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The Boy Without A Nation

Chapter 1: Battle of the Prodigies

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A young blonde haired blue eyed boy raced across the stone courtyard of his new school so he wouldn't be late. Oh man I can't be late for the first day at this school! He breathed a sigh of relief as the large banner proudly displaying the fire nation's crest came into view along with what appeared to be a construction crew creating a giant statue of Fire Lord Sozin.

He dashed inside the building being extra careful to avoid any school officials who could get him in trouble. 102, 103, 104…108 Here it is! The blonde smoothed out his new fire academy uniform and slowly opened the door right before the gong of the bell rung throughout the academy. A quick look over the classroom showed that he was in fact the last student to arrive as everyone else was kneeling on red flat pillows looking at their open textbook.

He expected the wide eyed stares of his classmates as his bright blonde hair was extremely rare as in like no one alive had his hair color…well beside his mother but that was beside the point. The teacher however was not dumbfounded or at least she kept her shock to herself as she narrowed her eyes at the new student. "Oh is this a new mind ready for molding?" She said as her right eyebrow rose slightly.

"Yup!" He knocked on his skull a couple times with an unsure smile on his face. "That's right. Let the molding begin haha…" The teacher and his new classmates were unamused however that was the least of the 16 year old blond troubles as the teacher suddenly gasped and both of her eyebrows shot up in remembrance. "Wait a minute. You are not from the Fire Nation!"

She immediately began to circle the blonde who was feeling really nervous. "Clearly you are from the colonies." The blonde blew out a silent sigh of relief as he expected much worse. "Yes I am from Yu Dao of the Earth Kingdom- I mean now liberated Fire Nation Colony." The teacher nodded her head as the classmates eyes were widened at the revelation of their new classmate from the new colony. Whispers shot around the room but were quickly silenced as the teacher made a firm gesture with her wooden pointer.

"Your etiquette is terrible. In the homeland we bow to our elders like so." She walked back in front of him and pressed her thumb to the bottom of her open palm, however when the blonde tried to replicate the bow he naturally went into his usual closed fist into open palm bow shown to him by his father and his ancestors.

He felt the tapping of the teacher's wooden pointer on his closed hand so he looked over to the other students and made eye contact with a cute brown haired girl who blushed when she noticed his deep blue eyes silently asking for help. She quickly showed the correct bowing posture to him and thankfully he got it correct the second time.

"Better. Now what is your name? Or should we just call you manner-less colony slob." He silently flinched at the title but tried to keep it light. "You could just call me slob." He gave an uneasy fake smile as no one appreciated the small joke. He turned to the other students and bowed correctly but when he lifted his head back up his blue eyes grabbed everyone's attention as their seemed to be a small electric crackle that filled them unnoticeably briefly. "My name is Minato Namikaze and my dream is to become a bender like none other."

XXX

Flashback

3 Months Ago

Yu Dao was a peaceful village in a flat valley surrounded by a lush forest, however it was not a thriving village as it was considered a poor backwater village but Minato could not careless as he spent most of his time in the forest training on his air bending.

His father, Jiraiya, was once a proud air monk even though he had his perverted tendencies to deviate from their noble teachings, but once he met the love of his life and now wife Tsunade from the Earth Kingdom, he left the Southern Air Temple and came to this village to have a child. Jiraiya could not raise his child in the Southern Air Temple until he showed promise as an air bender. On the other hand the Senju demanded that when the child was born that he would be raised by their family of infamous powerhouse earthbenders. In the end Jiraiya and Tsunade decided that it would be best for their family to distance themselves from their families but still raise Minato with their teachings.

As time passed Minato eventual grew up to be an airbender, much to the enjoyment of Jiraiya who thought it was smart to rub it in Tsunade's face until he ate a face full of earth as he was sent face down into the ground. Minato spent most of his childhood in the forest surrounding Yu Dao practicing his air bending as none of the non-bending children wanted to play with him and the other bending children played only earth bending games.

Minato was training with his air staff to fine tune his airbending into slices of air rather than simple gusts of wind when he smelled smoke in the air. He turned and peered out of the forest to see his small village up in flames. Oh no… father mother! He raced back to the village ignoring the cutting blows from the tree branches he was running into.

"Father! Mother!" He finally reached the main road of the small village only to see his father battle against a group of fire benders. "Father!" Minato called out to Jiraiya who only briefly looked back at his son with rare angry expression on his face. "Minato get out of here! Find your mother I will handle them!" The firebenders ran forward to end the fight quickly but Jiraiya was having none of it.

"You will not harm my family!" He clapped his hands his hands summoning a large vortex wind surrounding him. He then slammed his right foot onto the ground and spread out his hands with a heavy exhale creating a violent wind wall separating Minato from his fight with the elite firebenders. Jiraiya gave his go easy smile to the wall as if Minato could still see him but slowly turned to face the enemy with a deadly look in his eyes. "Now I don't know why you would be invading the Earth Kingdom but right now I don't really care." He bent his knees and prepared for the incoming assault of flames.

Father's wind wall…this is serious. Minato looked at the swirling wall of wind and went to touch it but remembered he had to go save his mother. He gripped his air staff tightly in his hand to the point of almost shattering it. I have to find mom and end this senseless fighting! Minato turned his back to the air wall and began sprinting towards their home across the village until he was about run into a group of firebenders. Trying to stop him they threw a series of punches creating a barrage of flaming orbs rushing at him. He began dodging and weaving through the flying flames building up a significant amount speed shocking the Fire Nation soldiers. Once he built up enough speed he opened the wings of the staff and threw it as hard and as high as he could. Seeing him exposed all four firebenders thrust out both of their arms creating a flood of flames at him however Minato stayed composed and did something they never expected.

He flipped. Choosing to avoid the attack head on Minato concentrated his airbending into a large ball above his head and ran forward, but just as the first of the flames flickered in front of him he tucked and threw down his compressed ball of air blasting him safely into a series of flips over the heads of the Fire Nation soldiers. He landed gracefully on top of his air staff and began to air surf away from the stunned soldiers.

As he soared over the village Minato could see the destruction of his home as the village was fall apart due to the fighting. There were crumbling earth walls, chunks of solid stone covered in scorch marks, and the clear signs of resistance but from his speed he could not tell who was winning overall but the heavy weight in his gut told them exactly who was going to come out victorious in this invasion. Minato extended both of his palms behind him and poured his energy into the air to create an even faster air current to carry him.

I need to get there in time. Please be ok mom.

XXX

Namikaze Home

The normally peaceful home of the Namikaze was now filled with the sounds of groaning, murmuring, and rushing feet. Tsunade was treating her neighbor for burns along his chest as her apprentice, Shizune, was aiding traffic into the home and organizing other able body earthbenders to form "beds" for the injured. The spacious living room was now in essence a war hospital and unfortunately it was filling up far too fast for the two medics to deal with.

Tsunade was applying ointment to the burns as her neighbor grimaced under the medication. Though she was looking at him, Tsunade's thoughts were elsewhere. Lifting up her head she looked out the window and the sight of wild flames and destruction engrained into her mind. This peaceful home was now war-torn for reasons she could not figure out. Why is the fire nation attacking us? What do they even want?

She wanted to go rushing out there before, when it began but Jiraya in a rare moment of seriousness stopped her from going out there. "Let me go out there! This village needs both of us to fight!" Jiraiya stopped in the doorway and turned slightly over his right shoulder to look at her. "You're right, the village does need us however, they need you more here in our home. You and Shizune are the only medics in the village so I will try to stop the fire nation assault with the others but your role as healer is even more important than my own."

He turned completely to face her and gave Tsunade a loving kiss on her forehead. "You also have to be here when Minato comes back…" She lightly touched her forehead and closed her eyes to fight back the coming tears. That pervert better come back in one piece or I'll destroy the entire Fire Nation! Tsunade looked down to see her patient passed out and begin his recovery. Where is my baby? He should have returned from his training by now.

"So this is where all the injured are being held." At the sound of the new voice in the room Tsunade turned around and tensed. How did he sneak up on me like that? "Who are you!?" She demanded only to see what appeared to be a 16 year old boy but what made her nearly leap out at him was the sight of the Fire Nation's armor he was wearing.

"Me? Well that's not important right now." He gestured to the steaming cups of tea on the night table behind him. "Jasmine tea? It's good for the soul." Tsunade leaned to the right and saw her apprentice knocked out slumped against the far wall. Her brown eyes grew sharp and pure rage filled her face as her nose crinkled in anger. "Did you do that?"

The young man sighed slightly and walked over to one of the steaming cups of tea taking in a quick sip. "Was that someone important to you? Well… she went out quickly and I'm sure it was painless." Clearly that was the wrong thing to say as he saw her fist clench quickly. Ugh, that came out wrong. I was hoping that we could avoid bloodshed but even out here the stubbornness of the Earth Kingdom still reigns. Plus diplomacy was never my strong suit.

His eyes slightly widened in curiosity when she took a calming breath and unclenched her fist. "Look." He tore his gaze away from his cup and saw the determined look in her face. "Go and report to your superior before I break you little boy." The young man calmly put down his cup and walked past her heading towards the exit.

"Superior?" The sunlight illuminated his figure revealing the complete figure of the young man. He was lean, wearing the standard Fire Nation uniform but on top of it was a pristine set of jet black armor cover just his shoulders and the top half of his torso. Imprinted onto the armor was a bright golden flame symbolizing the Fire Nation but what shocked her the most was the ancient royal artifact holding his hair with its iron gold flames framing the top of his hair.

"You….You're!" Tsunade was struggling to spit it out as the shock of just who she was talking with hit her. He continued walking outside far enough away from the house so his flames would not ignite the home and possibly kill all the injured inside.

"Yes. My name is Azulon…crown prince of the Fire Nation." Azulon turned around calmly and faced the now unnerved medic. "This is your last chance surrender and I will ensure you and the people of this village will be unharmed." His aura was strong that was certain as he had a natural air of strength and superiority that was rare for someone so young.

Tsunade bit her lower lip in thought as she assessed the situation. I haven't fought in years and now the prince of the entire Fire Nation is now my opponent. She looked back at her home…the place she raised her child, the safe haven away from her Senju heritage where she could just be a mother and wife, this was her home! It doesn't matter I cannot give up my home and my village!

She walked outside of the house and held her cold stare on Azulon. "I will not give up my home nor my village so I will stop you right here!" Azulon kept his composure and held his own cool gaze. "Fine. Come." He stood still as she came racing towards him with her fist cocked back.

"If you think I can't fight because I'm a medic, you're in for it!" She roar as she slammed her fist into the ground causing a massive rippling in the earth violently shaking the ground and ultimately shattering the landscape leaving massive jagged rocks jutting out. Azulon's eyes widened at the super human strength and jumped into the air to avoid the incredible blow. He landed on top of one of the larger rocks and re-assessed the field.

In one move she was able to change the field in her favor. He looked down from he was standing to see a slightly panting Tsunade but overall it seemed she still had plenty in the tank. His eyes quickly analyzed the new landscape for a strategy. If I rush back onto the ground then I am limiting my mobility with these boulders shut off any quick escape routes thus keeping me in range of her powerful blows. If I stay on top of these rocks and stick to the air with ranged attacks I could be trapped in the sky if she sends a shower of rocks giving me no chance to dodge since I will be unable to effectively evade and attack while in the sky.

Azulon squatted down and tensed his legs ready to move quickly. I will overwhelm her with my speed while pushing her back away from this field and into a more open area for my widespread attacks. He exploded off the rock like a snapped rubber band and quickly bound from rock to rock getting into close range of her attacks.

He's fast! Tsunade quickly stomped her right foot into the ground summoning a sizeable bolder in front of her. So she is a positive earth bender using her jing to attack rather than evade thought Azulon which reinforced his earlier strategy of getting close and overwhelming her with speed. As Tsunade used her left foot and sent the boulder his way he recalled his lessons from his teachers in the palace.

XXX

Flashback

Fire Nation Royal Courtyard

Young Azulon sat patiently on the steps of the outdoor courtyard to the palace as his mentor Lee began his lesson on Earth Benders. "Now pay close attention Prince Azulon as Lord Sozin has greatly impressed upon me to teach you the ways of the Earth Benders." He quickly took out a scroll and began taking notes while Lee nodded his head at his great pupil's work ethic.

"While there are a diverse amount of Earth benders they all are based on the principles of Hung Gar style of martial arts." Lee turned away from Azulon and squared his body to the two boulders in the middle of the courtyard that must have weighed at least two tons and brought up his arms to bend them. "It's a style known for its strong stance and rooting to the ground." Slowly Lee pulled back his right arm while pushing forward his left arm channeling his chi to bring the two large boulders together.

"The Hung Gar practitioner generates power by strong stepping using low stances and strong transitions from left to right." From his low stance he brought his arms to the sides of his hips and made powerful steps shifting left to right while the courtyard in front of him matched his movements with jagged rocks jutting out with every time his foot connected with the ground.

"Primarily an earthbender stomps on the ground summoning a stone from the ground and quickly thrusts out either their foot or their arm to send it flying at their opponent." Lee slammed his foot into the ground and replicated the process of offensive earth bending. Azulon watched as the stone was sent flying towards a make shift target and it ultimately destroying the target.

"How am I supposed to fight against an opponent who essential commands every battlefield?" Lee straightened his back and faced his pupil. "There is really no one way to fight an earthbender as there are three styles of earth bending. First, through positive jing an earthbender attacks and second through negative jing an earthbender evades but this style is rare."

Azulon asked Lee what the third style of earthbending was. Lee chuckled to himself as the young prince looked slightly curious at his mentor's amusement. "Now that is even rarer style of earthbending and I have yet to see it performed in all of my travels." He took a serious look in his eyes and rested his hands on Azulon's shoulders ensuring he had his attention.

"Practitioners of neutral jing are the most dangerous due to the style requiring much discipline. It involves listening, waiting and attacking at the right moment. They don't manipulate the earth, they feel it and work with the planet to precisely strike when the opponent least expects it. Be wary as these three jing are not limited to just earthbending but are the cornerstones for all styles." He let go of the young man's shoulders as Azulon processed all this information.

"So when fighting an earthbender it is important to move swiftly to counter their strong style and thus take control of the battle." Azulon said which earned a nod from Lee who then patted his student on his head which made Azulon tense his face in an annoyed fashion briefly but he let it slide. "Now as a reward let's have some rock crystal!" Azulon brought up his right hand in protest. "But I can't eat that as I am not an earthbender and it would crack my teeth."

"Aww don't be a child. Well then more for me." He walked back into the palace while humming a happy tune. Sometimes I wonder who the child here is. He thought but had a small smile on his face as he followed his eccentric mentor.

Flashback End

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Azulon briefly closed his eyes as he mentally traced the flight path of the boulder sent his way. He leapt off the one of the jutted rock pillars and twisted turning onto his back while floating in the air. Is he really planning to take my attack head on? Tsunade watched in amazement as Azulon fluidly moved along the top of the rushing boulder.

Breath…He took in a deep breath as he felt the boulder move under his back and he silenced his thoughts in order to focus his thoughts. As if it were moving in slow motion Azulon placed both of his feet on the boulder once he was parallel to both the ground and rock. And Explode! His eyes snapped open as he focused fire to his feet blasting him off of the large stone like a rocket directly at Tsunade.

Though his technique of using his flames to propel himself forward was surprising what put her in a stupor was their color. WHAT?! BLUE FLAMES! She did not have any more time to even comprehend the distinct color of the flames as her body was rocked by Azulon who seemed to try to fly through her.

Once contact was made Tsunade coughed out blood and was sent flying along the ground as she skipped on it like a stone due to his black armor increased the power of his shoulder body slam. She rolled for a few more seconds until she slowly tried to pick herself up only to fall back down to the ground in a fit of bloody coughs.

My right lung is severely damaged. I can hardly breath, I can't take any more hits like that. Tsunade tried to figure out his technique and found the answer in herself. He used his firebending on himself to strengthen his attack just like I use my earthbending. Tsunade got up onto her knees and looked up at the slowly walking Azulon who did not even have a speck dirt on his armor even after all of that fighting.

Once he was in front of her he began to speak again. "I tried to avoid hitting anything too vital. I don't want you to die since you would be useful after this battle." Azulon looked down at his armor and dusted off some imaginary dirt as he felt quite prideful of himself for the moment. "Still…you won't be moving much any time soon-"

While Azulon was distracted by his pride Tsunade swiftly moved off of her knees, wrapped her fingers in rock, and struck clusters of nerves at the back of his now exposed neck. She felled down to her knees again as she was still incredibly injured and that lifesaving move took a lot of energy. Azulon's eyes widened as all of his muscles locked up causing him to fall face first into the dirt as he lost control of his body.

He struggled to get up as he turned his neck to glare at the panting Tsunade, who was busy using her earthbending to support her lung through what appeared to be a partial rock armor around her right lung. I underestimated her…she shouldn't still be conscious let alone… He slowly got up onto one knee facing her. Alright then I guess I will have to stop going easy on her. He leaned forward to place his hand on the ground to support him only to feel an electric shock go through his body.

What the? Azulon's left leg tensed and slightly moved around. I try to move my right arm…and my left leg tenses. He noted in horrified amazement. No she couldn't have! Suddenly he felt blinding pain from his left check as Tsunade leveled a strong punch to his face sending him across the field. "Ugh…Ugh…"

Tsunade stood panting as she held her right arm out after the punch. I can only hope it worked because that was about all I got. Azulon tried to get back up but instead he looked like a baby deer struggling to walk as he seemed to awkwardly squirm and roll on the ground. Nothing is responding right but it's not my muscles!

"I see you finally figured it out." Tsunade said while collecting her breath. "It's your whole nervous system. I used my earthbending to make my fingers into rock needles then used my chi to strengthen the strikes to rupture the nerves connecting your brain to your spinal column. Cutting off your brain's signals to your body." Azulon's eyes widened at the unbelievable amount of knowledge and skill it would take to use this technique and she did it in the heat of battle!

I-Incredible she is no ordinary medic! I've lost. I cannot even move. Azulon relaxed only to find his thoughts on his last few moments with his father before he was shipped out here.

XXX

Flashback

Fire Nation Palace: Azulon's Room

Azulon was in his room preparing to leave with the rest of the soldiers and commanders when he saw his father enter the luxurious room. Sozin did not say anything but merely looked around the room as he did not know how to begin speaking to him. Azulon faced him and bowed slightly. "Father, I am almost ready to head out now and I will ensure our forces are victorious."

He lifted up his head to meet his father's eyes which seemed to hold a different light than he had seen before. "Azulon…how old are you know?" The odd question threw him off guard for a second but he responded calmly. "Sixteen." Sozin slowly walked past him and looked out the window of his son's room to see a great view of his prospering city.

"I see sixteen already hmm." He turned back to face Azulon and spoke again but in a softer tone that he only used with his family. "It must have been hard for you Azulon. Training all these years so that you would face a war that I'm starting….I'm sorry." Azulon's eyes widened at his father's apology. H-He's sorry?

"I really am. Though I suppose it's of little consolation if I apologize now. After putting you through all that difficulty of what I am putting on your shoulders right now. No one as young as you should have to face these circumstances." Azulon looked down at the ground unable to meet his father's gaze.

"No…its fine I am the son of the Fire Lord I'll deal." Unseen to him Sozin gave his son a small smile. "I began your training when you were a child once I saw your blue flames because I believed you could master them. I did it because you're my son." Azulon looked up in shock of seeing this side of his father. To hear him say those words brought joy to his heart, being recognized by his father was an incredible feeling.

"Now you will be taking control of my army, our nation depends on your success. I want to bring the entire world to enjoy the prosperity and peace our nation is going through now." Azulon bit his lower lip and struggled to hold back years of emotion but he could not any longer. "How am I supposed to do it if you and Master Lee can't? Everyone expects too much of me! I mean look at me! I'm only sixteen years old! I haven't master all of your fire bending techniques! I struggle to-"

He stopped talking once he felt his father's firm hand on his head. "I am certain you will be able to find a way, Azulon." Azulon meet his father's assured face with surprise. "Because I believe in you completely." The way he said it stunned Azulon as he had never heard anyone say that to him.

"Y-You do? Do you really think I can?" He asked in a small voice. Sozin gave him a sincere smile. "Well a parent's duty is to unconditionally believe in their children." Ship horns blared from the harbor as the war fleets were ready to leave. "Well it looks like it's time for you to go." He slowly walked out of the room and left with his son to face the upcoming challenges ahead.

Azulon stared at the armor lying on the foot of his bed with a firm determined look on his face. He put on his black shoulder chest plate and secured it to him before heading out with his supplies. Once he reached the docks he clenched his fists and looked back at the palace. I promise father…I will succeed.

XXX

I WON'T FAIL HERE! Too many people depend on me. I can't lose! Azulon closed his eyes in thought as Tsunade continued to heal herself with both her medical knowledge and earthbending to support her broken ribs. When I try to move my right hand. My left leg responds and trying to move my left ankle moves my right shoulder. Slowly but surely Azulon figured out how to control his body by consciously controlling each of his actions.

It's tricky but I think…yes. I think I have just about figured what moves what. "Now then!" Tsunade looked over in shock as she heard his yell. Azulon thrusts out his right arm sending a large stream of azure flames directly towards Tsunade. Impossible he could never have recovered so quickly! She brought both of her arms up and grimaced at the feeling of her broken ribs but a large earth wall rose to her command blocking his attack.

Behind the wall Tsunade prepared her trap as Azulon began moving as quickly as he could which was similar to jogging but eventually he came face to face with her again. "How? You should not be able to move so effectively." Azulon said nothing and only focused on his next move. Her body is weak so I should try to land blows on her instead of usual fire techniques but with that earth armor in the way I will need to use my flames to help me.

"Let's end this!" He dashed forward faster than before as his body was naturally re-aligning its self and once he was right in front of her time seemed to slow down. Tsunade's eyes widened as his right fist was encased in his royal blue flames and aimed right for her damaged rib cage. The flaming fist was closing in on her earth support but Tsunade's trap needed him to be even closer.

Closer. Closer. Closer! (Tsunade)

This is end! (Azulon)

NOW! (Tsunade)

Tsunade quickly brought both of her arms at face level completely exposing her rock covered rib cage to Azulon's flaming fist. As Azulon's punch was about to make contact she clapped her hands together bending the earth armor around his arms and a matching set of earth armor wrapped around his legs up to his knees. Effectively snuffing out his flames and brought him to his knees as the earth around his arms was far too heavy to carry as the dirt was indented from the sudden weight.

Tsunade exhaled out softly as her risky move worked but she did not let her guard drop. "How? This much weight would have crushed your lungs. How you able to collect enough earth to compress it to this level?" Tsunade said nothing only gestured behind him when Azulon turned his head he was shocked to see the answer hit him in the head.

"The earth wall?!" Indeed the wall that held back his torrent flames was now much thinner than before and had marks in it revealing that stone was removed from its back side. Azulon closed his eyes in thought as he quickly processed what just occurred.

As I was figuring out what moved what she was healing herself so she used her earthbending to form a light earth cast around her rib cage for support. It could not be too heavy as she couldn't risk losing control of the earth on her lungs and crush them completely once I got up. She did not expect me to recover so quickly so she back peddled to get some distance and left my immediate range before I could end the fight.

Once I sent out my fire she already had a plan in mind…forming the earth wall to defend herself she used the large distance between us and my reduced speed to gather rock from the back of the wall and compressed it to the point of it being too heavy for a non-earthbender to carry but due to her already having a cast around her ribcage I failed to notice its large weight increase!

She was taking a gamble that I would be solely focused on finishing this fight that I would try to get in close. The extra weight made it impossible to manipulate any more earth so she could not move from her spot and allow me to perform a ranged fire attack. Damn it. I thought I was winning but I was playing in her hands the entire time.

Azulon picked up his head to face a slowly walking Tsunade with a new earth brace looking down at him. "This is it. The earth around your limbs are far too heavy for you to even think about moving. Good Night." Tsunade stood directly in front of him and tucked her middle finger behind her thumb to knock him out with a super powered flick.

"I won't lose here!" Azulon took a deep breath and roared out a stream of violent blue flames out his mouth like a dragon's breath. Tsunade did not expect him to bend his fire like that and was caught off guard so she was only able to bring up her exposed arms in defense but it mattered little as she was sent flying onto her back with severe burns on her arms and chest. Tsunade could not lift up her arms as the pain was immeasurable truly the blue flames surpassed its orange predecessor. Azulon looked down at his earth shackled and tried to overwhelm them with brute force.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" His body was encased in blue flames as they ran out of control but soon cracks in the heavy earth braces began to form. He stood up and focused all of chi inside him and then let it out in one explosion of power. "More!" Blue flames escaped the small cracks and soon in a massive explosion of earth, azure flames destroyed the braces and raced around him encircling Azulon and scorching the earth.

Panting from exertion the flames slowly died down while Azulon looked down at the ground with his hair shading his eyes. W-What a monster! Tsunade thought from her position on the ground as she saw the prince of the Fire Nation raw power. Slowly she got up to face him but she could not lift her arms.

"I cannot give up for my village and for my son!" She said out loud hoping it would give her strength and hopefully somewhat shock him but the opposite occurred. Azulon began to chuckle far too dark to be in amusement. He spit on the ground and looked up at her with a fierce look in his eyes that seemed out of the ordinary for the normally calm and collect person he was.

"THE BURDENS YOU AND I SHARE ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! SO SHUT THE HELL UP!" Azulon raced forward as his entire body was encased in blue flames. Tsunade stomped on the ground summoning a multitude of large boulders and kicked them at Azulon. He continued on destroying each one that came at him with his enflamed punches while he building his speed.

"I will bring prosperity to this land and you won't stop me!" Azulon was now face to face with her and his flames roared to unbelievable heights. "This is the end! Flaming Lotus Azure Dragon Barrage!" His only original technique utilizing his unique flames and thrust propulsion out his elbows Azulon began an incredible of fire punches to Tsunade's body like a punching bag.

"For my people!" He landed a fierce right hook to her check.

"For my family!" An earth shattering blow to her stomach brought Tsunade to the edge of her consciousness.

"FOR THE FUTURE OF THIS WORLD!" Azulon continued his barrage of blows across her body until he pulled back his right fist for the final blow.

ALL MY FIRE TO MY RIGHT HAND! Quickly all of the fire around his body wrapped around his right fist forming a massive flaming punch. Azulon connected with the back of Tsunade's head rocketing face first into and through the ground as an eruption of flames exploded into the sky and a large scorched crater was formed from the incredible blow.

Azulon dropped both of his arms to his side as he eyed Tsunade's scorched and unmoving body. His gaze shifted around him and he found himself and Tsunade in a crater created from his monumental blow. He looked around to see that his fire was still burning around the field they were in or at least what used to be a field as most of the ground was burnt in his final assault.

I did it father. I won, now to secure the colony and- Azulon was suddenly sent flying out of the crater as a strong gust of wind of wind blew him away from Tsunade. He skipped on his back across the field and to his surprise, the gust was strong enough to destroy his armor. What the? Who did this? The straps securing his chest plate were sliced from the high pressure wind wave.

Azulon looked up to see a blond young man his age on his knees next to Tsunade. "I cannot give up for my village and for my son!" So this must be her son strange. I would have assumed he was an earthbender. Azulon tsked in pain as the surprise gale attack combined with his last attack drained his energy. Minato did not even look in his direction as he laid down his staff and gently rolled Tsunade on to her back.

"Mom…hey wake up. I'm here it's going to be okay." He said in a small voice. Minato gently tucked his arms around his mother's legs and neck to move her away from here as he lifted her he felt her move. Slowly her dim brown eyes opened and recognized who was carrying her. "Baby. Please go he is too strong." She tried to lift up a hand to comfort Minato who had a stunned silent look on his face seeing all the injuries she had on her.

Her burnt arms.

The multitude of large burnt welts.

The sheer look of defeat in her eyes.

It was too much for Minato to simply do nothing. "He and the Fire Nation is going to take over the village." Minato held her closer to his body and first time looked over at Azulon. His blonde hair shadowed his rage filled blue eyes which spoke more to Azulon than if he yelled right in his face. Minato turned his head away and seemed to disappear from Azulon's sight in a burst of speed.

Minato was now back inside of his home with Tsunade in his arms and once he reached her room he softly laid her down in the bed. Tsunade immediately passed out on the mattress once her head hit the pillow. This. This is unforgivable. Minato clenched his fist at the sight of his mother's lethal injuries and firmly walked out of the room directly towards the now drowsy but conscious Shizune.

"Minato?" He made a quick flick of the wrist summoning a small puff of air to snap Shizune back to attention. "Shizune I need you to heal mom she has suffered deadly injuries…she needs you." Shizune was shocked but quickly acted as she got up and rushed to her mentor's room.

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune dashed to her mentor's side and tears welled in her eyes. No, I can't cry right now. I need to be strong for Lady Tsunade. She wiped away her tears and moved around the room getting supplies to heal her but refused to look into Minato's eyes. Shizune took a solemn look at her teacher before she began.

"I'm sorry so sorry I should have done something. I-" Minato said nothing as he hugged Shizune from behind and told her that it was not her fault. He hated to see his step-sister cry and it only strengthened his resolve to act. Silently, he walked out of the room gripping his air bending staff so tightly that it was almost breaking. Shizune saw him leave but did not say anything as she knew what he was going to do.

Minato…please win.

XXX

Rocky Field

Azulon was walking back to the village to link up with the rest of his soldiers when he found himself going through the rocky field Tsunade's first technique created. Good I am getting closer now just to- However he stopped when he noticed the blonde young man from before standing on top of one of the large rock pillars.

"I won't let you go any farther." Azulon sighed as he jumped onto a rock pillar across from Minato. "Look the battle is over if you continue this I will not be responsible for your safety or the safety of the village. Who knows what my soldiers will do if I am not around?" Of course Azulon was bluffing as his soldiers had strict orders once the village was captured that they would set up inside the village.

Minato glanced over to the burning village before making his decision. I have to entrust the village to father. Minato narrowed his eyes at the teen across from him and he remembered when he first found his mother there was a large blast of blue fire. Blue flames… "He and the Fire Nation is going to take over the village"…and that strange headpiece. "You must be from the royal line of the Fire Nation am I correct?" Azulon slightly nodded his head and told him just who he was.

"Yes I am the prince of the Fire Nation. My name is Azulon so surrender now and let's end this senseless fighting." Minato held Azulon's gaze as he quickly processed his strategy. So he is in control of the Fire Nation soldiers rampaging in the village. I need to defeat him so I can force him to retreat his forces if what he is saying is true. Of course I can't completely stop them but if I can buy some time for our people to escape that would be enough. Alright. Let's do this.

"You have no intention to surrender do you?" Azulon asked as he now was assessing his opponent on the other rock pillar. He seems to be an airbender and powerful too if he was able to suppress my flames burning on his mother. Same height, he also looks to be my age too. Sigh. Azulon could not help suppress his eagerness to find someone of his caliber to challenge him especially since he was too strong or too noble to be with the other children of the noble family.

"Alright but before we do this tell me your name and why you think you can win even after what I did to your mother." Azulon dropped down into his battle stance with a hard look in his eyes as Minato mirrored with a non-traditional airbending stance. "My name is Minato Namikaze….I'm confident I won't lose, especially now that I have people who love me and who I love." Both twisted away from their opponent and focused their chi to their hands.

Blue Flames swirled in Azulon's hands

Heavy Gusts of Wind formed around Minato's arms.

"GO!" They sent out a concentrated blast of their elements at each other. Air met Fire in a battle of power, determination, and will. The elements met in the middle forming a 20 foot pillar of air and fire and neither side looked as if they were going to give.

The battle of prodigies was about to begin for the fate of Yu Dao!

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Yo! Ehh well I am back to writing again but I decided to start another story as this was something that came up while I was writing Something You Can't Ignore. Speak of which I am going to writing and putting up the next chapter after this goes up so know that I am still working on it and it is my main project.

BUT. If you guys want more of this…you know the drill as great as reviews are just an alert makes me know this is something I should continue in the future. The first half of the next chapter will be combat based but after that it will be my own adaptation on the Avatar story. It will be close to canon but at the same time I plan do a lot of stuff that was mentioned off hand in the series and expand on that. If you don't know what that means that's ok as I want to keep it a surprise.

Some info if you do not know/FAQ

[1] Yu Dao was the first Fire Nation colony created even before the Hundred Year war began. It was also the village that would be turned into Republic City during the Legend of Korra timeline.

[2] Azulon gained infamy as a general during the early years of the Hundred Years War before handing down the reigns to his son. Iroh.

[3] I will not be putting everyone from the Naruto Universe into this story. Only the following: Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, Minato, Kushina, and Naruto. That's it; too many characters and I would feel as if I would be forcing something that wouldn't fit as well as the original.

[4] Tsunade and Jiraiya are not famous in this world as the Sannin just to clear that up.

[5] This will be focused on Naruto but I wanted to do some family lineage to prologue as an explanation of what will occur in later chapters.

[6] My timeline will be incorrect but it will be easy to follow generations wise but please don't give me flack on exact years cause I don't really care.

PAIRINGS:

I want to hear your guy's ideas on pairings and as you can see I am giving plenty of time for the pairing you want to see. As I plan to have fun with this story I would not mind a unique pairing or even a harem so please put it in the reviews who you want.

Until next time, BarelySage.