6Naruto sat as still as the giant toad statues around him, allowing the natural chakra to fill every cell of his body. He felt the wind ruffling through the hair, felt the strength of the stone tablet under his thighs, felt the little pinching of the claws of the sparrows who settled on his head and picked through his blond locks. The seal on his stomach pulsed steadily, and he tried to balance the ocean of the world's chakra with the raging tides of the Nine-Tail's power rushing through him.
"Naruto-chan," he heard the voice of his master, close to him but far, far away, separated by entire galaxies of atoms. "You're doing it, you're really doing it."
He imagined himself as a solitary tenketsu in the body of Mount Myobokuzan, a little delta at the edge of the known world. The river was inside him, the ocean of the planet's chakra around, and he was the point where the two embraced, like lovers coming home.
Inside, though, his thoughts still whirled. While his body was still, an empty vessel to be filled, his mind spiralled. He thought of Jiraiya, a man who'd come to be his family, of the times they'd spent together. He thought of how Jiraiya had fed him, clothed him, had moulded him from a wayward child to a young man. In this place, he tried to search for his master's touch, signs that Jiraiya, too, had once been a young man here, sat where he sat and learned what he was learning.
The natural chakra was calm, soothing, peaceful…but it was also apathetic. It was stagnant, apathetic, an omnipresent power that saturated the world but stopped at the margins of being. He could feel Fukasaku next to him, feel the rolling of the old Toad's own chakra, but still he felt an invisible divide. He could touch and feel, even smell the smoke of the Toad's intrinsic chakra nature, but something, an unseen barrier, stopped him from reaching out, from sharing this feeling with his master.
Every toad on the mountain was visible to him, from Fukasaku and Shima a little ways away, to Gamabunta and his sons on the western side of Myobokuzan. But even with his immersion in the sea of natural chakra, he felt alone, that same crushing loneliness he'd always felt. Even soaked under the feel of the chakra, he saw tiny bubbles in his mind, covering each organism in the place, from tiny ants to Gamabunta himself.
He was so close - surely this couldn't be the limits of this mysterious power, to tantalise him with a touch of the world around him on his lips, but not let him taste? Jiraiya's death still tore at him, his anger at Tsunade, his fear of the shadowy leader of the Akatsuki - all of these still bubbled up within him, and senjutsu remained indifferent. Impassive. Unmoved. He had no outlet.
He opened his eyes.
"Naruto-chan, I can't believe you did it!" Fukasaku leapt onto his shoulder. "Look, your eyes, they look so different -"
Naruto took a deep breath and released the energy. "Gramps," he said, feeling himself solidify into the unique existence that was Naruto Uzumaki, "this isn't it."
THERE IS NO EMOTION, THERE IS PEACE
Sakura worked feverishly, threading her chakra through arteries and veins and nerves and bone, knitting together the shattered femur of the ninja underneath her, carefully reassembling the injury he'd been dealt. Precise and skilled, she separated every tiny fragment out from his muscles and in through his skin, using her left hand to rapidly stem the hole in his femoral artery. He groaned even under her soothing touch.
"Sakura-sama," he gasped out, pale and sweating, "I've bled out too much…please take care of the other patients -"
"Silence!" she admonished. "Three units of blood are on the way, now lie still and let me finish putting you back together."
He coughed weakly, a rasping, wheezing sound. "You are still…a ninja of the village. In times of disaster…you must triage…save the ones who can be saved…"
"Didn't I tell you to shut up?!" Sakura gritted her teeth, unwilling to think of the mountain of bodies piled up outside the hastily made triage area, of the rows of bodies lying around her, screaming and crying in pain. "I am the disciple of Senju Tsunade. What is a code black for others is yellow for me, and what is red for the others is green! Under my hand, Konoha will not lose even the worst of the cases."
"Keh," the corners of his lips pulled up. "As expected…of the Godaime's own student…"
She removed her hand, knitting the skin over as she finished. The bone was back in shape, but weak, it would need to be cast, and that meant another ninja out of commission for the fight outside. But hers was not to think of command, hers was to heal, to lend her strength to the strength of the village -
Everything stopped. The medic-nin working on their patients, the dying ninja, the volunteers running to and fro in anguish. Sakura was no sensor, had never had any talent in the field, but even she felt the massive, massive surge of chakra that rippled through the village.
She rose to her feet like a puppet, pulled by invisible strings above her head.
"Feel pain."
The voice of the enemy echoed through the room, ringing clear in her ears. Her head refused to turn. With a twitch of her eyes, she confirmed that the room, indeed, held only Konoha ninjas.
"Contemplate pain."
Without any input from her brain, her leg took a step forward. And then her other leg shifted, feeling like it was a thousand tens heavy, and her sandals clacked as it hit the floor.
"Accept pain."
Her hands leaden and useless by her side, Sakura shambled forward. She was like a mother drawn to a bonfire, inches away from being consumed.
"Know pain."
The deep voice echoed through her body, shaking her from the inside. For the first time, she felt a trickle of fear in the naked animal part of her hindbrain, a screaming voice that was telling her to run, run, run in the other direction, leave while she still could, she was going to die -
"Those who do not know pain will never know what true peace is."
Sakura reached the giant window, her eyes blinded by the shift in the light for a moment before they adjusted. The village was in ruins, smoke and fires dotting the landscape as far as her eyes could see, giant slabs of earth lying dotted everywhere like fallen shogi pieces. Her heart began to race, and she became aware that she was having palpitations, as the organ in her chest shook and stumbled, unable to comprehend what her brain was telling her.
"I will never forget Yahiko's pain."
Sakura's breath caught in her throat. A lone figure floated silhouetted against the burning disk of the sun was a lone, his hands outstretched. Sakura saw the face of the enemy and then suddenly her body was hers again, simultaneously roaring with chakra and begging her to hide.
"This world shall know pain."
Her knees bent, caught between ducking and moving. Her hands caught on the windowsill and she made the decision without thinking, shooting out of the open frame like a bullet -
"Shinra Tensei."
Everything went white. Then the sound of a thousand mountains falling echoed through the village.
And stopped.
Sakura felt something barrel into her and then she was being moved, strong arms around her midriff. She felt herself land on solid stone as the brightness cleared.
She realized she was standing on the Hokage Tower, next to the ANBU whose body flicker had probably saved her life. Tsunade stepped up next to her, putting a strong hand on her shoulder. Just as she was too stunned to thank her saviour, the Godaime also was left speechless, instead of chastising her for deserting her sacred post.
A massive hole lay in the centre of the village, metres away from the hospital. Over a kilometre across in diameter, it looked no different than a hole punched into sand by a rowdy child. The homes, the trees, the people, everything had vanished, replaced only be a pit of dry, barren earth.
But even as Tsunade's hand shook from exertion and slugs emerged from the ground, spitting out people, their eyes remained on the tallest power pole of the village, directly in front of the Hokage's Tower.
A lone figure stood on the metal surface, his right hand outstretched and facing the devil who had planned to turn their home into dust. Sakura made out a shock of vibrant yellow hair and baggy black ninja fatigues, tied at the ends of the limbs. The tails of a dark headband fluttered in the hot breeze that picked up.
Heads popped out of windows. Against better judgement, people crept out from nooks and shadows and looked up at the two figures above them.
Uzumaki Naruto stood alone above the desolation, his raised hand tense and shaking. With the boom of echoing thunder, the hole in the ground grew a few feet bigger. And stopped.
Sakura saw Naruto clench his fingers.
"How?" Pain's voice echoed through the village, shock and disbelief warring in his deep voice. "Your eyes are the same yet you manage to hold my Almighty Push. What power do you hold? Is this the strength of the Nine-Tails?"
Naruto chuckled. "The Kyubi, huh?" In the stark silence that blanketed the village, even his voice carried, young and bright and the opposite of Pain's menacing tone. The blond ninja raised his other hand and looked at it, his head dipping in contemplation. "Is this power? I don't know." He turned his palm over and stared at the back of his hand. "It is energy, for sure. An endless energy, flowing through me and you and every bit of the universe. Does it have a name? I don't know. I'm just some loser who's realized how small he really is."
"Stop your rambling!" roared Pain. "If you are so small, then I will have no trouble crushing you under my feet." The orange haired ninja brought both hands to bear, aiming at the lone figure of the Uzumaki.
The pole Naruto was standing on creaked, but held firm. So did the ninja standing atop it, even though Sakura saw him slide back ever so little.
"No," said Naruto, taking a step forward, arm still raised. "You didn't get it. In the eyes of this energy, both you and I, we're just tiny little specks." He took another step forward.
Pain flew back a few inches. Sakura gasped.
"You dare!" roared Pain, ceasing his motion without moving his hands. "I am a God! Who do you think you are, challenging the might of my eyes?"
Naruto braced his knees. Pain shifted again before floating forward and screaming in anger. A thin fissure cracked the ground under his feet, and the pole protested again.
"Me?" asked Naruto, his voice still calm, almost like he was talking to a friend and not the terrorist who'd attacked his village. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, ninja of Konoha. My mother was Uzumaki Kushina of the Village Hidden in the Wolves," Sakura felt the sharp exhale of Tsunade's breath on her ear. "And my father was Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage of the Leaf Village. Jiraiya of the Sannin was my godfather and teacher. They protected the Leaf Village with their lives, and I have inherited their legacy."
Someone cursed. It took Sakura a moment to realize that it was her.
Pain roared again and clasped his hands, driving the sharp point towards Naruto like an invisible spear through the air. Naruto curled his hands into a tight claw, and held on.
"You brat!" Pain advanced slowly, his pale face and bright hair coming into focus as he neared. His eyes were rippled grey and bulging with effort, his face set in a tight scowl. "Protect? Protect?! What did their efforts at," Pain's face screwed up, "protection, ever yield? The Leaf lies in shambles. The Fourth Hokage is dead. Jiraiya of the Sannin is dead! I killed that pathetic bastard myself, sent his body to the depths of the ocean so that he could never get the honour of a decent burial. His body will rot forever in the depths of the world, and so will yours, once I destroy the Leaf and rip the Kyubi from your being!"
"Yes," said Naruto. "And no. My parents are dead. Jiraiya is dead. Their bodies are cold and rotting, like you said. But gone? They are not gone. I can feel them, even now. With me, around me. One with me. They died so I could live." He laughed. "And I will live, and you will lose."
Pain swore, loudly and effusively. He came to a stop only a few metres from Naruto and ground his teeth, his hands reaching like he was strangling the boy.
"You are a fool," he gritted out. "Jiraiya is gone, his dream is gone, and here you stand, trying to defend yourself. The fishes are eating his eyes as we speak, and soon they will devour yours. I am a God and I will - not - be - denied!"
Every word of his was punctuated by another crack splitting the ground under Naruto until the fissures reached his pole. The ANBU next to her slapped his hands to the ground for some jutsu, but it was unnecessary. Naruto stretched his other hand to the ground and the pole stood as firm as the blond did.
"Telekinesis?" Sakura whispered, her prodigious brain working a mile a minute. "Is this…the power of Sage Mode?"
Naruto tilted his head, almost like he'd heard her speak, but his attention remained on Pain. "You can't hurt me with those words. Jiraiya's death will forever…pain me," he laughed, quietly. "But I won't be a brat and let it control me. Why would I? As long as I am alive, my Master's Will is carried forward. My love and respect, and his wisdom and kindness will always be within me, more than the pain of his loss."
"You think to mock my pain?"
Naruto crouched down. "The Third Hokage swept the Kyubi out of the village with his Adamantine Staff. The Fourth sealed it outside the gates so it could not harm the village. Even Orochimaru could not destroy the Leaf. I will not let you, either."
Blood crept out of Pain's nose in a lone trickle. "I will crush this village to bits!"
"No, you won't," answered the blond ninja calmly. "Your chakra is depleted and your jutsu has failed. You are no God."
Naruto clenched his hand into a fist and punched the air. "Now get the hell out of my village."
Pain shot out of the sky with a vengeance, clearing the walls with the speed of a small comet. A plume of dust went up beyond the boundaries, and Naruto leapt to the Hokage Tower as his own technique finished, and his faithful stand finally collapsed to the ground with a resounding crash.
Author's Notes: What the hell am I doing? I'm already working on other stuff and I'm posting a new story again? Don't worry. This story has already been drafted and written, it just needs to be edited and posted. Say, every week or two? It's not very big, 10-12k words at most. This will be finished, because this has been a passion project of mine for years. Both Naruto and the Force have fascinated me for years, the latter more as a philosophy than a power. Sure, EU Star Wars has some mad fics, but most stories figure on the what instead of the how and why when it comes to the Force. I want to explore the mindset a little here, and what better way than the best fight in Shippuden? Worry not, Naruto will have feats, but I want to write my own interpretation of the Jedi Code, which, you've guessed, is the title of each chapter. Like I said, it won't be a very big story. The Sith Dictums get a lot of love online, but age and time have made me realize the merits, and the dichotomy, of the Jedi. Review and philosophize as you feel free! Things that don't make sense, like Naruto knowing who his parents are, will make sense in time. We all know the answer, anyway.
Only one question remains - lightsaber, yes or no? Oh yes, I have plans.
PS - Not marking this as a crossover. This is set solidly in the Naruto universe, and the Force might as well be a special move that Naruto unlocks. Cheers!
PPS - I am working on my other stuff. Just have a monkey brain and dealt with my writer's block by just reading through the other stuff I had on my drive. More on the way soon!