Welkin

Summary: Star Wars AU. Jedi Knight Sai faces death when the friendship of a pink haired bounty hunter lands him in the middle of a dangerous conspiracy revolving around ex Republic soldier Uchiha Sasuke.

Notes: Well, thanks for giving the fic a chance despite it's cracky summary, first of all :o) this is a Star Wars style alternate universe, set in the timeframe of the Old Republic (about three thousand years before the original trilogy). It will be an ensemble cast, with the main pairing being Sai x Sakura and a few side ones thrown in. I hope you enjoy it :o)

Prologue: A long, long time ago…

Her breath came out in ragged pants as she sprinted through the underbrush, thick, vine like plants swatting painfully at her legs as she made her way to where she had heard Naruto's cry. For the millionth time she cursed the climate of the jungle planet of Kono-ha, the heavy humidity in the air making sweat pour down her forehead, matting the pink hair to her skull.

Her pair of blasters hit her hips from their place on the utility belt with enough force to bruise, and without a standard second's thought she tossed her heavy ion discharger into the underbrush, getting rid of the weight and allowing her hands freedom of movement as they battled against the foliage.

She fought past the last patch of vines before she saw a clearing in the distance, a familiar figure clad in the orange jumpsuit typical for pilots sprawled out on the ground.

"Naruto!" She screamed, drawing one of her blasters as she closed the distance between them.

Immediately, her free hand went to the medic's pouch on her utility belt, drawing out a life support pack, "Naruto! Can you hear me?"

The young man groaned, his face a bloody pulp, and Sakura deducted that someone had smashed the butt end of a blaster rifle into his face.

"Who did this to you?" She asked, setting aside her blaster as she checked his vitals.

Naruto inhaled, his breathing raspy, more than likely due to his now broken nose, "Sasuke."

She shook her head, "I haven't found him. It was stupid of us to split up," she paled, "What if they got to him-?"

She was startled by Naruto's large hand clasping tightly around her forearm, the bloodied and tan skin a stark contrast to her own, "Sasuke," he reiterated, a desperate panic in his tone.

"You have a concussion," Sakura said. It wasn't a question, "Let me signal the relief base-"

Just as her hand went to press the communicator in her ear, a sickening, a cold fear washed over her and her hand muscles began to spasm. The communicator went untouched as her hand twitched, falling to her side and staying there. Naruto too seemed to be feeling the effect, as she could feel his heart speed up under her hand.

"I'm afraid there will be no signal anyone, Sakura," came an oily voice and Sakura felt the nauseating sensations of dread sour in her stomach.

She craned her head around, and her eyes widened when she saw a dark hooded figure in the middle of the field.

"Sith!" She cried, realizing now that she was under some sort of Dark Jedi technique.

The man's face wasn't visible underneath the hood, only a dark shadow.

Sakura tried to reach for her discarded blaster, but her muscles were no longer under her control.

"I'm sorry about Naruto. But the idiot doesn't know when to shut his mouth," came the voice, this time it sounded different, more cold. More familiar.

Naruto, under her frozen hand, began to make choking noises, the hand clenching around her forearm going up to his throat to fight against an invisible attacker.

"Stop it!" Sakura screamed, gritting her teeth and trying to break the Sith's hold over her.

"There is no stopping me," the oily voice was back again, the mouth grinning, "I get whatever I want. Isn't that right Sasuke?"

"Hm."

Sakura felt her scream die in her throat, "Sasuke?"

The Sith pulled back its hood, revealing the face of her friend and squad mechanic.

"Yes, Sakura?" Sasuke's face purred, an elongated tongue trailing across his lower lip.

The woman woke with a start, a gasp escaping her lips as she kicked the sheets away from her. It was only after a few moments of breathing heavily that her surroundings kicked in, the bleak, four walls of the temporary apartment she'd rented out for the month staring back at her. Her hair shrouded her face as her mouth pressed into a tight line, her hand going for the glass of water on the night stand next to her.

She pressed the glass against her lips, relishing in the cool moisture as it slid down her throat and calmed her nerves.

A dream. Just a dream.

She let her eyes drift close to take a deep breath, and was immediately assaulted with the memory of Sasuke in Sith robes.

Her hand clenched around the glass before she threw it forward, the shattering sound echoing throughout the empty room.

"Stang," she whispered, taking another deep breath before pulling her knees under her chin, her wide, green eyes staring out of the apartment window and into the busy metropolis of a Nar Shadaar night.

On her nightstand, next to where the glass had been, was a blaster pistol and a datapad with a recording of the day's latest news story:

FAMED JEDI MASTER UCHIHA ITACHI MURDERED BY RENEGADE ASSASSIN IN JEDI TEMPLE--AUTHORITIES HAVE NO CONFIRMED SUSPECTS--CAUTION IS ADVISED--