Disclamer: Don't own Naruto or Avatar: The last Airbender.
AN: This is my first attempt at uploading a fanfic. At this time I have only a general ideer of where I want this story to go so updates will be sporadic at best, since I will need inspiration to push the story forward. I am also writing other fanfics though with those I will hold out uploading until I reach a fitting stopping point, so don't expect to see those anytime soon. I hope that the story will be enjoyable.
Naruto had finally managed to keep his promise. Sasuke had rejoined the leaf, though the price had been Killer Bees capture. Naruto and his friends had rushed to the cave where 'Tobi' should be, according to what Sasuke knew.
They had arrived and entered carefully entered the cave, not encountering any resistance (Itachi had taken care of Kabuto, and by extension his zombies, and Naruto had killed black Zetsu, which in turn caused the white Zetsu to wilt away quickly). Soon they had arrived at a room where 'Tobi' had just finished extracting the eight tale from Bee.
After that a major battle had started, though Naruto had made sure to get Bee's corpse out of there so that it wouldn't get damaged in the struggle. In the end Naruto and his friends had won.
"You can't fight anymore, 'Tobi', just give it up" Naruto said as he, Tsunade, Sasuke and Hinata closed in on said person. The rest of the group was injured and where currently being treated by Shizune and Sakura.
"It seems you are right, I can barely move and am unable to phrase shift" 'Tobi' responded as the group had gathered around him. "I have only one option" He continued, then he activated his eye "Dying and taking you with me" He then sent all of the people around him into an dimentional tunnel, while he himself died from Chakra exhaustion.
Naruto and his friends where falling through the tunnel, even the Kyubi, which Naruto had managed to tame, was there, though his power didn't seem to be with him. "What's going on?" Naruto asked, thinking that this dimensional travel seemed to be taking longer then it should.
"This isn't your average dimensional travel" The Kyubi replied "This isn't just taking advantage of different dimensions within the same world, or even sending us to alternative versions of our own. This is sending us to a place where the rules of nature could be vastly different then what we are used to. However that isn't important right now, what is important is that since there is noone on the other side to stabilizing this tunnel our individual souls are not strong enough to travel through it. They will be shredded upon going through it, to the point where we either disappear or become mindless monsters, only interested in destruction"
"How can you be sure " Tsunade said.
"While I do not remember much of being the Juubi, I do remember how it came to exist. Where the Juubi came from it was a Hero of unparalleled power, though he looked like a normal person, however he was attacked and sent through a portal and turned into the raving monster you know as the Juubi. Now can I continue please?" Kyubi replied.
"Please do" Tsunade said.
"As I said before individually our souls are to weak to get through, if we merge however we should be able to make it through" He explained "However, one of us would need to be the main focus of the merger, as to many conflicting personalities merging together is only going to make the end result into a maniac. We would all in some ways affect this persons personality, but it will not be something major."
"In that case I will say that neither you nor Sasuke qualify to being the main focus of this merger," Tsunade said, "While both of you have changed for the better I would not trust you not to have a relapse".
"While I should feel insulted, I do understand where you are coming from" Sasuke stated. "Personally I don't trust you with this either, so I will not agree to you being to focus" He stated looking at Tsunade.
"So that leaves the white eyed girl and the annoying orange brat" The Kyubi stated (it might fight more, but knew that time was limited and since the choice was between complete elimination and limited existence it would choose the latter.
"I think that Naruto would be the best choice" Hinata stated. "Not only do I think he deserves it more, but he is also the most adaptive of us all, giving him an advantage if this world we are travelling to is really different from our own."
"Hey, don't sell yourself short, Hinata," Naruto said "You deserve to go on just as much as I do, and I'm sure you'll be able to adapt to anything"
"While I agree that she deserves it just as much as you do, if not slightly more," Kyubi stated, "it does not change the fact that when it comes to adapting to new situations you are a natural, which is what we need in whatever world we arrive in." He paused for a moment "fact is that we do not even know what state we will be in when we arrive in the dimension. We could get anyone of our bodies back, or some kind of merger of them all, or we could enter a newborn baby in that world an take over it's life in some way or another. Therefore we need someone who can adapt more then we need anything else".
"Okay, so Naruto is the focus." Sasuke said simply "So how do we do this."
"Basically we group hug while willing our souls to join with his," Kyubi stated, "He needs to concentrate on the things about himself that he feels are the most important, the things he would rather die then allow them to change. And your love for Ramen should not be the kind of thing you should focus on, or you might end up losing parts of yourself that really define you, like your willingness to give everything you are to protect your friends"
"Okay, I understand" Naruto said as the others stated to gather around him.
From the beginning Naruto new was aware of some of the changes that the people around him initiated. Physically he got both Hinata's and Sasuke's Doujutsu, Kyubi's ability to produce and control youki, and enhanced chakra control from Tsunade (turns out that enhanced chakra control was a Senju bloodline ability).
Mentally he got some of Sasuke's vengeful streak, though it got tempered by his own forgiving nature to the point where his vengeance would mostly be taken through pranks and humiliation, though he wasn't above killing someone if he felt that it the only way to save those he wanted to protect. Hinata for some reason strengthened his perverted side, especially about seeing to girls together (Because Naruto had always been focused on Sakura, Hinata had developed a fantasy of all three of them together which had led her to becoming bi-sexuel, as long as Naruto was somehow involved.). Tsunade made him more of a gambler, though he was quite sure that he didn't inherit her luck.
He was sure that there where other changes that he just wasn't aware of at this point, but hopefully nothing to bad.
About a minute after the merger was complete Naruto saw a light coming towards him and he knew he was about to enter another dimension
When Naruto hit the portal he felt an intense pain, like something was trying to pull him apart, but by concentrating he was able to fight it of.
Soon he was able to see things around him and he became aware that he was falling from the sky towards the earth. He panicked for a moment until he became aware that he currently didn't have a body, so he shouldn't be in any danger. Then he noticed a weird light coming from his right and turned towards it, but it hit him before he had time to act taking him wherever the comet like light was going.
Next thing he new he hit a newborn baby, being locked inside it (he thought it ironic that he, who had had someone locked inside him when he was a baby was now getting locked inside a baby himself). He quickly found that he couldn't control the movements of the baby at all, he was simply along for the ride, feeling, seeing, hearing, smelling and tasting everything that Aang (the baby) did.
He also heard the boys thoughts, as well as feeling the presence of whatever that comet of light was, though it was faint, almost separate from the boy himself. In some instances he almost felt like he was part of the link between the boy and the comet.
It was years later that he found out what the 'comet' was. It was the avatar link, what link Aang to all his past lives. He figured this out when Aang was told that he was the avatar by the elders.
At this point he no longer thought of himself as separate from Aang, though he didn't agree with the monks 'Everyone has a right to live', since he knew that some people where just evil and had to be dealt with decisively.
He learned everything that Aang learned and was sure he could do the same if given a chance.
Aang had taken his Sky-Bison, Appa and was running away from the temple after finding out that they wanted to take him away from Gyatso and send him to another temple.
Instead of doing as the monks wanted him to do he decided that he would see the world and try all kinds of fun things, like Penguin Sledding.
He was currently stuck in a storm and Appa was getting tired. Soon they felt into the water and just as Aang (and Naruto) was sure that he was going to drown, The avatar link flared up taking over control of the body and locking both him and Appa in a block of ice.
Two people, a boy and a girl, are sailing through the icy reaches of the south pole. The boy is spear-fishing, holds his spear to the ready while the is girl staring into the water on the other end of the boat. The boy sees a fish swimming close to the surface right in front of him and starts following it's movement with his eyes.
"It's not getting away from me this time." The boy states confidently, with a quick grin at the girl. "Watch and learn, Katara. This is how you catch a fish."
Katara isn't impressed by the statement of the boy and turns back to the water where she sees another fish in the water. Pleasantly surprised she shoots a quick glance toward the boy before removing the glove of her left hand. She stretches her arm out in the direction of the fish while taking a deep breath. Her look is a mixture of concentration and doubt while she starts to make a wavy motion with her wrist, moving her hand up and down. The water in front of Katara starts to ripple and all of a sudden a bubble of water shoots up, holding the fish in its centre.
"Sokka, look! Sokka" Katara says in a happy voice.
"Sshh! Katara, you're going to scare it away." Sokka says, a look of bliss adorning his face. He wets his lips with his tongue and wiggles his fingers without letting the fish out of his sight. "Mmmm... I can already smell it cookin'."
Meanwhile behind Sokka's back, Katara is making circular movements with both her arms, suspending the bubble of water that holds the fish in the air and moving it around. Her face is contorted in concentration.
"But, Sokka! I caught one!" She says while moving the bubble containing her fish slowing over her head toward Sokka who's still oblivious to her success. The moment the bubble hovers over his head, Sokka raises his spear to strike the fish he was following. He burst the bubble of water with the butt of his weapon, accidentally releasing the fish and soaking himself. Katara follows the arc of the fish as it soars through the air and into the sea.
"Hey!" She exclaims in an indignant tone.
"Ugh!" Sokka exclaims before turning to his sister angrily while placing his spear in the boat. "Why is it that every time you play with magic water, I get soaked?" He clenches his fists, wringing out some of the water.
Katara sighs in annoyance. "Urch. It's not magic, it's Waterbending and it's"
"Yeah, yeah, an ancient art unique to our culture, blah, blah, blah." Sokka interrupts her. "Look, I'm just saying that if I had weird powers, I'd keep my weirdness to myself."
This causes Katara to raise an eyebrow and cross her arms "You're calling me weird? I'm not the one who makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water!"
Katara smiles mockingly at Sokka as he is seen looking at his arm muscles in his reflection in the water. His happy look vanished upon hearing his sister's remark. He turns around slowly to face her, but before they can continue their quarrel they are shaken and with a shock, Sokka realizes that the boat has strayed into dangerous rapids.
The boat is swiftly headed for a barrier of ice that is crushing everything in its path. Sokka paddles the boat in an attempt to stay clear of any floating chunks of ice. He manages to gain just enough speed to keep the boat from being crushed by two icebergs that slam together right behind the boat.
"Watch out! Go left! Go left!" Katara says as they hit some chunks of ice. The boat manages to stay clear of some of the icebergs, but then it is completely crushed between two ice floes. Katara and Sokka narrowly manage to save themselves by jumping onto one of the floes. Katara nearly slides off again, but comes to a halt just at the rim of the floe. The waters have calmed down again, but Sokka and Katara find themselves caught with nowhere to go.
Katara quickly scrambles away from the rim to the middle of the floe where Sokka landed. His spear stands upright beside him in the ice.
"You call that left?" Katara asked.
"You don't like my steering? Well maybe you should've" Sokka states while mockingly moving his arms "Waterbent us out of the ice."
Katara got to her feet "So it's my fault?" she asked.
"I knew I should've left you home!" Sokka states while Katara stares at him in anger while he just calmly sits there. "Leave it to a girl to screw things up!"
"You are the most sexist" Katara begins, swinging back her hands to emphasize her words (and subconsciously waterbending the water behind her) "immature nut brain" She swings her arms again, still waterbending. "I'm embarrassed to be related to you!" She swings her hands back with such force that the iceberg behind her cracks.
Sokka, annoyed with Katara's outburst, was staring to the ground, but looks up when he hears the iceberg crack. Katara continues her outburst and violent movements, causing little chunks of ice to come loose from the iceberg.
"Ever since mom died I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier!" Katara states with another swing of her hand, thus unknowingly enlarging the crack in the iceberg with her Waterbending.
Sokka, seeing what Katara's rage is doing to the iceberg, cowers away. He points at the iceberg and says "Uh... Katara"
"I even wash all the clothes!" Katara interrupts him "Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, not pleasant!" As she yells out that last word, she unconsciously Waterbends, causing another split in the chunk of ice.
"Katara, settle down!" Sokka says.
"No that's it! I'm done helping you!" Katara states "From now on, you're on your own!"
Her last movement causes the split behind her to crack even further, moving from the base to the top of the iceberg. Sokka gasps for air and it is only now that Katara notices the chunk of ice behind her. She turns around to see it collapse and they are sent back several feet by large wave caused by the falling ice.
Sokka holds a protective arm over Katara while they are both lying flat on the floe, trying to stay on.
After releasing Katara, Sokka states; "Okay, you've gone from weird to freakish, Katara."
"You mean I did that?" Katara said, surprised.
Sokka gives Katara a nudge with his elbow. "Yep. Congratulations." He says sarcastically.
Suddenly, the water beneath them begins to glow a brilliant blue. As strange bubbles come out of the water, the two siblings cower back from the rim, scrambling back on their feet. Without warning, an enormous iceberg bursts to the surface. Katara moves closer and stares at the iceberg while Sokka behind her stretches out his hand as if he wants to hold her back. They see a figure in the iceberg, perched in lotus, with glowing arrows on his head and hands. Katara questioningly raises one eyebrow. Then the figure suddenly opens its eyes, which glow just like the arrows on his head and hands. This sudden movement startles both Katara and Sokka.
"He's alive! We have to help!" She states and grabs Sokka's club and pulls her hood over her head as she heads off toward the strange boy.
Sokka stretches out his hand to hold Katara back, but she is already jumping over the ice toward the boy,. "Katara, get back here! We don't know what that thing is!" He then quickly retracts his spear out of their floe and follows Katara.
The two use five handily placed floes as stepping stones to get to the large iceberg that encases the glowing boy. Katara is the first to reach it and she repeatedly strikes the iceberg on the same spot with Sokka's club. When she slams through the ice, she and her brother are thrown back by a strong gust of wind that escapes from within the iceberg. The hole Katara made causes fissures to run over the whole iceberg and crack it open with an explosion. An incredible beam of light rockets towards the sky.
As the mist from the air-explosion begins to settle Sokka, who had protectively clutched Katara, releases her to see what is going on. Light still encircles the remains of the once big mountain of ice. Sokka looks at his sister and they both get up. Katara holds on to her brother while he points his spear at the crater, ready to protect them. Sokka lowers his spear in shock when they behold a blue figure emerge from the crater of the iceberg.
He then raises the spear up again and says "Stop!" The figure slowly erects himself, now standing atop the crater, looking down at them, causing Katara and Sokka to marvel in wonder and fear.
The circles of light finally die down to as the boy stops glowing. The figure seems to be nothing more than a young boy who suddenly faints. Katara gasps and runs forward to catch before he crashes to the ground. Sokka begins to poke at the boy's head with the blunt tip of his spear.
Waving the spear away, Katara says "Stop it!" She then places the boy gently against the base of the crater. The young boy as he slowly opens his grey eyes. He gasps in awe as he beholds the young Water Tribe girl who stares at him in relieve. Her hair loopies sways in the wind.
Naruto knew right away that something was different, he no longer felt detached. Then he saw that he could actually control the body, and realized that the Avatar link must have forced him to merge with Aang since they needed to go through him to take control of the body and save Aang. Now he was no longer just inside Aang, he was Aang.
"I need to ask you something" He said in a weak voice.
"What?" Katara asked.
"Please... come closer." He said.
"What is it?" Katara asked in a curios tone,
"Will you go Penguin Sledding with me?" Aang asked in a happy voice.
"Uh, sure... I-I guess." Katara answered.
Aang elegantly rises to his feet in one swift motion, surprising the other two. Katara looks at him in awe while Sokka backs away in shock, aiming his spear at him again. Katara glances at him in disbelief.
'Seems I can control airbending just as good as pre-merger Aang' Aang thought. He then started looking around and rubbing his head, while Katara scrambles on her feet. "What's going on here?"
"You tell us!" Sokka stated, aggressively and points at the top of the crater "How did you get in the ice? And why aren't you frozen?" He then pokes Aang with his spear.
Aang lazily pushes the spear away. "I'm...not sure."
A gruff noise can be heard from within the crater of the iceberg. Quickly, the boy scrambles up the ice and happily jumps on the head of a large, furry creature that has the same arrow shaped marking on his forehead as the boy.
"Appa! Are you alright?" Aang asks as he hangs down the side of the beast to look at its eyes, which are still closed. "Wake up, buddy." Aang opens an eyelid that immediately closes again once he releases it. He jumps down to the front of the bison and tries to lift its enormous head. Sokka and Katara appear around the corner when Appa finally start to react by opening his mouth and liking Aang with his giant tongue. Sokka's mouth drops open upon seeing the beast. "Ha, ha! You're okay!" Aang exclaims happily and hugs the bison's nose. Appa stands up on his six legs and stretches himself. Aang starts petting the bison's nose.
"What is that thing?" Sokka asked in shock.
"This is Appa, my flying bison." Aang said, getting a look of disbelief from Sokka.
"Right, and this is Katara, my flying sister." He states sarcastically.
Katara shoots him an odd look. Aang looks questioningly at Sokka for a moment, but his attention is diverted back toward his bison when Appa starts to inhale deeply. Appa sneezes, sending a green blast of mucus out of his nose. Aang ducks just in time, however, Sokka becomes slathered in it. He squeals in disgust and begins to frantically clean it off, rubbing his face in the snow under the amused gaze of his sister.
"Don't worry, it'll wash out." Aang states happily. Green slime is hanging from Sokka's face to his glove, dripping down as he retracts his hand. Katara covers her mouth in disgust. "So do you guys live around here?" 'Hopefully I can start finding out how long I was frozen.
Sokka Pointed his spear accusingly at Aang who is surprised to see the thing. "Don't answer that! Did you see that crazy bolt of light?" Sokka said "He was probably trying to signal the Fire Navy!"
Katara pushes Sokka's spear away again and addresses him sarcastically. "Oh yeah, I'm sure he's a spy for the Fire Navy. You can tell by that 'evil' look in his eye." She states, causing Aang to shoot the two an earnest grin. "The paranoid one is my brother, Sokka. You never told us your name."
"I'm A... a-a-a-Achoo!" Aang begins only to sneeze halfway through, rocketing himself into the air, before falling down and landing softly "I'm Aang." He tries again.
"You just sneezed" Sokka states and point into the air "and flew ten feet in the air!"
"Really? It felt higher, more like 14 feet." Aang stated, having gotten good at estimating heights when he was a ninja.
Katara gasps for air in comprehension. "You're an Airbender!"
"Sure am." Aang states, not sure why Katara seems so shocked.
"Giant light beams, flying bison, Airbenders... " Sokka states while walking away "I think I got midnight sun madness. I'm going home to where stuff makes sense." He then realizes, that he is stranded in the middle of the ocean with no way home.
"Well, if you guys are stuck, Appa and I can give you a lift." Aang says while jumping onto Appa.
"We'd love a ride! Thanks." Katara states and runs to the side of the bison.
"Oh no! I'm not getting on that fluffy snot monster!" Sokka states.
Katara, while climbing on top of Appa with the help of Aang, says; "Are you hoping some other monster will come along and give you a ride home? You know, before you freeze to death?"
Sokka opens his mouth in defiance and point at Katara, ready to retaliate, but he can't think of something. He sighs and bows his head in consent.
Soon both siblings are sitting on Appa's saddle. Sokka has his arms crossed in front of him with a sulking expression on his face while Katara is full of excitement and anticipation.
"Okay, first time flyers, hold on tight!" Aang stated "Appa, yip-yip!" Aang then wipes the reins and Appa growls in respond. He moves his tail up and down and takes a huge jump into the air. He soars through the air for a moment, before belly flopping into the water with a splash. The bison begins trudging through the water slowly. Katara crawls to the front of the saddle, while Aang urges his bison again by wiping the reins once more. "Come on, Appa. Yip-yip!" He says.
"Wow, that was truly amazing." Sokka says in an sarcastic tone, causing Katara to glare at him.
"Appa's just a little tired. A little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky." Aang states confidently " You'll see". This causes Katara to smile at Aang who returns the gesture.
'This girl is really pretty' Aang thought, 'Maybe I should try an date her, and maybe something more... Wait, where did that come from, this isn't the time, I need to find out what is going on and then return to the Air temple and get some advice before learning the rest of the elements. I don't know what trouble the monks where talking about and who know what I missed while frozen in that ice' Aang didn't realize that while he was thinking that he had continued smiling at Katara.
Katara had noticed and it made her slightly uncomfortably. "Why are you smiling at me like that?" She asked.
"Oh, I was smiling?" Aang asked.
Sokka throws his head back and sticks his tongue out in disgust while groaning loudly. Katara glares at him while Appa continues to make his way through the icy sea, flapping his tail in the water.
A short while later Aang lays lazily on Appa's head, his arms tucked under his head. Katara crawls to the front of the saddle again to have a better look at the boy. She leans on the front of the saddle and rests her head on her arm.
"Hey." Katara said.
"Hey. What'cha thinkin' about?" Aang asked.
"I guess I was wondering, you being an Airbender and all, if you had any idea what happened to the Avatar?" Katara said
Aang thought for a moment 'The trouble the monks where talking about could be related to the water tribes, but I don't think Katara is involved. Perhaps I should go for getting more information before telling her to much "What do you mean with 'What happened to the avatar'?" he finally asks.
"Well, he disappeared around a hundred years ago, and no-one has seen him since." Katara said, shocking Aang though he hid it well. "Just before the fire-nation wiped out the airbenders. Well apart from you, and maybe the Avatar"
"Wait, that happened a hundred years ago, but I was just there, unless I've been sealed in the ice for longer then I thought" Aang said in shock.
"I didn't think anyone could survive in ice that long." Katara replied.
"I think I need time to think." Aang said.
"Okay. Good night then Aang Sleep tight."
"Night Katara" Aang responded
'So the fire-nation was part of the trouble that the monks where talking about' Aang thought, 'And that was a hundred years ago. Where the airbenders really wiped out or did they just go into hiding, waiting for me to return? The fire-nation shouldn't have the means to attack the air temples, so perhaps they are still up there, but I don't want to get my hopes up.' Aang thoughts then turned to his current situation 'Wonder if Katara noticed that I avoided her question, or if I managed to sidetrack her. I don't know whether I should tell her the truth or not. I already realize that I like her, and therefore I don't want her to look at me differently. I also need a way to keep my pervertedness in check or I'm going to be in big trouble. Damn you Hinata, couldn't you have given me your insight-fullness instead of all your pervertedness. Anyway, need to become the Avatar anyway so that means I need to find a waterbender to teach me. Maybe Katara knows someone. I also still have some fun things I want to try though I'll cut some of them out of my plans, since they just won't be as fun when there's a war going on'. He then turned to his side and fell asleep.
"Aang? Aang! Wake up." Aang woke with a start.
'Need to regain some of my ninja senses, how did they get me of Appa and in here without me noticing.' He thought before sitting up, causing Katara, who was sitting beside him, to stand up as she sees that Aang is awake.
"It's okay, we're in the village now. Come on, get ready." Katara says then points at the door. "Everyone's waiting to meet you."
Aang happily gets out of bed and starts to dress himself (while remaining seated) while Katara takes a step toward the door. Before she exits, however, she glances back at Aang and stares in wonder at the blue, arrow shaped tattoos that seemingly cover his arms, legs, back and head. She gasps for air. Before Aang was able to get up, Katara pulls him along on his arm and out of the tent toward the entire congregation of villagers. He passes Sokka who is sitting at the side of the tent, sharpening his boomerang.
"Aang, this is the entire village." Katara states, pointing at a line of villagers in front of them. "Entire village, Aang."
Aang bows respectfully toward the villages, but they cower away in fear, bringing a surprised look on Katara and Aang's face. Sokka just watches from a distance.
"Uh, why are they all looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?" Aang says as he checks his clothing while an elderly woman steps forward out of the line of villagers.
"Well, no one has seen an Airbender in a hundred years." Kanna said. "We thought they were extinct, until my granddaughter and grandson found you."
"Oh, right, Katara mentioned that yesterday" Aang said
"Aang, this is my grandmother." Katara stated.
"Call me Gran-Gran." Kanna said.
Sokka walks toward Aang and abruptly snatches his staff out of his hands and starts to examine it. "What is this, a weapon?" he asked in an annoyed tone "You can't stab anything with this!"
Aang used and air current to cause the staff to smack Sokka's head lightly before returning it to his own hands "It's not for stabbing. It's for Airbending." He opens the staff into a glider, making Sokka gasp in fright and cover his head with his hands.
"Magic trick!" a village girl said "Do it again!"
"Not magic, Airbending." Aang states as he moves his glider around him, visually demonstrating what he is talking about. "It lets me control the air currents around my glider and fly."
"You know, last time I checked, humans can't fly!" Sokka Mocked.
"Check again!" Aang states and grabs hold of his glider and pushes himself of the ground, leaving Katara and Sokka behind to cover their faces against the sudden wind. The village stares in awe as Aang makes some loops and turns in the sky.
"He's flying!" A Village Girl said in admiration. Aang makes another loops and speeds up to soar past the gazing villagers. "It's amazing!" She says.
Aang's shadow passes over Katara who's smiling broadly at him. Aang, wanting to impress the villagers some more, flies sideways and closes his eyes while grinning broadly. As a result of this he smacks full on against the village's watchtower, causing it to crumble. Katara cover her mouth in sympathy as she watches Aang's struggles to get his head out of the icy watchtower. He succeeds to free himself and tumbles down. Katara immediately rushes to his side while Sokka stares in shock at the damage inflicted to his watchtower.
"My watchtower!" He cries out.
Aang lies covered in snow at the base of the partially collapsed tower. Katara and some other girls of the tribe run smiling toward Aang.
Katara offers her hand to pull him out of the snow and says "That was amazing!" S
okka runs toward his watchtower and starts to pat it in the hope that he can save it from collapsing any further. While Aang spins his staff around to retract its wings, Sokka is being knocked down by a large pack of snow that falls down.
"Great. You're an Airbender, Katara is a Waterbender." Sokka says in annoyance "Together you can just waste time all day long." He wedges himself free from underneath the weight of the snow and stalks off."
"You're a Waterbender?" Aang said hopefully, wondering whether she could teach him.
"Well, sort of." Katara said, uncertain "Not yet."
"Alright, no more playing." Kanna said "Come on, Katara. You have chores." Kanna leads Katara away from Aang. The surrounding villagers part to let the duo pass.
"I told you, he's the real thing Gran-Gran!" Katara said excitedly "I finally found a bender to teach me!"
"Katara, try not to put all your hopes in this boy." Kanna said calmly.
"But he's special! I can tell!" Katara said while she clenches her fist and closed her eyes in hope. "I sense he's filled with much wisdom." Katara opens her eyes again and glances back toward Aang who is surrounded by a bunch of kids. His smiles while his tongue is stuck to his staff.
"See?" He says "Now my tongue is stuck to my staff!" Much to Aang's discomfort, one of the smaller village boys starts to yank his staff, pulling Aang along with every movement. The village kids laugh and applaud Aang as his tongue remains stuck on his staff.
Sokka held a speech to some kids about the importance of fighting for the tribe and then was forced to stop to allow them to go to the loo. Katara rans up to Sokka just as the children leave.
"Have you seen Aang?" She asks him worriedly "Gran-Gran said he disappeared over an hour ago."
Just then Aang came out of an igloo that serves as the bathroom and he pulls his pants up a bit higher. "Wow! EVERYTHING freezes in there!" He states and points toward the bathroom with a smile on his face. Sokka's 'soldiers' halt beside Aang and laugh with him.
"Uh!" Sokka says and points at Aang "Katara, get him out of here! This lesson is for warriors only!"
Sokka was about to walk away when he hears the sound of playing children. "Whee!" He turns around to see the village children sliding down Appa's tail like a slide. The end of the tail is held upwards, so the children are propelled in the air. They fly over Sokka's spear that now serves as a mark that they need to cross before landing in a soft pile of snow. Katara laughs as a boy lands head first in the snow, but Sokka rushes forward.
"Stop! Stop it right now!" Sokka states in anger and the laughter of the children dies down immediately and Appa turns his head to look at Sokka who accusingly directs his anger to Aang. "What's wrong with you? We don't have time for fun and games with the War going on." Sokka takes back his spear and looks annoyed at the laughing children who run past him.
"While training and working are necessary if you do not counter-balance it with fun, especially with children, then they will not be focused in the long run and will only grow hateful of everyone."
Sokka raises one eyebrow in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?"
Aang looks questioningly at Sokka, but then the expression on his face changes to enthusiasm as he catches sight of Otter-Penguin. "PENGUIN!"
The animal startles at Aang's outburst and quickly waddles off. Aang gives chase, racing past Katara and Sokka, enhancing his speed with his Airbending. He leaves a deep trail in the snow as he dashes after the penguin.
"He's kidding, right?" Sokka said. Katara just shakes her head at him, agreeing with both the boy; They needed to be prepared for an attack, but they needed to make sure not to pressure the children to much.
Katara approaches the Otter-Penguin habitat, where hundreds of Otter-Penguins are walking or sliding down icebergs, in search for Aang.
"Aang?" She calls out
She then sees Aang chasing the penguins while laughing. "Hehehe hehe! Hey, come on little guy. Wanna go sledding?" He says to a penguin before he jumps at a it, but the animal evades his attempt and Aang belly flops in the snow. He turns on his back and quickly erects himself with his Airbending as Katara comes up beside him. "Heh heh. I have a way with animals." Aang stretches his arms wide and imitates the sound and walk of the animals around them, making Katara laugh.
"Hehehe, Aang, I'll help you catch a penguin if you teach me Waterbending." Katara states.
Aang hangs on the tail of a penguin that's pulling him through the snow. "I would love to take the deal but there is just one problem." Aang states as he airbend himself to a sitting position. "I'm an Airbender, not a Waterbender. Isn't there someone in your tribe who can teach you?"
"No." Katara states sadly "You're looking at the only Waterbender in the whole South Pole."
"This isn't right." Aang states "A Waterbender needs to master water." He thinks for a moment. "What about the North Pole? There's another water tribe up there, right? Maybe they could teach you."
"Maybe, but we haven't had contact with out sister tribe in a long time." Katara states "It's not exactly turn right at the second glacier. It's on the other side of the world!"
"But you forget, I have a flying bison." He says happily and points at himself. "Appa and I can personally fly you to the North Pole. Katara, we're going to find you a master!"
"That's... I mean, I don't know." Katara says in an unsure tone "I've never left home before."
"Well, you think about it. I can try and teach you some basic stuff but don't know how many airbending technics can be helpful for a water bender. In the meantime, can you help me catch one of these penguins?"
"Okay, listen closely my young pupil." Katara says in a mock teacher voice and slightly bows her head toward Aang. "Catching penguins is an ancient and sacred art." She pulls a fish out of her sleeve. "Observe!"
She tosses Aang the fish. As he catches it with an uncomprehending look on his face, the penguins immediately begin crowding him. He laughs as the penguins swarm over him, pulling him down amidst their ranks.
Aang and Katara are sliding down an iceberg slide while each sitting atop of a penguin. The soar through the air for a moment before landing on the sloop and continuing their journey downwards. They race down and Aang uses another iceberg as a ramp to propel him in the air and to soar over and past Katara. She in turn uses the next jump to land next to Aang again. The two laugh and shout out as they gleefully ride over snowy bumps.
"I haven't done this since I was a kid!" Katara states happily
The two ride through a tunnel of ice. Katara is in the lead and tries to hold Aang back by constantly changing her direction when he wants to pass her. Aang solves this problem by increasing his speed with Airbending, enabling him to race over the ceiling past Katara. The tunnel levels out on an open plain of ice where the two get off their rides. Aang walks over to a Fire Nation shipwreck.
"Whoah!" So this is a fire-nation warship, isn't it?" Aang said.
"Yes and a very bad memory for my people."
Aang sat down. "I need to tell you something."
"What?" Katara asked.
"Two things, actually, both secrets that I trust you to keep." Aang said, "and I want to tell you because I like you and think you can be trusted. I also hope that this won't change your opinion of me."
"I'll keep your secrets" Katara said.
"My first secret is that I am the Avatar" Aang began "I've been in that block of ice for a hundred years. Everyone I knew is likely dead by now."
Katara enveloped Aang in a hug "I'm sorry for your loss, Aang" She said, "I admit that I thought you where connected to the Avatar somehow, but didn't know for sure that you where actually him".
"My second secret will be a lot harder to believe, heck if I hadn't happened to me I wouldn't believe it myself" Aang said. Katara tried to say something but Aang put a finger to her mouth "Please don't say anything until I'm finished," Katara nodded, "Part of me is from a different dimension," Katara's face now had an confused expression "I was in a fight that ended with me being sent here, I won't go into the details apart from the fact that he was a bad person that needed to be stopped, and while I managed that it also threw me to this dimension." Aang took a deep breath. "When I arrived here I was only a soul without a body, and before I even hit this planet I was hit by a comet of light, which I later found out was the soul of the Avatar travelling from it's previous life to find it's next incarnation. I ended up being taken along for the ride and became part of the link between the previous Avatars and Aang. I experienced everything Aang did as if it was me doing it, even if I wasn't in control of anything. As time went by it became harder to tell who I really was, until I reached the point where I felt that I was Aang. When The Avatar state took over to save Aang from drowning, locking him and me in stasis inside a block of ice, it also merged us completely, which in effect just allowed me to move the body rather then just be along for the ride, since I already felt like a part of him."
Katara just stared at him in shock. After three minutes she finally spoke "So you are the Avatar, but you are also something else?".
"Very much so, I actually need to check whether I still have my old abilities" Aang said and put his hands in the ram sign and gathered Chakra. "Shadow clone" He said. There was a puff of smoke and another Aang appeared beside him. "Seems it actually still works." At that point Katara fainted.
She woke up a short while later and looked at Aang "I think I just had a very strange dream" She stated.
"If the dream involved me being from a different dimension and making clones of myself than I'm afraid it wasn't a dream." Aang responded.
"Oh, okay" Katara said. "So you are 112 chronologically, 12 biologically, but how old are you mentally?" She then asked.
"Well, when I left my own dimension I was 17, but merging with Aang and living his life I would say that I am actually still very young mentally, maybe 13 or 14." Aang responded.
"What was your name in the other dimension?" Katara then asked, curious about where this person was coming from, but afraid to ask about his abilities in general.
"Naruto" Aang responded. "I'll give you some time to think about it, but in the mean time let's explore this ship" He then started to walk to the ship.
"Aang, stop!" Katara said "We're not allowed to go near it! The ship could be booby-trapped!"
"If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear." Aang stated, "You can be cautious but you must not be afraid"
Katara ponders over that remark for a moment and then walks toward Aang with a scared look upon her face. The two venture closer toward the ship. Aang helps Katara to climb some of the blocks of ice that lay beside the ship and they crawl through a hole in the hull of the ship. The two walk through the silent rooms of the shipwreck. Some white hamsters roam the otherwise deserted ship. Aang enters a room stocked to the rim with weapons.
"This ship has haunted my tribe since Gran-Gran was a little girl." Katara explained as they walked through the ship "It was part of the Fire Nation's first attacks."
"I had friends all over the world, even in the Fire Nation" Aang stated "I never thought that they would lead a war" He says in a sad voice as he sits down on the floor.
"I'm sorry, Aang." Katara said, Squatting beside him. "Maybe somehow there's a bright side to all this..."
"I did get to meet you." He says with a smile that made Katara blush slightly.
Katara then smiled warmly at him while offering her hand. "Come on, let's get out of here." Katara pulls him to his feet and they exit the room.
A short time she says "Aang, let's head back, this place is creepy."
Aang ventures down yet another room with Katara in his trail. There, he trips over a thin rope, barring the entrance, thus trapping them.
"Huh? Man I need to relearn to be aware of my surroundings" Aang said as the two of them ran back to the, now barred, door. "Seems you where right about booby traps"
The gears and engines of the shipwreck begin to power up and function. In shock, Katara and Aang follow the movements of the machines until suddenly, a flare is fired and explodes high in the sky. Aang notices a hole in the roof of the ship and takes a surprised Katara into his arms "Hold on tight!"
"Aaah!" Katara Screams as Aang enhances the power of his jump with his Airbending to jump several feet into the air through the hole.
After Aang land he quickly turn to Katara "If we run to the village we might lead the fire-nation straight there, but if we don't go there and the fire-nation goes there anyway we won't be able to protect them." Aang states. "what do you want to do"
"Let's go back" Katara states and they start running back to the village.
