries. Keep an eye out on the main villages as well, and notify us of any significant events."
"Will do, leader."
Pain's eyes turned back to the others. "Our plans have changed, everyone. We will focus all our efforts on taking control over Amegakure. Our top priority now is to win the support of the people, and to eliminate all of Hanzo and his loyal subjects. I want every single person even remotely associated to the tyrant to be eliminated. Is that understood?."
"Yes, Pain-sama." They all nodded, determined to not fail their god-like leader.
"Itachi." Pain called out for the Uchiha, which made the room grow quiet. "You will work with Zetsu to find out who the kidnappers are. I want to know why he was kidnapped, and where he could be now."
"It will be done, Pain-sama." Itachi nodded.
"Good." Pain nodded in satisfaction. "You're all dismissed. Make sure that every single one of you gets here soon."
They all nodded, before the projections disappeared, leaving behind the Akatsuki members who were present in the area. They were all left in silence, save for the howlings winds and the loud thunder that rocked the skies.
[Konoha, Hokage building]
Tsunade sat in silence as all of the members of the Jedi Council, (save for Yoda, who had personally arrived to the planet,) were being broadcasted in front of Tsunade's desk, giving their reports in a somber tone. A protocol droid stood by her, waiting to do its duty.
"Unfortunately, our efforts to track down the bounty hunters and the boy are being slowed down. We are being bombarded with diplomatic missions to try to convince the other systems to not defect to the Confederacy. On top of that, the bounty hunters have done a great job on covering their tracks, making it that much harder for us to find him."
It was Plo Koon, the strange, masked Jedi who delivered the unfortunate news. Judging by the way he was looking down and the tone of his voice, it was clear that he was ashamed of this lack of progress.
"Is that all you can say?" Tsunade slowly said, her voice trembling as she struggled to contain her rage.
Ki-Adi-Mundi nodded grimly. "What makes matters worse, my Lady, is that we are finding ourselves unable to find him through the Force. It must be the work of the Sith, using the Dark Side to mask his presence."
"Bullshit!" Tsunade slammed her hand onto her desk, the wood cracking from her fury. "My men were able to extract some names from the dead mercenaries in the forest. What about the names of the bounty hunters we gave you?! Cad Bane? Jango Fett? Aurra Sing? Zam Wesell? How are you people so incapable of finding criminals with high profiles like these?!"
"Ma'am," Master Windu quickly stepped in, trying to become the mediator to deescalate the situation. "I know this looks bad, but we assure you that we are doing everything in our power to retrieve the boy."
"Right." Tsunade clenched her teeth, her desk groaning and cracking from under her fingers, which was noticed by Yoda. "I can tell, by the way that you're sitting in your comfortable chairs."
"Ma'am-"
"NO! Enough of this! Enough 'meditating' and 'using the Force' to look for my godson! You all need to get up, and search every goddamn planet if you have to! Kami damn the fact that I can't fly your stupid ships yet, otherwise I would do this myself!"
The Hokage's outburst made them flinch. This type of reaction to them wasn't exactly new, and they understood her anger completely. They could only hope that they could do their best to keep her satisfied, since failures like these was part of the reason to why some planets reconsidered their place in the Republic, or even worse, deciding to join the Confederacy. The planet was already divided enough was it was, with the entire planet being cut into two political camps, similar to how Earth currently is.
"Angry you are, we can understand." Yoda spoke to her with an apologetic tone. "Continue this conversation, we shall do later."
"Agreed." Windu said, nodding to his master. "We'll speak to you later, my Lady."
The transmission then shut off, just as the door opened, and in walked in her long-time friend, Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya, what now?" Tsunade sighed, and Jiraiya flinched at how much older she suddenly sounded. She slumped back into her seat, the metal chair creaking and groaning from the sudden shift of her weight. "I've got enough on my head now with all of this-"
"Do you remember that offer the Republic and the Feudal Lords gave me?" Jiraiya interrupted, which made her look up at him. "I said no."
"No?" Tsunade questioned. "Then who are they going to pick to be our senator? And what are you going to do instead?"
"I'm going to leave Elementia to travel across the galaxy." Jiraiya stated, surprising both of them. "I'm taking all of my funds, and I'm going to search every kami-forsaken planet for our godson. I'm going to establish my intelligence across the systems, and I'm going to make sure that I have eyes and ears everywhere."
"And as for your first question, well, our Feudal Lord picked Gaara as the senator for the Republic side of Elementia."
"That kid?" Tsunade raised her eyebrow. "Awfully young, wouldn't you say?"
Jiraiya shrugged. "Old enough to kill, old enough to be a senator. Besides, I rejected the offer, and you're too busy being the Hokage, and we don't really have that many strong allies to be the Republican senator of our planet." "
He paused to drink some water, before he continued.
"By the way, in case you were wondering, Mei Terumī, the newest Kage for Kiri, just became the senator for the Separatist part of Elementia, while Mifune became the neutral senator. Can't blame Mei if you ask me, since the Republic wasn't much help during the conflict. While the Republic sent minimal supplies, the Separatists sent an army of those droids to help with not just the war, but with reconstruction as well."
Tsunade rolled her eyes back with a sigh, groaning as she slumped into her chair. All this politics, old and new, was wearing her down, and she really needed a break from all the bullshit that was going on.
Yoda, seeing as how the woman needed to be left alone for a minute, turned towards Jiraiya. "Leave, when will you?"
"I'm heading out tomorrow." Jiraiya said, his eyes hardened with determination. "My godson's out there somewhere, and he's been all alone for too long. Thanks to the senators and even some of the Jedi, I learned about space travel, and how to keep undercover."
"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Tsunade asked her friend. "I can give you a team to help you on your way."
"Thanks Tsunade, but no, I can't risk getting too much attention. I'll need to keep a low profile, especially since we have no idea what the Akatsuki's up to."
"A wise move, that would be." Yoda nodded in agreement. "Many steps ahead of them, we must be. Capture Hagamoro's children, they must not."
A few months ago, the topic of the missing-nin group was brought up when Yoda showed Tsunade and Jiraiya in private his Memory Holocron. The minute they realized that Yoda actually had a good relationship with the bijuu, they decided that it was important to discuss the issues with the Akatsuki. They had no idea exactly why they wanted the jinchuuriki, with only theories and rumors to base their assumptions with, but the minute they realized the origin of the bijuu, it suddenly made sense to why they wanted to collect all 9 jinchuurikis.
Their brief conversation was cute short by the knocking on the door.
"Come in." The door slowly swung open, revealing the elder nurse, who quickly recovered from the stun bolt.
"Lady Tsunade." The nurse bowed. "Lady Shizune asked me to inform you that Kakashi Hatake and the other shinobi are waking up.."
Sighing from relief, Tsunade stood up, a small smile greeting the nurse. "Thank you for the update. You may now return to your station."
"Yes, my lady." The nurse bowed again, before closing the door behind her. After that, Tsunade moved to grab her coat.
"It's time to speak with Kakashi," She says being halfway done "Any information he has we'll need to know if we want to find Naruto."
"I'll head out soon, then." Jiraiya said. He and Tsunade gave each other a quick hug, before they broke apart. He placed something onto her hand, and she realized that it was a small, metal disk; his personal holopad.
"Be careful, Jiraiya. Please promise me that." Tsunade asked, her lips tightly pressed together as she held back tears, afraid to show her fear of possibly losing another loved one.
"I promise, Tsunade," Jiraiya nodded, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I'm not going to die until I bring our godson back home."
It was a simple promise. A promise that both of them knew that he could fail at. They knew very well that he might search for the rest of his life, and he may never even hear about their godson. Still, it was enough for Tsunade to finally let go of her friend.
Jiraiya gave her one last smile, before he bowed his head.
POOF!
A puff of smoke erupted from the spot where the white-haired man once stood. It cleared away within seconds, leaving nothing behind, but a hint of used chakra, which only Yoda was able to detect.
"Body Flicker Technique." Tsunade explained to Yoda. "We use some of our chakra to move quickly from one place to another."
"I see." Yoda nodded, the technique reminding him of Force Speed. Noticing that Tsunade was walking away (no doubt that it was to attend to the recent patients), he decided to join her for the walk.
"Strange, Master Jiraiya is." Yoda commented.
"Hmm?" Tsunade turned to the small Jedi. "What do you mean?"
"Hatred and despair, often felt in distressed families. Sense this in Master Jiraiya, I could not." Yoda explained, being slightly surprised by the Sannin's unusually calm emotions.
Tsunade chuckled at this, her small laughter lacking in humor or life.
"Believe me, that's just his way of coping with loss." Tsunade sighed. "Over the years, we lost a lot of loved ones. Friends, families, potential apprentices. All of them died from the wars this country has been through, with many of them not even making it to twenty. Hell, Jiraiya rescued three orphans from the battlefield, and trained them to the best he could. Then one day, he finds out that they were all killed by the same enemy that we barely survived from. If I need to be honest with you, there's times when he drank a lot more than I did."
Yoda's ears drooped as he heard Jiraiya's tragic tale. As shortened as it was, the feelings of loss and sorrow was not minimized, with Yoda not needing to use the Force to feel the pain coming from the story.
It was then that Yoda wondered if the man's perverted actions was merely a way for him to cope with his loss.
"Strength of a Jedi, he clearly shows. But restraint, not as much."
"Pff, you don't have to be a monk to figure him out." Tsunade remarked with a chuckle walking passed the Jedi. "Come on, old man. Let's head to the infirmary."
…
[Konoha - Hospital]
Shizune was fumbling with a large, rectangular device in her hands. The protocol droid following her had explained to her about the functions of her new datapad. Despite how bulky it was, and despite how confusing as hell it was, it was admittedly a huge step up from the usual large folders and papers. For one, it made gathering and storing data that much more faster and safer, especially since the datapad was highly water resistant, and clumsy drops would do nothing to damage the device. Hell, putting your foot through the gadget would only destroy the machine itself, but not the data, with the data being safely stored in multiple chips around the machine.
Despite the comedic show that Shizune was putting on, those that were close to her would know that her bashful grin was hiding a far more tragic expression. The minute she was fully healed, she had heard the terrible news that had befallen the village. The minute she heard that Naruto Uzumaki, the blond, goofy boy that she was beginning to see as a little brother, was kidnapped, she bursted into tears, feeling partially responsible for the entire mess.
She was a proud kunoichi of Konoha, a strong woman who was taught by Tsunade Senju herself about the art of medicine, and yet, she was ambushed so easily by the group of men and women, with the last thing she saw was the skinwalker taking her form and her clothes.
When she woke up, her body felt weak, with her limbs bound together by some rope. It was honestly a miracle that she managed to get the door opened, with her needing to constantly slam her body and head to break the closet door down. It was also a miracle that someone had found her, which lead to them going after the intruders.
Bound, bruised, and nearly nude, knowing that she had finally alerted the village, she allowed herself to pass out, hoping with all her might that nothing would happen to the village, and that the intruders will be apprehended swiftly. Imagine her shame when she awoke to find out that not only a few shinobi had perished, but multiple buildings were demolished, with many more being on fire. To make matters worse, they had successfully kidnapped Naruto, with the strange, shapeshifting being using her form to make it happen.
'No.' Shizune shook her head. 'I can't focus on my failure now. I need to help my patients.' Stopping for a moment to put on an assuring smile, she opened the door.
Shizune's face contorted as she took a minute to adjust to the sharp smell that stabbed into her brain.
"Ugh, I guess the cleaning droids were here recently." Shizune muttered.
While she was no stranger to the smell of blood, death, and sterilized rooms and hallways, this new chemical the Republic introduced was far stronger than the ones they used to clean the hallways. She had to take a moment to remind herself that this chemical, despite how harsh it smelled, was safe to use, as evident by the fact that this sterilizing fluid was used by many laboratories across the galaxy.
Shaking her head, she continued to walk down the clean hallway, which was bustling with visitors being desperate to visit their patients. This included one of the young genins, who was hurt in an explosion caused by one of the bounty hunters. Shizune decided to walk a little faster, afraid that the parents would come out of the room any minute, and unleash their grief onto her.
"Shizune."
The woman stiffened, before turning around to see her master arrive.
"Lady Tsunade, Master Yoda." Shizune bowed at them, grateful to see them again.
"Kakashi. Where is he?" Tsunade said roughly.
"R-right." Shizune cleared her throat. "He was just discharged from his bacta bath, my lady. I told him to take it easy for a while, but he insisted on talking with you."
"Important, this must be." Yoda noted. "Hurry, we should."
"Knowing Hatake, whatever he needs to say is important." Tsunade nodded. "Let's not make him wait."
…
[Hatake's Room]
Kakashi Hatake was lying on his bed, his uncovered eye staring blankly at the white ceiling. The birds chirped happily in the background, ignorant or uncaring of the chaos that had been plaguing the village for some time.
Absent-mindedly, his hand slowly brushed over his stomach, where it was heavily damaged from the ship's cannon-fire. The mercenaries, despite having no chakra, still proved to be a dangerous foes, as proven by their willingness to go all out to fulfill their mission. Kakashi was unfortunately enough to not get away from the ship fast enough, being the most reluctant to leave the area despite the rain of blaster-bolts threatening to blast them to pieces.
His stubbornness had costed him, with one of the cannon-bolts exploding just meters from him. His eardrums had ruptured, and his stomach was burnt and shredded as he flew backwards like a ragdoll. According to the medical droids and the doctors, he was close to death's door, but it was thanks to Tsunade herself that he lived to fight another day.
Still, he was forced to be submerged in the bacta tank, which greatly accelerated his healing.
If Kakashi was honest, though, a part of him wanted to die. He had failed to save his comrade, once again, and now Naruto, his student, and the son of the two people he looked up to, was gone, kidnapped by a group of thugs to kami-knows-where.
Kakashi's thoughts were interrupted when the door opened, with his visitors quietly entering his room. He relaxed as he realized it was Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, and the remaining members of Team 7, Sakura Haruno and - surprisingly, Sasuke Uchiha. The said Uchiha was in handcuffs, his seal still restricting his chakra, with Anko Mitarashi keeping a close eye on him.
"Kakashi…"
He stared at his visitors for a moment so he could see them clearly, before staring back at the ceiling. He seemed dead to the world, wallowing in his failures, unable to see his friends and colleagues around him.
Sakura ended up being the first one to approach her sensei's side, gently touching his hand to try to comfort him.
"Kakashi-Sensei…"
"Sakura." Her old teacher slowly nodded at her, before his head slowly moved towards the others. "Asuma. Kurenai. Gai."
"Save your strength, Kakashi." Asuma held up his hand to stop him from getting up. "You shouldn't even be talking right now. You need to be resting."
"What happened?" Kakashi grunted, slowly rising like a zombie. He groaned as his bones and muscles screamed in protest, but he ignored them. "What happened after I blacked out?"
"We were dragged back by the rest of the ANBU." Kurenai said, her hand clutching at her arm. "We were treated for our wounds, and whoever was well enough had to help out the civilians. All things considering, some of us got it easy. I mean, Yūgao's still in her bed."
"Is she going to make it?"
"...She'll be fine." Asuma said after a minute-too-long hesitation. "I mean, the cannon-fire took out her leg, but fortunately, the medical droids were able to give her a prosthetic. She'll be fine after some rest...and therapy."
"Damn it." Kakashi's singular eye shut in sorrow, his heart broken after hearing about her devastating wounds. "And the others? What about them?"
This time, it was Gai's turn to deliver the news.
"Most of them are fine." He said. "Some didn't make it, but others...will be fine after some time. Thankfully, it's mostly just severe blaster burns, but nothing that Tsunade's personal healers can't fix."
Despite hearing about her team's loss, Kakashi finally allowed himself to relax a little, choosing this time to try to focus on the brighter side. Still, his fists clenched as he began to imagine Yūgao's expression at hearing the loss of her team members - men and women alike that fought alongside her for almost over a decade.
Anko closed her eyes, finding herself for once, unable to watch someone in pain. "It's no use, Kakashi. What's done is done."
"But still, those mercenaries who attacked our village are still at large."
"We took out some of them." Asuma quickly informed him. "Inoichi was able to salvage some intel from the dead mercenaries, which include the names of the others."
Kakashi's eye narrowed. "Who are they?"
"Don't even think about it, Kakashi." Anko warned him. "You just avoided dying like three times this week, so don't think about getting revenge now."
But Kakashi wouldn't listen, and struggled to get up. "Damn it, just tell me their names."
The door slid open.
"Kakashi-Sensei." Sakura pleaded. "Please, think about-"
"You heard her, Hatake. Stay down."
Everyone turned towards the door to see Lady Tsunade and Master Yoda enter the room, their presence causing them to fall into silence.
She walked in and saw that he was halfway out of his bed. "You better get back in your bed, Hatake. I won't say it again."
Kakashi glared at her in slight defiance, before he sighed, allowing his body to slump back into bed. The small, green Jedi walked up to the middle of the room to face the bed.
"I've been told that you wanted to speak to me." Tsunade said to the patient. "So speak."
"When can I get out?"
Tsunade narrowed her eyes at his question. "I will say about a week. Why?"
"To find Naruto, of course." Kakashi replied a little too calmly. "I need to find him."
"Kakashi, you need to wait." Asuma tried to reason with him. "We don't even know where to begin, since he could literally be anywhere in the galaxy-"
Kakashi's eye narrowed into a glare as he stared at the bearded shinobi, and suddenly, the room grew colder.
"Are you telling me to give up, Asuma?" He growled.
That's when Kurenai decided to jump in to Asuma's defense. "No, Kakashi. He's just saying that we can't just jump into this without a plan. Like he said, we have no idea where Naruto even is, and we need to gain intel first before we jump into action."
"And what? You expect me to do nothing but just lay here and sleep like nothing's happening? I need to be out there, looking for him, before kami-knows what they're going to do to him!"
That's when Gai decided to jump in as well. "I know that you want to find Naruto, but like what everyone's saying, you need to rest. Your body is barely well enough for you to even run right now. And besides, the Uzumaki boy will be fine. You know how he i-"
"Your student Lee's fine now, isn't he?" Kakashi shot back. "He had most of his body crushed, but he's well enough to run laps."
"Don't change the subject, Kakashi." Gai held his ground.
"You're right." Kakashi muttered. "We're only talking about the legacy of the-"
"Kakashi, not here." Kurenai said, stopping him. "Don't mention that in front of the genin."
Meanwhile, while the older shinobi was bickering amongst themselves, Sasuke's face was growing more shadowed by his hair, his hands clenching as he continued to hear them mention the blond's name.
"Enough already!" Tsunade barked out. "We have no reason to argue amongst ourselves about Naruto. Actions are already being taken."
"Then why are we kept out of it?!"
Everyone stopped as they turned to face Sasuke.
Anko narrowed her eyes as she placed her hands on his shoulders.
"Hey kid, keep your mouth shut, or else-"
"It's been three weeks already." The Uchiha ignored her words. "Why is it that nobody has been doing anything by now? Damn the fact that we don't know where they are, we at least have the names of these intruders!"
"Like you're one to talk, kid." Asuma glared at the kid. "Couple months ago, you tried to turn to Orochimaru, which led to your fellow teammates to be critically injured by his goons." Although Asuma didn't like to show it, he held bitter feelings for the Uchiha, who was partially responsible for Choji having to go through intensive care.
"Never mind that for now." Sasuke glared back at him. "I just want to know what are you guys going to do about Naruto, now? That's all I wanna know!"
"And why do you care, brat?" Anko got in his face. "For all I know, you just want to finish the job."
"Why would I kill someone who I consider my FRIEND!?"
This sudden outburst caught everyone off guard, who knew the Uchiha as the lone wolf ever since his clan's massacre. Yoda raised his eyebrow at this.
"Back at the valley, I was just about to cross the border without a second thought." Sasuke admitted. "The only thing I cared about was gaining the power I needed to kill my brother. In that moment, I was sure that nothing else mattered. Unless we fought."
Sasuke looked down as he clenched his hands, being brought back to that moment in the valley.
"We were evenly matched, with neither of us winning or losing the fight. I told him that I was going to kill him to make my eyes stronger. But even then, he refused to back down, telling me that he would bring me back here, no matter what."
The room was in complete silence as even Anko was unable to speak a word. Sasuke, for the first time in two months, began to speak about what had happened. Not wanting to resort to torture, since Sasuke appeared to just be in shock, Inoichi had tried to use his family's techniques to pry into his mind, but the cursed seal made him abort the process, due to the first thing he saw was Orochimaru's twisted form. For the past two months, they couldn't get him to utter a single word about what had happened...until now.
"He refused to give up on me." Sasuke continued. "No matter how many times I hurt him, no matter how many times I knocked him down, he kept on getting up again. Even after I ran my Chidori through him again, he just kept getting back up..."
The Uchiha then fell into silence as his eyes grew hazy, falling back into that moment. His head began to slump downwards, until Kakashi cleared his throat.
"Sasuke, what did Naruto do or say to you that changed your mind?"
The raven-haired teen scoffed to himself. "He reminded me that I had everything he doesn't. That I was lucky to had parents that loved me, and that there were others in this village that cared about me." Much to their surprise, he let out a sad chuckle. "The loser always did know how to speak to people."
This, once again, made the room fall into stunned silence as the usually stoic and now traitorous Uchiha was showing signs of guilt, making even the skeptical start to wonder if he truly had changed for the better.
"I was stupid." Sasuke admitted to the group. "I was so focused on what I lost that I forgot about what I still had. Naruto literally had to beat that reminder into me before I realized it."
"Blinded, you were."
Everyone's attention was now pulled towards Yoda, who had spoken for the first time in those few minutes.
"Blinded by hatred, you were. Common it is, among victims. It is." Yoda said, joining the conversation. "Losing family, painful it always is. Controlling your emotions, difficult it is."
Not being able to fully process the thought of being spoken to by an alien for the first time, he could only say, "Yeah, I guess so."
Sasuke frowned as he was brought back into his memories. Out of nowhere, he began to shudder.
"Disturbed, you are." Yoda pointed out. "Why, might I ask?"
"...There was something else that happened." Sasuke recalled. "Right when we clashed for the last time, I-I think I felt Naruto's emotions."
"Felt his emotions, you say?" Yoda raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. At that moment, I...I just felt everything Naruto felt. His anger. His sadness. His hatred. And everything else."
Sasuke then looked at his right hand, which had healed up quite nicely. Still, it would twitch from time to time; a reminder of the damage done to it.
"But then there's more. In that moment when I felt his emotions, I think mine came out too. Just everything that I've bottled up and everything that I've already been feeling just came out of me. And...I think my Chidori got stronger in that moment."
Already armed with the knowledge of the technique, Yoda stroked his chin, before he turned to the Hokage. "Lady Tsunade, a blood sample of this entire village, may I have?"
This earned him an odd look from the blonde. "What for, if I may ask?"
"Test something, I must do." Yoda answered, taking a quick glance at the Uchiha. "More mysteries, this planet has to offer."
"...Yeah, sure. I can arrange that."
This made them all stare at their leader, puzzled at why she would grant the stranger such a suspicious request.
"This keeps getting weirder and weirder." Sakura said, her words voicing the thoughts of the rest of them.
[Kamino]
Boba chewed his lip as he put down his father's blasters. Grabbing a wet towel to wipe his hands, he examined the disassembled weapon, before nodding in dull satisfaction.
Despite the job being well done, he still felt nervous, due to his father still being inside the bacta tank.
Entering the living room was Cad Bane, who was looking as miffed as ever, as he was just done talking to the owner of their temporary homes.
"Tall, pale pricks." The duros grumbled, sitting across the young human. "Trying to pick us for everything we have with their damn rent."
"Hey, Bane." Boba replied to him respectfully. "Having problems with the Kaminoans?"
"I don't trust them for a bit, Boba." The bounty hunter's eyes gazed around the room, searching for any visible cameras. "I'm curious, child. How do you stay so calm in a place like this?"
"By helping around usually, or cleaning my dad's weapons." Boba said, using a towel to clean his father's other blaster. "There Isn't much to do here on Kamino, honestly."
"You tell me, kid."
The door then slid open, getting the two to turn towards it. In walked in Aurra, who was helping Jango limp towards them. In contrast to Aurra, Jango was in his casual outfit.
"Dad." Boba quickly walked up to him as the Mandalorian was set onto the couch bed.
"Easy Boba, he still needs rest." Aurra warned him. "Here, lay down."
"Thanks…" Jango grunted, before turning to his son. "Boba."
"Yes, Dad?"
"I'll be fine." Jango smiled at him. "Nothing some bacta can't fix."
Jango realized that Boba's frown was still on his face, so he continued. "Here, can you go get us something to eat?"
"Sure."
Jango turned to Sing. "Can you follow Boba? You can go get something for yourself as well."
"What, I'm your maid girl now?" Aurra smirked, before tapping on Boba's head. "C'mon, kiddo. Let's go give the big boys some privacy."
The two quickly exited the room, leaving Jango and Bane on their own.
"I'm curious, Jango," Bane spat out the toothpick he was chewing on. "When are you going to tell the others about your past? Especially your kid, Boba?"
"Later." The human bounty hunter sighed. Grabbing the box of pills from the nightstand, he popped them into his mouth, swallowing them dry. "For now, though, there's a few things I need to talk about."
"You're still thinking about that kid? Get over it." Bane snorted, leaving over on his chair. "We've got our credits, and our employer was generous enough to understand the situation. So what's the issue?"
Jango didn't answer, his eyes narrowing as he was lost in thought. Without warning, he hopped out of his bed, and walked towards the table to where Bane was sitting, where his helmet rested. Glancing at the t-visor, which seemed to be staring at him, he placed his hand over the silver helmet. His knuckles whitened as he began to grip onto it furiously.
"Bane."
The duros looked at him, his nonexistent eyebrow now raised.
"I need you to do me a favor."
…
Walking back to their new room, Aurra and Boba ran across Zam, who was also getting some food.
"I'm still surprised, honestly." Zam said, opening the door for them. "From being chased by those ninja-like warriors, to escaping a firefight between the slavers and the pirates, to being stuck on this planet for weeks. Not exactly what I thought would happen from taking that job."
"That's just the life of a bounty hunter." Aurra chuckled. "It's full of the unexpected. You'll get used to it."
"They're gone again." Boba nearly shouted, their conversation coming to a halt. They took a look around their room, and it was indeed empty.
"Huh, where'd they go?" Zam's eyes scanned the room for the two male bounty hunters. Looking around, the room was indeed empty, save for them and Boba, who was walking up the table. He picked up something, which turned out to be a piece of paper..
Aurra took a look in the storage room, and saw that it was empty too. "Jango's gear is gone, and by the looks of it, his weapons too."
Dear Boba, Jango's son read. Sorry that Bane and I had to leave. I just needed to check on something. I promise that I'll be back soon. Aurra and Zam will stay with you. From, your dad.
The two female bounty hunters expected him to be frustrated, but Boba just sighed, before grabbing a seat.
Funny enough, Zam appeared to be more frustrated with their sudden disappearance than Boba was. "Bastards."
Aurra just chuckled. "Well, you know how they are. All work, no play. Now, come on. We can have fun without them."
[Slave I]
The Slave I was already leaving Kamino's orbit, with its pilot currently preparing for the jump to hyperspace. Sitting next to the said pilot was Bane, who, while annoyed at the sudden trip, was also curious to where this was going.
"You sure you're good enough to fly?" The blue bounty hunter asked. "I'd rather not go on this sudden field trip to who-knows-where, only to die because you can't dodge an asteroid in time."
"I'm fine." Jango answered while punching in the coordinates. "The painkillers are doing their jobs, so I can use my arms just fine."
"I'm not the one that likes asking a lot of questions, but are you sure it's a good idea to go back to that planet?"
"There's a place described only in the ancient legends of our people that I had forgotten about." Jango said. "If that place does exist on that planet, then some of the answers I'm looking for should be there."
"If you say so." Cad Bane sighed.
"I know so, Bane." Jango nodded to himself. "I know so." He then punched in the last of the buttons, and the hyperdrive began to start up.
'I swear, I'll make it up to you, Jareel. You and everyone else.'
The ship jumped into hyperspace, blasting them back to the planet Elementia.
[Kessel - Ölüm]
It was another summer day on Kessel. Not a cloud was in sight, with both the slaves and the slavers alike being roasted under the merciless sun. As usual, without the Republic breathing down the necks of the Pykes and the Zygerrians, both criminal factions were free to operate their spie mining.
Despite the heat, however, the slavers themselves weren't complaining very much. After all, they were inside of their luxurious offices/homes, with clean, filtered air filling their lungs, and with the slaves fanning them to keep them cool.
The slaves, however, were not so fortunate.
TWACK!
A large, curved, thin blade pierced a large boulder. The cracks spread like wildfire, before it disintegrated, causing a cloud of red dust to cover the hole of the tunnel they were digging.
*Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*
A human man stumbled through the dust cloud. Under layers of dirt and red dust was fairly brown skin, with the man sprouting course, oily hair. His face was mostly covered with a small green and white cloth, which helped filter the dangerous clouds and fumes that filled the small tunnel.
"Ya Ibn el Sharmouta!" The man cursed in Arabic. "Could've warned me this boulder would just fall apart." He coughed a couple of times more while leaning his hand against the wall.
Patting the guy's back was another human, whose skin, despite the dust and their miserable state, seemed to glow in comparison to the Arabian.
"Take it easy Tarik, you'll drop dead if you keep this up." He pulled out his small canteen of water - one of the little luxuries those slavers allowed them to have.
Tarik took a moment to move out of the tunnel, gasping for fresher air, before accepting the canteen.
"Thanks, Adrik."
"My pleasure."
They heard light footsteps approaching them, and they relaxed, seeing how it was Naruto.
Naruto Uzumaki, whose eyes were once full of life and hope, was now reduced to a squinted glare, his eyes now narrow and always on guard. The dulled, blue orbs glanced at the two men, and they softened for a moment, before he walked into their tunnel, holding a flashlight with fresh new batteries.
They offered him some of their water, and after the teen took a moment to wipe his dusty hands on his tattered shirt (which he pilfered from a dead slave), he accepted the water.
"We close yet?" He grunted. They shrugged, and then the boy glanced at the tunnel, before sighing with relief.
"Good. Found it." He muttered to himself, glad to know that those harsh days of back-breaking work had finally paid off. "Guys, we found it!"
Tarik took his flashlight, and aimed it at the dark. A small smile was brought onto their faces as the beam of light revealed the mineshaft they were looking for.
"You sure this is the one?" Tarik asked cautiously.
"Well, I don't see the lights being on." Naruto snarked.
"Still, I want to be sure." Tarik said, pulling out a glow stick and breaking it, before throwing it as far as he could. The rediscovered mineshaft was filled with green light as the stick flew through into the collapsed shaft.
"Pretty sure that's it." Naruto grinned.
"Finally." Adrik groaned with relief, wiping the sweat off his forehead, before he turned to leave with his friend. Naruto stared into the dimly-lit darkness for a moment, before he turned around, picking up their forgotten pickaxe to join them.
If they were lucky, maybe today's food would have less mold and dust on it than usual.
…
(Mess Hall)
The Mess Hall was a large, yet cramped area for where the slaves go to eat. This one in particular was one of the three that existed in the mines, with the fourth one being destroyed long ago by a mining accident.
The tables, which were rusty and ancient, sat tightly packed together in an effort to conserve some space. They were currently filled with people of all races and species, which included Naruto and his two friends who just sat down to eat their food - or what they can afford to call it in their situation.
Adrik poked at the sludge in his tray with his spoon, frowning when he found something hard. Scooping it up, it looked to be a claw of an animal. "What the hell is this?"
"I think it's a part of a bird." A random Rodian slave answered helpfully. "Just try to imagine it's something else."
Shaking his head, Adrik grabbed it with his hands, and nibbled on the fleshy parts of it. Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Tarik was making a small prayer, his hands left open as he was reciting verses of the scripture from his religious text. Tarik was a religious Urzik Muslim, who would often recite quotes from his holy book, or would just pray in his prison cell while the others slept.
"Ameen." Tarik concluded his prayer, before closing the book, putting it away. He finally grabbed his fork to eat, when he took a look at his blond friend. "Hey Naruto, you alright?"
Naruto was blankly staring at his tray with an empty gaze, slowly eating his meal while taking slow, careful sips of his water. He seemed deaf to the world, not having said even a single word to any of them ever since they started eating.
"Naruto." Adrik snapped his fingers twice in front of the blond. "The Imam asked you something."
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?" Tarik said to the Russian. "I just read the Quran often when I'm free."
"Yo, Tarik." A random man walked past Naruto, tapping Tarik on the back. "The third drill's out of commission again. It overheated itself, and now the cooler's busted. Mind repairing it?"
Tarik, who was assigned as one of the drill operators of the lower levels, also happened to be a good mechanic, who was tasked to help with mechanical repairs. This earned him plenty of respect from both the slaves and the slavers, since they got to save money and equipment.
"Sure. I'll have to ask permission first. Our crew is busy working on that mineshaft that broke down a few weeks ago."
"The Supervisor already gave you permission. Add to note, he also wants you to cut your breaks to avoid any more problems with those Zygs."
The man then left, leaving a frustrated Tarik behind.
"Fuck me..." Tarik pinched his nose and let out a groan. "Fucking taking away my fucking break? I swear that the damn Supervisor's testing me."
"Eh, don't worry about it. They'll give you shit no matter what happens, so just finish your food, and then get back to work." Adrik shrugged, before going back to his meal.
"Hey."
Naruto looked up from his meal, and internally groaned as he saw a familiar pair of slender legs. His eyes being wise enough to not linger in that area, he looked up to see the familiar dull color of beskar armor.
SLAM!
They flinched as she slammed her tray in the middle of the two, gaining them a lot of attention.
Naruto tried to look up at the girl, only to feel something being dumped onto his head. He licked at the wet sludge that ran down his face, and realized that it was his food.
This got some whistles and gasps from the other slaves, whose attention was now turned towards the two's confrontation, which, while not news, was certainly the drama that everyone was interested in.
Naruto just sighed, being quite used to her behavior at this point, and just looked up at her. "Sabine…"
The black haired girl just glared at him, before grabbing his cup, pouring its contents all over his head to finish the job, completely soaking his already-dirtied shirt, alongside his hair and face. She then threw the cup onto his lap, before grabbing her tray, stomping away.
"Hey! What's your problem?!" Adrik stood up, yelling at her as she continued to walk away. "I'm speaking to you, сука!"
"Leave it, Adrik." Naruto said to the Russian, waving it off while removing his shirt to try to dry it. "Just ignore her, I'm already used to it."
Tarik shook his head. "I don't get it. What have you done to piss her off?"
Rolling his eyes Naruto answered, "Apparently when I told her my last name, it got her pretty angry. She slapped me, called me a poser, then walked away."
"What? Just Uzumaki? Your family got beef with hers or something?"
"That I don't know." Naruto said, shaking his head. "I don't even know who my parents were. I have been an orphan since the day I was born." Naruto's face tightened into a scowl as he twisted his shirt one final time, wringing out any remaining water in it.
"Sorry to hear that, my friend." Tarik bowed his head in sympathy. Knowing full well the horrors and struggles of a soldier, he had his fair share of meeting those without parents, whose lives were lost on the battlefield, be it a fellow warrior or an innocent bystander.
"Well, life is a journey of hardship, my friends." Adrik said to them. "From that you'll become stronger, and I can assure you that with that patience of yours, you'll become what's worth of you."
"Thanks, Adrik." Naruto shook his hand. "I appreciate that."
"I gotta go now." Tarik said, pushing his tray in front of Naruto "Here, take mine, you'll need it."
"Hey man, I-"
"Just take it, brother. A life worth living is a life with giving. " Tarik said with a smile, patting the blonde's shoulder. "I'll be fine, you just make sure to have something in your stomach. I'll see you later."
Leaving the table for his next assignment, Naruto and Adrik were left by themselves to try and finish eating their food.
It would be ten more minutes before they would be close to finishing their meal.
"Ain't wasting this for sure." Naruto stated, pouring the remaining water into his own flask.
"Smart kid." Recognizing that voice, Naruto turned around to see Zeb standing there.
"Zeb," Naruto stood up, slapping hands with the lasat. "You just finished your shift?"
"Sure did, kid." The lasat said. He frowned when he finally noticed the mess on Naruto. "What happened?"
"Sabine Wren." He shrugged, nodding to where she was sitting with the other female slaves.
"Her again?" Zeb asked, shaking his head. "You know, that brat's got a problem with you, but I just don't know why."
TRIIIIIING!
A loud, ear-piercing alarm rang, signalling the end of Naruto's break. "Well, gotta get back to work. See you later, Zeb." Naruto said, patting the Lasat on his back before picking up his tray and walking towards the exit.
"See ya, kid." Zeb said as he walked over to the others to take his break.
…
Walking outside of the mess hall, Naruto entered an outdoor corridor, which bordered the edges of the mine. Sticking his head out, he looked up to see the top of the sinkhole, watching the transport ships coming in and out, no doubt dropping off and collecting slaves and spice for their twisted business.
Naruto clenched his hands as he thought about the many slaves that perished daily. He flinched as he watched countless bodies fall down into the bottom of the sinkhole. Those were the slaves that died from dehydration, malnutrition, or from various accidents, but their slavers weren't very concerned, since there was a lot more from where they came from.
He shook his head. He couldn't think about them now. For now, the only thing the Leaf Shinobi could do was to try to survive.
[Coruscant - Jedi Temple]
Master Plo Koon, Shaak Ti, and Mace Windu sat in the Council chamber, talking to the holographic image of Grand Master Yoda. He had just contacted them, telling them about his sudden decision to test some of the Elementian children's blood for Midichlorians.
"Master Yoda, are you sure that the results of those two are correct?" Master Plo Koon pleaded for clarification.
"Incorrect, the test never is." Master Yoda replied. "Hyuga Hinata, Uchiha Sasuke, force sensitive, they both are. High midichlorian count, they both possess."
"But this can't be." Shaak Ti was flabbergasted at the results, staring at it again. "Their midichlorian count rivals yours, Master Yoda. This can't be a coincidence!"
Master Windu, who was silent up until now, decided to finally speak his thoughts. "What would you suggest, Master Yoda?"
"Bring them to the Temple, we must." Yoda said without hesitating. "Train them in the way of the Force, we will. Too dangerous to leave them alone, it is."
"What about the council?" Plo Koon brought up. "These two children are even older than Anakin was when we took him in. Surely the rest of us will reject them."
"Special training, receive they will. Necessary, it will be." Yoda answered, looking at the Togruta Jedi. "Master Shaak Ti, teach the Hyuga girl, you will. Shy she is, but strong and determined, she also is."
Master Shaak Ti bowed to the grand master. "I will be pleased to do so, Master."
"Who will teach the boy then?" Plo Koon asked. "Finding the right master for this boy will be crucial if we are to stop his darkness from spreading."
Yoda and Windu took one look at each other, and instantly knew who would be the best one suited for this task.
This did not go unnoticed by Plo Koon, as he asked, "Who do you have in mind, Master?"
"Who do you have in mind, Master?"
"Someone who we both know, Master Plo." Mace Windu said solemnly.
[Ölüm]
The sun was growing lower for the spice planet, which meant the end of another day of mining for the slaves. They were being escorted back to their cells, which many were more than happy to hurry back. Not only were they done with the work and the abuse, but the metal beds were limited, which meant that the unlucky ones had to sleep under the beds or on the floors, which wasn't very comfortable (even though the beds themselves weren't that much better.)
TCHK!
A small ball of light was ignited as one of the slaves lit their lighter. Pulling out a cigarette, which was smuggled inside by one of the newest slaves, he lit the tip, before beginning to smoke it. The said smoker was a young man with the same skin tone as Tarik, but hailed from a different country.
Slowly sucking in the cigarette before slowly breathing it out through his mouth, he continued his story.
"So like I was saying, I used to work in the oil refinery with my father in Ra's Lanuf as a transporter, but when the civil war came along, we all got caught in the crossfire. Most fled the town, mostly towards Egypt or if lucky, Tunisia. Many died in the firefights and the bombardments, and the others went missing, like my father and three of my uncles."
He paused for a moment to take another smoke, before he continued. "After the war ended, I went back into my town to try to find some work. Couldn't find any, since the refinery was blown to hell, so I hooked up with some oil smugglers, who did business from Egypt to Algeria to even Sudan."
The current speaker was Ibrahim Rida, a new slave that was native to Libya. He was forced to work as a driver for the spice transport wagons, which collected all of the harvest spice, before being brought up to the load up point. Despite the situation, however, he was crafty enough to smuggle a few things inside of the mines, which instantly gained some respect and some favors from his fellow slaves.
Handing over the cigarette to Adrik, he began to wrap up his story. "I was doing this from 2012 to like 2014. Made a good fortune of bringing oil to the black market."
"How'd you manage to cross those borders? I thought they closed them down when the war began." Tarik asked his fellow Arab while sitting on the bunk bed with Adrik, who would hand him the smoke once he was done with it.
"Oh that? Psh, that was easy. Just wait till it's dark, then the guard's will be easier to avoid. Besides, even if they catch you, just throw them a small bribe, and they'll usually look the other way, since they're not very interested in stopping fuel tanks if they get something out of it." Ibrahim shrugged. "The fact that they usually got their own kids to feed helps, so I make sure to give them a thousand diran each. Shit, sometimes if I was generous enough, I'd make it two."
Tarik just shook his head, before blowing out his smoke. He then passed it down to his other cellmates, who, at first glance, sort of looked like them in terms of skin color, but was actually Mexican, who, alongside Ibrahim, was brought in just last week. An experienced miner, he went by Jimmy Reygadas.
Speaking of Jimmy, it was him who asked the next question. "Okay, so how'd you end up here, amigo?"
Ibrahim frowned when he was brought back to that unpleasant memory. "The smuggling crew of mine got greedy, and eventually turned to slave trade." He closed his eyes as he shook his head. "I declined, of course, and stuck to just smuggling oil for a few more years until those Salafist bastards took over Ra's Lanuf, and I was left with nothing as I fled from home again. I didn't want to run for too long though, so I ended up joining a local militia that was with the government. We soon went back to Ra's and kicked those bastards out of my town. Damage was done, though, since my whole neighborhood was pretty much abandoned, with only a few left, who managed to hide from those assholes. Ra's Lanuf was a ghost town for a good few months."
Ibrahim paused as he was brought back to that moment. Slaughtering those bastards was satisfying, but it was a bitter victory once the last bullet had been fired. The town, which was once full of life with the sound and presence of street vendors, kids, and numerous small shops. The silence was honestly a lot more unsettling than the sound of gunfire if you asked him.
"After that, the militia I was with turned to Sirte, where we heard about a slave auction that was about to go off. Turned out it was a trap, and we were ambushed. And what do you know, part of them included my old smuggling crew. They thought that it was a good way to pay me back by selling me off into the auction, and you can guess the rest." Ibrahim ended with a glare, staring into his lighter, which he flicked on and off an random. "Should've killed them before when I had the chance…"
"Should've killed them there when I had the chance…"
The other men fell into silence to give respect to the man. Eventually, it was Jimmy's turn to share his story.
"I come from Minés Villa, which was a mining town just south of Cananea. I worked in the illegal mines with the other villages up in the mountains. Wasn't anything else to do but to try and make money, and it was either the mines, or go try to find work somewhere else. Anyways, I worked in the mines since I was eleven, so I got pretty much used to the dust in my lungs."
"Jesus, man."
"I get that, but really, I got good at it." Jimmy smirked. "I know how to set up a basic mineshaft. Lights, ventilation, air conditioning, transport, you name it. Then I turned 18, and the government came in and shut down all the mines, leaving everyone who worked in the mines without any sort of income, and the town quickly became deserted."
"Wow, that sucks."
"Yeah, pretty much." Jimmy said, taking another drag. "So me and my familia moved to Nuevo Laredo, where my abuelo lived, who was working as a cop back then. " He tapped his finger on the smoke, and watched the ashes fall onto his lap, before taking another puff. "Mi Familia, my people, and the rest of the community are hard working people. Good men, too. The only thing they feared was God Almighty himself and nothing else." Jimmy said, crossing his heart.
He then glanced at Tarik, who just shrugged in return. A bit relieved at the absence of religious conflict, he continued.
"Mi abuelo and mi tío were cops, working hard for the family and to keep the streets clean. But then out of nowhere, my grandfather and my father got sacked by the police commissioner. No explanation, no warning, just told them to leave, before taking their badge and their gun."
Jimmy's face grew darker as his fingers squeezed the cigarette.
"It didn't make sense to me until that Friday night. A couple of cruisers just rolled up in front of my house, and with no warning, just shot the whole house up with everyone in it."
Jimmy's fingers curled around the dying cigarette, crushing it with his hands. It burnt his skin, but the man didn't seem to care.
"Nobody in that house survived that day. I was the one lucky one - or I guess unlucky, if you can say so. I was arriving home on my bike when I saw it all happen. Right in front of me, my mama, papa, my uncle, my three sisters and brothers were just killed like animals in front of me. Murdered by the people that we thought were friends."
"They were corrupt, weren't they?" Naruto, who was the quietest of the group so far, finally spoke up from his bed, staring at the darkening ceiling.
"Si." Jimmy nodded grimly. "The commissioner, the lieutenants, even the fucking highway patrols, they were all paid by Los Zetas to kill my family just to tell everybody that they ruled Nuevo Laredo. They were former cops, turned rogue after they got training from those pinche Gringos across the border. Fucking Americans created a big mess like how they did in Libya, eh, Ibrahim?"
The Libyan just nodded. "Yeah…typical."
"Anyways," Jimmy sighed, dropping the remains of the cigarette, "my family was killed because my stubborn old grandpa refused to stay quiet about the corruption that was poisoning our city. The final straw was when he found out the mayor was meeting with drug traffickers. He tried to tell everyone, but those bastards got to mi familia first…" Jimmy shook his head, rubbing his eyes as he buried his face into his hands.
"You alright, Jimmy?"
"Sorry, but when I keep thinking about it..." His fist hardened into a fist, his knuckles whitening from rage. "I just feel like going on a rampage, matando a cada bastardo que mató a mis seres queridos."
"Ey, if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to." Adrik cut in.
"I know." Jimmy sighed, reaching for something under his shirt, which turned out to be a silver cross necklace with Jesus on it.
"I just feel like I've been weak on my response to all of this." He said, clutching onto his cross. "I'm not comfortable with talking anymore…"
Adrik nodded. "I understand, my friend. Life can be cruel."
They then fell into a tense-filled silence, hearing nothing but the snores and the whimpers of the other slaves.
"You know what," Naruto suddenly said, "when I hear all your stories, a part of me feels jealous."
"What do you mean?" Ibrahim wondered.
"I've never had parents since the day I was born." Naruto said solemnly. "They died when I was born to protect the village I lived in. I never had a mom to pick me up from school, and to prepare me dinner. I never had a dad to teach me anything, or to just hang out with."
Naruto's frown turned into a glare as he began to recall all the bad memories he had with his village.
"I'm not kidding when I say that from the day I was born, it just seemed like everyone and everything hated me. Everybody hated me for something I wasn't, blaming me for the attack on my village, and for getting the previous leader killed. It never made sense, and to this day, it still kind of doesn't. If it wasn't for the leader of my village, I think I would've gone mad years ago."
Naruto's blue eyes then softened when he thought about the people in his life that made him smile.
"There were only a handful of people in my life that helped me stay positive. Funny enough, one of them was technically an enemy. I was on a mission with my team to protect a bridge-builder from a group of assassins. One of them was Haku, who I met after falling asleep outside. I didn't know that he was my enemy at the time, and looking back, he could've killed me on the spot. Instead, we had a nice chat together, and he even taught me that the greatest source of strength comes from protecting those you love."
"That's pretty deep, amigo." Jimmy nodded. "What happened to him."
The sudden silence that ensued said it all, and he winced at that.
"Oh."
"Yeah. I guess that's just life…"
TING!
Everyone turned to the cell door to see a Pyke guard slamming his stick against the door.
"Lights off, up to bed." The Pyke guard said, walking passed their door. The moment the guard left the lights above the five youngmen turned off, leaving the only light in the darkness to be the red burning cigarette.
"Alright," Ibrahim took another stroke before exhaling "Let's sleep, bastards." he dropped the smoke and put it out before everyone started moving to their bunk beds. Trying to get as much sleep that they could for the next day.
Laying on the down bed underneath Naruto was Jimmy who decided not to sleep underneath Ibrahim's smelly ass from the food he's been eating in the kitchen with his connection. Hoping that Naruto would be less of a nuisance.
"Sleep well, Amigo." He said to Naruto crossing his arms while closing his eyes. Leaving Naruto to keep staring at the ceiling without a inch of sleep in him. Instead he reached down to his jacket he managed to scavenge from another deceased slave and pulled out from under it his pedant, he stared at it knowing he was lucky that the slavers didn't confiscate it as he hid it for as long as he could being it the only reminder of his home. Gripping it into his hands he made a promise to himself in his mind, one of the things the old man 3rd Hokage told him.
'I will not give up, I will not.'
[Elementia - Uzushiogakure]
Uzushiogakure.
It was once an island full of life. An island full of civilians and shinobi, who kept to themselves as they practiced the art of sealing.
They were the Uzumaki clan, an infamous clan of powerful warriors, with skills in sealing that was unrivaled.
But that was in the past. The once glorious village was now in ruins, destroyed by enemies who never took credit for their successful annihilation of the clan, leaving nothing behind but still running whirlpools, corpses, and broken, empty buildings.
CRACKLE! CRUMBLE.
Jango and Cad Bane were currently walking through the ruins, having flown to this island from all the way from Kamino on the Slave I. Cad Bane was brought along on this field trip, and while the ruins did serve to somewhat fascinate him, especially after hearing all the legends from the Mandalorian walking next to him, he was still irritated from the flight.
"Unbelievable…" The helmed warrior breathed as he made sure to take in the sights before him. No Mandalorian had ever set foot upon this place again, seeing as how they never needed to, and because they never received the call to. Plus, there was the constant wars that was fought that included their participation, many of them ending up to be civil wars. On top of that, his people before him we're forced to swear to never return to this cursed planet unless their brethren summoned them. However, after so many years of silence, it was clear now why they never even got a call back to make sure that they were okay.
"Hey, Fett." Cad Bane grunted, flicking away his toothpick. "You mind telling me the purpose of this depressing field trip? This place gives me the spooks."
He had just walked past a corpse, which still had its forehead protector and armor on. It looked to be in many different pieces, indicating that this poor fellow was blown to bits.
"I told you, I'm here to look for something." Jango answered, his heart feeling heavy from seeing the abandoned corpse of the Uzumaki. "Some...possible artifacts that they left behind that I can possibly use, as well as that boy, when we save him."
"If we save him." The duros grunted. "What destroyed this place, by the way?"
"No one knows." Jango admitted. "All we know is that this island was set ablaze, destroying nearly everything here." He kept his vizor running, scanning to try to find anything.
"Great." The duros sighed, looking around the ruins again nervously. He nearly jumped when he realized that the Mandalorian had stopped walking. Looking in front of him, he realized that they were standing in front of a wall, with ancient writings and carvings on them. Bane realized that Jango was touching the spiral, which had a hole in the eye.
"I wonder…" Jango dug around in his pocket, and pulled out a clear crystal. Before Bane could ask, Jango stuck the crystal into the hole, and they both discovered that it was a perfect fit.
"A key?"
Just then, the wall began to glow bright blue as the carvings and the text began to emit the same light. It started from the center of the whirlpool, before quickly spreading to the rest of the wall.
Jango yelped as the blue light and text suddenly crawled onto his arm. Letting go of the crystal, he staggered backward as he tried to swat the glowing text off of him, but just as quickly as it latched onto him, it suddenly disappeared.
Before either of them could start any questions, Bane pointed back to the wall.
"I think you opened a door, Jango." He noted. Looking back at the wall, it would seem like he did indeed open some sort of gateway, as the glowing spiral drawing began to suddenly unravel itself, the hole in the middle growing bigger, until it grew big enough for a man to walk through.
The minute the whirlpool stopped expanding, the giant hole stopped glowing, allowing them to look back at it with ease. Even with Jango's visor, he found the light to be quite blinding.
"..."
"..."
"...Well, here goes." Jango muttered, before he took a brave step forward. Stepping towards the hole, he hesitantly stuck his hand forward, and found that it went through the hole. Astonished, he quickly pulled it back, and found that his hand was back in the light, and not submerged in the dark hole.
"..." Saying nothing else, the Mandalorian took a deep breath, before he stepped inside the portal.
The darkness seemed to swallow him whole as he completely passed through the opening. Shrugging, Cad Bane quickly followed suit.
The minute he completely entered the hole, the whirlpool portal closed shut behind them.