And another chapter. Hey guys, been a while. Finally got a ch. written and time to post it up. working others as well, so here we are.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor Avatar.

Dinner that night had been an event, as he was greeted by the entire circus troupe as a whole when they turned out for food. The troupe took to group dinners once the night was over, so when Ty Lee brought him for food, he was overwhelmed by the number of people that welcomed him in, readily even. He saw all kinds of people, all kinds, and types. Honestly, it was disorienting but not in a bad way as he soon got his bearings. It was so different, people just welcoming him in, no animosity, no hatred...though there was some curiosity, especially over his blonde hair and whisker marks. He just went with what he told ty lee so far, building upon half-truths and not quite lies that he was from a hidden village that tended to train mercenaries that went out, worked and brought by their profit for the village.

They accepted his story, since it was mostly true, and with a few well-placed words, they got the gist that it was bad memories for him about the village so didn't question further. But it explained everything about him except for his chakra, so long as he didn't showcase that, then he would be fine. Though after that Ty Lee announced he would be training as an acrobat and that he made the challenge to take on Ty Lee's training. It was quiet for a moment, which unnerved the only blonde there before they cheered and wished him luck, telling him he'd need it. He didn't see why not until the next day.

"So what's this rope for again?" He asked, stifling a yawn as he looked at the length of rope Ty Lee had tied to his ankles, leaving slack between that was more than long enough to not hamper his movement. He was still rubbing the crud from his eyes, Ty Lee had gotten him up way early, expedited by the fact that it was decided since he was mostly training with Ty Lee, he'd live in her tent, thus a partition separated her general area from his now. So he was gotten up, two steamed buns shoved in his mouth, dressed and now out in a clearing of the circus grounds with Ty Lee, the sky just barely starting to turn from dark blue to warmer morning hues.

"This rope is for your training." She stated as if it were obvious with her high energy attitude, guiding naruto to take a seat, she took a seat right behind him, back to back. "Remember when we agreed to my level of acrobatics and physical conditioning in your training menu?" she asked, grabbing the rope.

"Yeah. But what's that got to do with the rope?" He asked still confused.

"Well here's the thing Naruto, we need to get your body conditioned right for it, and that means you need to be way more flexible, like this.~" She spoke cheerfully, putting the rope in front of her, hooking her foot onto it and then pushing out. The effect was immediate as Naruto's legs were pulled back, forcing him into the splits. His started cry of pain was silence by the intake of air in a gasp that tried to happen the same time as the cry of pain then hooked her arms around his to hold his back straight as he was forced to endure the splits, full on, she rocked back and forth while humming a happy tune. "No pain no gain Naruto. You said you could handle it no problem. Getting you flexible and limbered up before anything else is best. But don't worry, I'll be with you every step of the way." She promised.

For the rest of the day, it was Ty Lee forcing his body into every position his body could handle to work on his flexibility, his cries of pain resounding throughout the camp. Some of the others gave sympathy when they heard his cries of anguish.

"Kid brought it on himself." One of the animal tamers said to a working hand.

"True but that doesn't make it any less painful for him, or unpleasant to hear." The worker said, hefting a bag of feed for another animal.

"Agreed but that's-" He stopped as he heard a yell and they both cringed. "There's the deep splits. She must have made him touch the ground from the chairs."

"Hopefully he'll still be able to have children." The worker finished as they both returned to their work.

Thus this continued and Naruto was put through the grinder that is Ty Lee's body manipulation training, the goal being to get Naruto's body to the same level as Ty Lee's own and she promised he would be able to do just that. With the training, he wasn't doing any work or act around the circus at all, not once he limped back to his hammock in the tent. However that night after Ty Lee went to sleep, he made a clone to replace with and snuck out of the circus grounds to the nearby forest.

"If I didn't have enhanced healing, I don't think I could survive that." He shivered a bit at the thought of the training, but he had agreed to it... and like hell, he was gonna say he regretted it...openly, at least. But he sighed as he stretched a bit. "Okay, what's first... Chakra control, right." He flexed a bit before making ten clones and sighing as the chakra drain was manageable now with 11 clones than the 15 he did before. "Alright guys, let's start with the leaf exercise and take it as far as we can. Got it?" He asked his clones who all nodded and grabbed leaves.

The clones all grabbed a number of leaves and took a seat, sitting down and put the leaves to their forehead, starting with the chakra control exercises they were taught in the academy. Naruto meanwhile was doing some basic calisthenics to start reconditioning his body. He'd be out here for a few hours before he headed back to get enough the workout, he found his current limits and it was... disappointing if he was honest. He guessed the fx did a lot more for him than he thought it did. So he got to work.

Several hours later, the clones finished at naruto's call and dispersed one by one. He felt their experience and what remained of their chakra return to him. Grabbing a leaf, he put it to his head and it stuck, then spun, flipped over from one side to the other. He grabbed several other leaves, sticking them on other places of his body before doing the same thing with them. "Just like tree hopping. Never forget once you learn how... Still from nothing to this in just a few hours and 10 clones. I never realized how much the fox and the seal screwed with my control. Maybe I should..." He looked up at the sky and grimaced. "No, I need to get back to get some sleep. I can work on tree walking tomorrow night." He stated to himself, making his way back to camp.

Once back, he replaced with his clone that dispelled and settled in for sleep. He was sure the days following was going to be more pain, and how right he was.

The next day was filled with just as much pain as the first as his body was flexed and contorted into ways he never imagined he could, but the same maneuvers he did yesterday didn't hurt as much, his healing factor adjusting his body to the stress. That night was the same procedure as the night before, though with tree walking exercise instead, ten clones running up and down trees, though having more trouble as at first they were falling in the first hour, luckily catching themselves so they didn't pop.

After three hours, the tree walking clones could comfortably walk up and down the tree, not needing the speed from running or short contact time to stay on the vertical surface. When he dispersed the clones and consolidated the experience, he walked up the tree nearest to him until he was on the highest branch and looked out over the horizon with a smile. After that he jumped down and made for camp, getting his rest since tomorrow the circus would start packing up for travel.

Naruto had managed to send a Henge'd clone into the nearby town to look, listen and talk to the locals, catching up n current events as it were. Some of it was just idle banter, listening in at taverns or Inns, people watching, or actual spying. The fire Nation colony devoted to the fire nation itself, no question, so he had to ask himself if half of what he heard was true and not apparent fire nation propaganda.

Leaving that aside, Ty Lee told him he wouldn't start working with the circus until this part of his training was done, which meant, over the next two days while the others broke down the tents and got everything ready to travel, y Lee kept putting Naruto through the training. Thankfully by the fourth day he wasn't making his pain known to others anymore with his voice. But by the fourth night, his clones were sparring on top of a river with water walking, while other clones were doing tree walking and leaf balancing together. The clones not sparring were doing the mental exercises Jiraiya taught them, as was the original who stuck to his nightly conditioning routine, knowing he might not have the chance for it once they were on the move.

Turns out though, Ty Lee asked for a wagon to be kept empty which she used as space for Naruto to keep up his body manipulation training, much to his misery and the wagon driver's amusement. Though when they settled in at night, if possible, he snuck out to continue his own training. So a week later when the slow procession of carts, wagons, and people came to the next town and started setting up, Naruto's progress was far better. He was picking up chakra enhancement again, able to do his high speed runs, power punches, great leaps for tree hopping, toughness and so on. Which he would have used to help himself in Ty Lee's training, but remembering she could see the manipulation of chakra through aura, realized he couldn't.

Which speaking of, Ty Lee was making her amazement known with Naruto's apparent ability to adapt to the training, already showing a great deal of improvement in his flexibility and overall body control. He could now at least move everything in the same ways as she could, now he just had to get the same extremes in the range of motion, like putting his feet on top of his own head, or a finger handstand splits. With that being said, she got him working on his physical conditioning, balance and other general areas he needed according to the menu.

In this town, he sent another Henge'd clone, this one was able to learn much more, getting a better idea of the world around them, seeing earth bending in person as the bender worked alongside a fire bender at a forge, he was bending chunks of coal together into a solid piece and then compacting it. The idea was making dense compact coal like that burns longer, hotter and retains heat better and longer, the very bricks of the forge made from compacted stone to shape the forge perfectly, contain and retain heat better and longer, with a little earth bent underground airflow tunnel that was perfectly shaped and a fire pipe for the fire bender to project flames into alongside foot bellows to heat the forge.

It amazed him to see it, how they worked together to take something so simple and enhance it, their work speaking for itself in some of the gear, armor, and weapons they sold was of high quality. If they could work together in this colony like this, why not everywhere else? But as the clone learned more, he got a general idea that such acceptance wasn't widespread. When he dispersed, the original sighed learning what he had. Seems people could be cruel no matter where you go.

This continued for a time longer, when finally after two months since he joined the circus, Ty Lee deemed his current training complete.

"I just don't get it. Two months to get done what it usually takes for a boy your age in five to six months to do. How'd you do it?" She asked, looking at Naruto who was now limbering up on his own, transitioning from full splits to a handstand, doing a few push-ups from the position.

"Well, that's because I'm different. Watch." He told her, standing up as he took one of his knives and made a small cut on his hand. She was about to fret until she saw the cut start to close up, making her gasp. "I heal very fast, which lets me train as hard as I do and come back fine the next day, and how I can adjust to the training so quickly...it's also one of the reasons I was an outcast in my own village." He stated, hitting a somber tone before he shook it off.

"So you're saying that your healing lets you cut down on your recovery time and helps to adapt to hard workouts as you do them?" She asked, eyeing him as he nodded. "That's so not fair..." She mumbled with Crocodile tears. Naruto just rolled his eyes.

"And like seeing aura's that can let you almost read a person's mind is any fairer?" He asked in return, making her smile sheepishly. She'd been getting better at aura reading, able to better judge emotional states and pick up on more cues to mental states through aura alone, enough to make her scary in conversation if you didn't know about the aura reading she can do.

"Hmm, anyway, your as limber as me now, and your conditioning is good, now we can get started on acrobatics and martial arts. I'll teach you what I can, but from the two months, I can see you're not fit for chi blocking. You don't have hard fingers for the fingers jabs I use, your fingers are very dexterous and articulate." She stated.

"So I can't learn chi blocking at all?" he asked, actually rather disappointed by that.

"I didn't say that. I just said you're unfit for it. You can still learn it, it's useful, I was still going to teach it to you, but you can't actually fight with it, you'll end up breaking your fingers if you do, and they hurt a lot. Not sure if your healing can repair broken fingers and still be so dexterous like they are now. Instead, I've been talking to a few of the others who know how to fight and they've agreed to help train you in things you can use. Miss Fei-hung is one of them, she heard you're interested in learning to knife throw and she's curious."

"Sweet!"

"Well, let's get started." She spoke, and Ty Lee got him moving onto acrobatics, and there he learned how the new level of flexibility and body control really affected the rest of his physical skills. Not to mention his fighting when he did his nightly sessions, sparring with his clones got a lot more interesting since he was pulling off some crazy maneuvers. It didn't take long for him to learn what Ty Le was teaching him, proving himself a more than capable acrobat, but before he could perform, he had to practice with the other members, learn the routines and so on, which lead into his starting his work with the circus finally, mostly manual labor like hauling equipment, feeding and caring for the animals or practice with the other performers.

"Alright Naruto, these are your martial art instructors. Miss Fei hung, our knife throwing beauty and she's a capable fighter. Kai Lo, he's our resident blades expert and does the precision cutting sideshow, he can cut the wick off a candle and leave it still burning on top of his blade, Ermac, one of the best fighters in the troupe and very spiritual, and finally our own Ringleader Chon Wang. He's a fire bender, but he's been around long enough and seen a lot so he has plenty he can teach." Ty Lee introduced them and Naruto bowed properly to them.

"We'll take over now Ty Lee. Why don't you go and get some exercises done before tonight's performance, you have to be in top condition after all." Chon spoke, getting the girl to nod and take off. Chon looked back to Naruto and analyzed him a moment. "Well, Ty Lee has informed us of your current level of ability so far and what she still intends to do. Ermac, whats your opinions on the boy from what you've seen in spars between Ty Lee and him?" He asked, looking t his left.

Ermac was a simple man with black hair and green eyes, he wore simple dark red garments trimmed in black. But his musculature showed he trained hard, his knuckles were hard callouses. "Ty Lee has done well t develop a compact acrobats physique while maintaining a good foundation for martial arts. His flexibility is good, as are body control and conditioning and hat I've seen of his fighting ability thus far, he'll be suitable to learn some of the core forms of Hua Chuan and Choy Li Fut, but I stress core forms only, no need to complicate his prior training already. Aside from that, He'll benefit from fire bender breath training and general forms. As for weapons that are for Kai lo and personal preference." He stated, giving his honest opinion.

"I see. Miss Fei-hung?" Chon spoke.

"If what Ty Lee said about him having dexterous fingers is correct, then he may be able to learn my knife throwing skill, I may teach him more depending on what he shows. Kai Lo?" She tossed it over to the last of the four yet to speak.

"He's ambidextrous, I can see that much so he'll do well learning a paired weapon. Perhaps dual broadswords or hook swords." He stated and the others nodded, taking that fact in as well.

"Um...not to question a good thing, but why go out of your way to teach me how to fight like this?" He asked, looking at each of the four.

"Well, Naruto it's actually quite simple. Our circus doesn't have enough fighters to defend against earth kingdom soldiers who may target the circus. We're not a threat, but we represent another part of the fire nation. We train anyone willing to fight that's in the troupe. Not only this but Miss Fei-Hung has been looking for someone to teach her throwing skills to, not much luck so far, unless you prove to be capable. Now enough talking Naruto, we need to get started. Ermac, Fei-Hung I leave him to you two. I have to get things started while Kai Lo has his sideshow to perform." He stated, before leaving them to it.

The two did a quick evaluation of Naruto's current skills and found their analysis to be right on and Miss Fei-Hung was pleased t see Naruto did indeed be capable of learning her style of throwing, so she began her training immediately. She used a particular kind of single edge knife with a curved handle that she could literally throw a knife and it will curve in the air like a boomerang, but depending on the throw depends on how it's it flies. Naruto could already see how useful that could be, getting his own pair of knives to start training with.

Ermac started his training, having him go through a thorough display of his martial arts and how he fights with it to get the best idea of what he should teach him. With the new instruction, his style was already showing change and he seemed to be taking to it well. Kai Lo was right on paired weapon assumption for Naruto, however, the first few times picking up a few of the weapons they had just didn't fit. He just wasn't used to fighting with large weapons. But when he picked up a pair of big knives, he found them quite comfortable, Kai Lo then set him up with a pair of butterfly blades, something that Caught Ermac's attention and found the boy liked them. Kai lo and Ermac would teach him the weapons from there, butterfly blades were used in Choy-Li-Fut which he had some experience in, though he preferred an ax himself.

Chon himself followed Ermacs advice, though seeing the boy take to the training like a predator to prey, he taught him the breathing exercises, meditation, and some of the basic fire bending disciplines to modify his current style. He was quick to learn, really quick. Though he may have neglected to mention that his nightly training sessions he used his clones to review everything and put it into application against the clones. He had gotten his chakra control back to par and then better, he could now make up to forty shadow clones as his max and could make a proper one handed Rasengan, he was retraining all of his jutsu, trying to eliminate his need to use hand seals at all, and practicing the Fuinjutsu he could, making a new storage and stasis seal for himself.

Essentially his retraining despite his limitations was paying off big time, but the new training of seeing aura for the first time was new and surreal. "Ty Lee...you said it should first appear as a kind of haze around the body right?" He asked.

"That's right. Is that what you see?"

"Kinda, but it's weird, it's like there's...layers."

"... You just keep surprising me without fail."

"What?" He asked intelligibly.

"You're not supposed to see the layers of an individual's aura until later on in the training. Well from what we've talked about, what can you tell me from what you see?" She asked, smiling at the blonde.

"um...well, you're...thinking about something specific." He spoke and she nodded.

"That's good. but what about my emotional state?" She asked and he tried to peer at her that much harder.

"Well, you're happy obviously...excited, like really excited. Um...accomplished?" He stated ad she smiled wider.

"Yep! Good job, though we still have to work on it." She stated and got a nod in return.

"I know. Just never imagined that controlling your chi," he spoke almost making a slip up there on chakra and chi. "in such a way in your eyes can allow you to see auras." He finished, still amazed by the little he could see now.

"I know, I was just as amazed by it when my mistress taught me. She's also the one to teach me chi blocking. Which speaking of, how is your own training going with the others?" She asked.

"Heh. Watch this." He spoke, reaching to his side wear a pouch holding the unique knives Miss Fei-hung gave him set, he pulled out one and threw it, where it spun and then, curved, returning back to Naruto who caught it. "That was a simple catch and return, but I never thought I could do that with a knife. Miss Fei-hung really is amazing." He stated.

"She really is, it's one of the reasons she's not a sideshow but an act in the big tent. Aren't you glad you didn't try to become a dedicated chi blocker now since it requires dexterous fingers." She said cheekily.

"Yeah yeah. Still, that's not all I learned. Kai Lo managed to help me find the perfect weapons for me." He stated, drawing the butterfly blades. "Kai Lo and Ermac are teaching me how to wield these, turns out Ermac's Choy Li Fut style has forms for these knives. They said these knives are perfect since they can be used with barehanded techniques forms and vice versa." He stated, twisting the blades around in his hands. His blades are satin finish steel with a dark brown leather handle, a sharpened clip point on the back of the point for reverse cuts. He had a brown leather belt he wore now with the scabbard for the weapons on the back of, his forehead protector fitted as the buckle for the belt.

"They look good on yeah and you seem comfortable with them."

"Yeah... hey, why don't you use weapons?" He asked looking at TY Lee.

"I do actually, but the weapons I was trained to use...they're too lethal to use for anything else except the kill. So I hardly ever use them or even carry them." She stated, going into their tent and coming back with two wicked looking hand blades. It almost looked like two crescent moons crossing over one another with a handle on one of the crescents and the curve of the other crescent as a hand guard. The crescent that extended forward though went farther than the other, the top blade much farther than the bottom, with only a hand's width gap between the blades. "These are called Deer horn knives or crescent moon blades. They're not hard to wield since they essentially arm your barehanded skills with sharp blades, but the skill to use them effectively and not cut yourself to ribbons is the hard part." She stated.

"I bet!" He called out looking to them, everything but the handle was a sharp blade.

"I don't like maiming or killing, so I don't use them." She finished, setting them aside.

"I get that, but shouldn't you at least train with them to maintain your skills? I mean they could be useful fighting against someone who uses a weapon and can work around your chi blocking." He stated, making her think.

"You really think I should?" She asked.

"Yeah, I do."

"Well... Alright." She stated with a smile, making Naruto smile. "Since you're volunteering let's have a spar." His smile fell.

"Huh?"

"Well since you want me to keep training with them I will, and seeing as how you heal really fast, you're the perfect sparring partner." She stated with a cheeky smirk that made his eyebrow twitch in annoyance. But he wasn't so confident looking at the weapons she was now wielding.

"Hey now, let's not-" He backpedaled to avoid a swipe and breathed out, seeing her intent on this. He brought up his butterfly blades, and soon the two were dueling one another with their blades, going through maneuvers and really just stepping up their sound of clashing steel caught the attention of others who came to see what was up and found the two sparring, who took a seat to watch. They were putting on a good show, which at the end of the sparring, they backed away and took a breather they suddenly heard clapping and looked around to see others watching. So engrossed in their own fight they never noticed them.

"That was good you two. Few rough spots, things to work on and advance and a bit of rust for you Ty Lee, but other than that you two show good skill with your weapons and arts. Well done." Chon stated with a smile as he clapped. The two youths blushed a bit at the praise but smiled and nodded, getting back to their own work as the others did.

"That was fun," Naruto said as he stretched and Ty Lee nodded.

"We gotta do that again sometime. That was a good workout and training, but Chon was right, I am rusty with these." She looked down to her weapons, settled into a custom fitted pouch that covered all of the blades except the handles, fixed onto a belt that she now grabbed and pulled on to her own waist.

"True, but we can work on that. Let's get back to aura training now."

With that, the two got back to their previous training in working Naruto's ability to see auras and teaching him the significance of what he saw. Just because he could see aura now didn't mean he understood what they meant. The two now trained together in weapons and fighting, or just about anything really, their prior friendship which grew overtime now becoming deeper as they pushed the other in their training to always get better no matter what they did, and their improvements showed in the coming months. Their friendship though and close proximity though developed into something a bit more, evident one day 5 months after his joining the circus, a few weeks from their sojourn into the fire nation for their tour there.

"Hey, Ty Lee?" He spoke to get her attention even as he did a one-handed handstand with his legs split perfect, no pain coming from him at all as he did so comfortably. Ty Lee was doing her own stretch in their pre-show workout, by this point, Naruto was performing with the other acrobats readily, though they were still working out for his debut with Ty Lee. "Have you ever wondered what you're going to do after the circus? Or if you're ever going t leave it?" He asked.

Ty Lee blinked before she set on her arms and chest, her legs curling up around so her feet were on settled on her head. "Well everyone leaves the circus. Sooner or Later anyway. But as far as After...I haven't given it much thought, I'm actually really happy here and my Aura has never been Pinker! But when I do leave, I hope it'll be something or someone worthwhile." She stated, making Naruto look at her as he contorted his body into a ball before laying out on the ground.

"So I see. It's a very vibrant pink with a little shimmer." He confirmed, making her beam, their training in his seeing aura quite successful, now he just had to catch up to her level now. "Someone huh? Anyone special in mind Ty? Someone from Home maybe?" He grinned as he fished for something to tease her with. Ty Lee just smiled with a quirked eyebrow.

"Oh nuh-uh, you're not getting that out of me... Not unless you tell me something too." She countered with a smirk now. "I've caught you looking at a few of the girls Naruto, especially Miss Fei-Hung~." She teased, making Naruto blush slightly.

"What? She's beautiful, I'll admit, but she's older than me." He stated with a sigh and Ty Lee hummed.

"True, not many girls our age here." She spoke.

"Not many boys either." He countered.

"Who said anything abo-... Nope, you almost got me, not happening." Ty Lee caught herself before she could reveal anything. "Besides, I'm not sure if the person I do like would be attracted to me." She thought out loud with a sigh.

"What!? Of course, he would be, Ty Lee, not to put too fine a point on it, but you're not just attractive, you're beautiful and stunning. Not to mention your skills you're also exotic." Now he was laying on his arms with his low body bent overtop his head with his legs stretched out forward.

Ty Lee blushed with a happy grin. "Thanks, Naruto, though that makes me question your intentions? Not trying to be competitive are you?" She asked with a smug grin at her implication. She mirrored his pose now, pleased with his progress in flexibility and contortion, he really had come a long way in his training and it showed in his body. Not an ounce of baby fat anymore and it was worked, despite his young age.

"Maybe~ Maybe not~ I'm just stating facts." He spoke. Ever since his training with Jiraiya and now the months among the circus, he'd really opened up and become comfortable with talks like these.

"Really know how to bring up a girl's confidence Naruto." She told him with a soft smile. "Still doesn't answer my question about who you might like." She returned.

"Well, no one specific to be honest, I've never done anything like that before, haven't even kissed a girl yet." He admitted, though conveniently left out the encounter with Sasuke, suppressing a shiver.

"Hmmm, Maybe we can get you a date once we're touring in the fire nation, plenty of time to get a date We'll just need to work on your dating skills." She spoke.

"Like you are any better?" He said and she grinned.

"I'm a girl, of course, they're better." She said smugly and he just rolled his eyes.

"Have you ever kissed a boy?" He asked, unrolling into an index finger handstand with both index fingers, challenging himself to the exercise as he breathed evenly. Ty Lee followed suit, though with less trouble. This was something he still had a bit of trouble with, at least without chakra. It was both a physical and balance issue.

"Well... No." She admitted.

"Then how do you... know you're any good?" He grunted out a bit as he tried to control his body movement through the exercise like Ty Lee already could.

"Hmm, I suppose that's right." She spoke, then got a devious grin that Naruto didn't see. "Guess there's only one way to find out." She singsonged as she hand walked over to Naruto, shifted to one hand and used the other to grab his head and gave him an upside-down kiss. Naruto was taken off guard at first, so shocked he didn't even notice his body stopped trembling from the exercise as Ty Lee held the kiss.

After the initial shock, he just melted into the kiss, absently leaning into the kiss. Ty Lee smiled into it before she pulled away, stepping back on both hands and smiling at the blonde. "Now you've kissed a girl, and I've kissed a boy. You'll do great when we get you a date and oh, with your blonde hair blue eyes and whiskers, you're the more exotic of the two of us and certainly very attractive. Take care of the rest of your workout Naruto, we got a show tonight. And congratulations on finger standing without trembling." Ty Lee called out singsong as she hand walked away.

Naruto just stayed there for a moment longer before falling to his back and breathing out as he stared up at the sky. "Wow..." He spoke in a daze. Naruto stared at the sky for a while, trying to remember his name as he just experienced the kiss again in his head. He stayed there for a little while until he felt the ground tremble, followed shortly by the ringing of a heavy bell. It took a moment, first time hearing that bell before he remembered what that bell was meant for. "An attack!?"

Getting to his feet, he grabbed his blades from a nearby crate and Ty Lee's pouch, putting his blades away as he ran, feeling the ground tremble again. "Earth Benders to the south!" He heard shouted from elsewhere in the circus camp, shifting his run to head there. He didn't have to run far as he saw men in earth kingdom garb stomping and hurling rocks at the circus camp. Already the other fighters the circus had already on the scene.

Miss Fei-Hung was throwing her daggers, thought the earth benders were using their bending to defend against the blades, and she was having to use her martial arts to maneuver, fight in close and recover her knives to throw them again. Kai Lo was dual wielding two hook swords with ease. Ermac wasn't having much difficulty between his skill and using his ax. Chon wang and a few of the other fire benders their circus had were fighting, and other fighters were also fighting, including Ty Lee.

"HA!" He heard and turned to see a bender aiming a stone right for him so he bent back at the waist, going complete 90' degree before standing straight as the boulder passed over him. He breathed as he rushed forward at the bender who was caught off guard by the evasion thinking he had him. He quickly struck a few pressure points, taking the bender down with chi blocking. however, he shook his hands violently before massaging his fingers.

"Man that hurt!" He hollered, now seeing what Ty Lee meant about hard fingers for Chi Blocking. He didn't get much time to think about it further as he had to jump away from a stone throw. Drawing his blades, he looked at this earth bender and breathed. The bender stomped and kicked, but Naruto was already on the move, closing the distance and evading the rock. Inverting his blades with his thumb between the blade and guard on the back of the blade, he struck with the butt of the weapons, using their hardness for hard strikes.

Then the idea struck him and he smiled as he struck the pressure points targetted by chi blocking with the narrow pommel of the butterfly blades, and to his glee, the man went down with the same effect! "YES! Chi blocking is back!" He shouted, before rushing for his next opponent. The fight was hard, but as he kept fighting, he heard Ty Lee cry out in pain. Ending his opponent quickly, he turned to see Ty Lee holding her stomach, the one she was fighting holding a chain connected to a roughly shaped stone gripped by an iron cuff connected to the chain. "Ty Lee!" He shouted, rushing to her.

The earth bender with the meteor hammer smirked as he turned to Naruto. "This your girl boy? Don't worry, we'll take good care of her once we're done here." He stated, swinging the meteor hammer around before throwing it, using his earth bending and the chain to control its flight. Hearing this Naruto was enraged as he finally decided it was enough and channeled his chakra, using chakra enhancement to perform past basic physical limits. He closed the distance very fast, surprising the bender, but he sneered and used the free end of the chain to swipe at Naruto, forcing him to evade back.

The bender bent his meteor hammer at Naruto's back, hearing the chain, he ducked and rolled out of the way, the bender catching his earthen weapon and smirking at Naruto. Naruto then understood, this man was a master of both his bending and his weapon, utilizing both to great effect. No wonder Ty Lee was hit, and if not for his enhancement, he'd be in the same boat. Ty Lee was still down and holding her abdomen, the hit no doubt causing internal injury. Fury returning to him, he flipped the blades back to live edge.

"Getting serious ow boy? Good, this wouldn't be fun if you die easily." He taunted before throwing his hammer. Building chakra in his limbs, he suddenly rushed the man and ducked under his hammer, running past it, and with strengthened arms, cross slashed both blades, scissoring the blades on the chains and cutting through the link, leaving the man with only a chain to wield. "Shit!" The man cursed, using his strength he broke the chain apart and wrapped both lengths around his arms and hands, using the chained appendages to hold off the slashes and cuts the boy made on him.

However, the man was suddenly taken down to the ground when he lost sight of the boy, gasping in pain as he felt his legs cut. He barely comprehended what was happening before his vision started going dark and he felt weak before his vision went totally black. Naruto stood overtop the man, blades bloody as the man bleeding from several cuts on his legs that severed tendons, using the man's fall for several lethal cuts on his abdomen that bled him out. Swiping his blades, slinging the blood off of them, he rushed over to Ty Lee's side and kneeling by her.

"Ty Lee!" He called to her, but she grimaced and looked up to Naruto, a weak smile as she held her abdomen.

"Hey, Naruto... I messed up, went left when I should have gone right." She postured with a weak smile.

"Well, at least you didn't do that in a show." He told the girl, laughing weakly. "What's the damage?" He asked, seriously, she was conscious and all, so that was good, now to just see her pain level.

"Not sure... I was mid-air when I took the hit." She informed the blonde. "Cracked ribs for sure, I know that much." She said and Naruto nodded. His friend was alive and would make it as far as he could tell, he calmed own knowing that. His relief must have shown because she reached out and grabbed his hand. "Thank you Naruto...if you hadn't come when you did, I might not be here." She stated and he nodded.

"No problem...when I heard you cry out, and saw that bender standing over you... I just had to act. I couldn't think of what would happen if I didn't. If I lost you..." He trailed off, not sure what he would do. That made him realize something, that he cared for Ty Lee as more than just a friend, more than he did for any girl he knew, even Sakura.

"I know Naruto."

"Naruto, Ty Lee!" They both heard, but Naruto looked up to see Chon Wang rush over with the others. "What happened?"

"She took a hit from a meteor hammer while in the air. Pain, she says she knows she has cracked ribs for sure, not sure what other damage there is." He stated and the man nodded. Tenderly, he picked up Ty Lee and carried her as they made their way back to Camp, getting her to one of their doctors. All the fighters were still on edge from the adrenaline. But now that the danger was dealt with, the soldiers that retreated were taking their injured, Naruto looked out from the camp beside the healer's tent at their battlefield.

He could see several bodies, none of their own thankfully, but as the adrenaline subsided, he now grasped the situation. Realization hit him, what he did, and he looked at his hands, which now trembled. He killed a man...

"Naruto." Spoke a solemn baritone voice. He turned to Ermac there, a rag cleaning his polished steel battle ax, flecks of blood still on the weapon. "don't think of the man you killed as a burden. What do you think he would have done to Ty Lee or the others if we had lost or if he hadn't been killed?" He asked the whiskered blonde.

This forced Naruto to think and remember what the man said, his trembling nerves turned to anger and Ermac could see it. "Exactly Naruto. You know it as well as I do what he would have done. The fact you killed him may weigh heavy, but you didn't kill him for fun, you dd it because he was a threat that would have done horrible things to the people you care about and that's worth killing over. There's a time to kill and when not to, remember that, but it's up to you to make that distinction and if you can live with the consequences of the kill. In this case, you know it. think on this Naruto, meditate and because for as long as you live and fight, you'll be faced with the choice of to kill or not and both have their consequences to live with." He told the boy before leaving him to his thoughts.

Naruto sat there, feeling a bit better with Ermac's words, but now needing to think. It was an hour before the Healers came out. "She'll make a full recovery, but it'll be some time before she can perform again. She'll need a great deal of rest as she heals. Would anyone like to see her?" The healer asked and Naruto was first to step forward. She smiled and guided Naruto in. Ty Lee was laying on a cot, a cover over her, though he could tell she was bare, her shoulders were and her shirt was folded to the side.

"Hey Naruto, they say I'll make a full recovery." She told her friend who smiled.

"I heard. But you won't be performing for a while." He stated and she sighed.

"I know! I'm going to be cooped up all the time for a while now too. Ths sucks!"

"Then don't get hit next time." He teased and she pouted at him, her lip jutting out as she did. She looked seriously cute when she did that, but now thinking about it, calm and what just recently happened...

"Ty Lee... what was that?"

"What was what?" She asked, her head cocked to the side slightly.

"Earlier...when you kissed me." He said, a slight blush on his face. Ty Lee blushed her self but smiled at him.

"Well, what's my aura say?" She asked, looking right at Naruto, seeing his aura, the confusion within it, the excitement, and more.

Naruto blinked but looked at her, really looked and searched out her aura, seeing the ebbs and flows of her aura about herself, and then realization hit him. Ty Lee saw it in his own aura and smiled at him. "You are special to me Naruto, more than most anyone else, and I don't mind having a connection with you, and you know who I am as a person. So how do you feel yourself and what happened between us?" She asked, smiling at the blonde still as he sat there with her considering her words.

How did he feel about her and what they shared? Well, he liked her, but did he actually have any understanding of those emotions? Not really, but what he had with Ty Lee was special, a connection like no other. Their ability to read the other's aura, the influence their presence had on one another, their friendship. But did it mean what he thought it did before? Looking at Ty Lee, she didn't hide her aura from him, she allowed him to see the full span of her aura, and with his own thoughts and what he was seeing...

"We might not be right for a relationship like that, maybe not right now, but that doesn't mean we can't come close and still be open for that someone that we can be right for. After all, it's not like others can share what we do, ya know?" She spoke and he nodded, though a little glum over his realization, he was still happy once she spoke and he could agree to that. Ty Lee was special to him...so special to him that it was painful to him that he was lying to her...

That thought brought him back to the ground, hard. "I... don't think that dating will be a good idea." He said his mood now very sullen.

"Hm? Why is that?" She asked, looking at the blonde.

"Because I wouldn't be able to commit to anything with a girl till I settled down, or she traveled with me." He told Ty Lee who hummed in thought, despite her injury she still seemed chipper as she put a finger to her chin.

"Well it's not dating as if to start a serious relationship Naruto, You're thinking of the whole courting process. This is casual dates for a nice girl and you to have a fun night out with. I mean sure people's parents want them to court rather than date, but what's wrong with just having a fun night out in a town with a girl? Besides its good practice for when you do find the right girl." Ty Lee clarified, now making Naruto think.

"Huh...never thought of it that way." He spoke and she nodded.

"Thought so, you just have to be clear about the details so you don't lead the girl on. Otherwise, you might break her heart, thinking she was lied to and betrayed in the end." She stated and saw Naruto flinch... "Naruto?" She asked, and saw turmoil in his aura. "Naruto, what's wrong?"

"...How long have we known each other now?" He asked.

"Um... five months now I think? Yeah, what about it? She asked. "Does this have anything to do with the turmoil and hesitance in your aura?'" She asked.

"Yeah... I've-"

"Been lying to me?" She asked, looking at Naruto as he snapped his head to her. "We're all entitled to our secrets Naruto. There are things I haven't told you about my self because they're personal to me. Just so long as what you're not telling me won't hurt me, I don't care. Just so long as you accept the same about me, alright?" She asked, giggling slightly at his fish out of water expression.

"...j-just how do you keep doing that?" He asked.

"Hehe, you still have to work on your aura reading skill, ever since you learned how to read aura, you've helped me practice. I can read people much better now, even tell when they're lying to me. Like the only times, you've lied to me is about your home and family, and your skills from before you joined the circus." She stated, making Naruto just blink at her owlishly.

"So...your not mad?" He asked, and she shook her head. He considered this a moment, in fact, he considered everything that happened that day, up till now and then this. "Ty Lee."

"Hm?" She voiced as she adjusted a bit in the cot to look up at him better.

"I.. want to come clean with you. About everything. can I do that? Tell you everything about me, where I come from, why I'm here? Tell you and you never tell another soul about it? ...I- I don't want to feel alone anymore." He stated, looking down at Ty Lee who's eyes widened. She tried to sit up, but grimaced and coughed a bit. "Easy, lay down." He told her, but she looked at him and laid a hand on his as she did, compromising this for the hug she wanted to give him.

"Only if you want to tell me. This is your secret so don't force it, okay?" She spoke and he nodded.

"I do, I do want to tell you, out of everyone I ever knew, I've gotten the closest to you. I want you to know... I'll tell you when we're alone and others can't hear us. Alright?" He asked and she nodded. "Get some rest, I'll be back later."

"Alright...and Naruto. Listen to Ermac, what he said about killing. If you hadn't done that, I might be dead or worse. I'll always be grateful to you for that, so please, don't let it weigh you down." She asked him and he nodded.

"I won't...hey, how'd you know me and Ermac Talked about that?" He asked.

"Because Ermac usually talks to everyone in the troupe who experiences their first kill, being the best fighter and most spiritual out of all of us. He talked to me when I had my first...maybe I'll tell you about it, later on, tonight, alright?" He told him and he nodded. With there farewells taken care of, he left the tent, much lighter than before and looking forward to tonight as much as he was fearful of it. He decided to do this...now to carry through with it.

The others visited Ty Lee, and soon enough life aside from their injured friend as back to normal. The bodies were cleared out and given a proper burial, though anything of value was taken. Naruto got cleaned of any blood that was on him before he threw himself into work to occupy his own mind. Once night set in, he snuck back to the healer's tent, making a shadow clone that Kaihen'd into a small animal to keep watch. Inside he saw Ty Lee reading something to keep her occupied, but hearing noise she turned and saw him, smiling at him.

"You're back."

"I did say I would. Here." He pulled out a small bag an handed her a red bean bun, making her smile as she took it. "I know they might not say sweets if good for you while your healing, but I figured being stuck and hurting you should get something for your trouble."

"Mmmm, thanks, Naruto." She said as she ate her sweet treat. Once she finished she wiped her mouth and looked to Naruto. "So...you wanted to tell me something?"

"Yeah. This is going to take a while."

"I have time." She said, motioning to her body under the cover.

"True," Thus, he started from the beginning, speaking his life story to her, from the beginning, explaining about his world, Konoha, what he was, is, chakra, and everything else. He ended his talk several hours later about the ruins he and Jiraiya found, the ring, the lion turtle, and how he has to get back home, then the circus. He told her about his nightly training sessions, what the clones could do, everything. Not a single thing was skipped, and to prove it, he made a clone to sit there with him, who was also talking, before it dispelled when they finished. After he was finished, she looked at him with her eyes wide, but not disbelieving or like he was crazy just stunned. "Ty Lee?" He asked.

"So...you have been spirited away from your world, and you need to find a ring that will be with people or in places that are spiritually strong, in order to get back home...to a place that abused you and people that hated you?" She asked and he flinched. "Naruto, if your home village treated you so poorly, then why go back?" She asked him honestly.

"Because there are a precious few who live there, and I've made promises to some of them...My promises are the things I will always keep... I can't even think to break them. Not once." He stated, and she sighed, looking at the boy in front of her that she honestly could say she cared for greatly, more than just friends, and just a step away from something higher than that.

"Well...I know you're not lying to me now. So you really are one of them, like the legends and myths say, a lost spirit from another plane... No wonder you're weird." She remarked with a grin.

"Hey-!?" He was silenced when she reached forward with her arm and put a finger to his lips.

"But I still like you just the same...thank you for trusting me with this. I promise to keep this secret." She told him, making him fluster before he looked at her with a smile. However, he wasn't prepared for when her hand went to his cheek and gently pulled her to him, he followed so as not to make her strain herself, then finding himself in another kiss with the now injured acrobat. The kiss was much easier to fall into this time and not shocked by it, he could enjoy it fully. They separated a time after, both blushing and all smiles. He took his seat again after a while and coughed a moment.

"Thanks...so you don't have any questions?" He asked, trying to finish their conversation or get it back on track at least.

"Oh, I do. But I don't think slamming you with one question after another is a good idea. But I am curious...your chakra, you've been teaching me to use chi the same way you use chakra right?" She asked and he nodded, that was something else, in exchange for her teaching him aura reading he was teaching her energy control, she was learning how to use chi for enhancement the same way he did for chakra, and it was having some degree of success. "Then can you teach me to use chakra?" She asked and he blinked.

"Ugh...I'm not sure I could. We could try. From what the Lion Turtle Chen taught me, Chi is a combination of physical and spiritual energy, while in my case, Chakra is a combination of Physical and mental energy. They're two different energies by that point. But still, we can try." He stated and she smiled at him.

"Great! With chakra and those walking techniques I can enhance my act to new levels!" She spoke with stars in her eyes that made Naruto chuckle. Honestly, Ty Lee could be just adorable. "Well... once I recover that is." She pouted as she deflated a bit noticing her injuries.

"Once your recover. But if you can use chakra, all the better because it'll actually enhance your healing too." He told her and she cheered up a bit with that. "But if we're going to train you in chakra, I won't be holding back anymore Ty Lee since I don't have to keep it a secret from you anymore. Can you handle my training?" He asked with a smug grin.

"I'll handle it and more. No problem." She fired his own words back at her and he couldn't help but keep his grin up.

"You're the one that said it. Not me." He fired back himself. They stayed silent a few moments before they both burst out laughing. They stopped after a while and just smiled broadly at each other. "It feels nice, having you know my secret now." He told her and she hummed in agreement.

"It's nice for you to trust me like this. And since you trusted me, I want to trust you now." She spoke, looking up at Naruto.

"I'm all ears." He spoke and she giggled.

"Well, it has to do with my family and friends, you see..." She started before divulging her own secrets, why she left home, her closest friends and just who Ty Lee was as a person. A fire nation noble who was personal friends with another noble and the fire nation princess herself. She looked up at Naruto, who just blinked down at her.

"Wow...I got the first kiss of a noble girl." Was his first words and she pouted before slapping his arm weakly. He chuckled before wrapping his hand around hers holding it tightly. "It doesn't matter where you're from or who you are related to or friends with. You're Ty Lee, my most special person in either world and that won't change."

"Not until you meet that special someone who will love you completely." She corrected and he just huffed a bit.

"I thought you did love me." He spoke in mock hurt and she slapped his arm again.

"Of course I do, but we both know better now what type of love that is, and how it works between us now. The advantages of aura and being able to see it clear as day." She plainly stated and he sighed.

"Yeah, I know...just why do emotions have to be complicated and simple at the same time?" He asked and she shrugged, though grunted a bit as the action shifted her a bit.

"Dunno. But I like where I'm at right now, and we're still going to set you up for dates." She made her point clear by pointing up at him.

"Why? I'm not going to be in this world forever." He told her, confused.

"Did I say settle down? I explained it to you already, this is casual dating, not courting. You let me handle it at first, just enjoy it until you pick it up on your own." She promised with a smug grin and he sighed.

"I'm not getting out of this am I?" He asked and she shook her head.

"What's my aura say?" She asked and he sighed again, much to her amusement. "Hey, Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"If you're still around, then when it comes a time, can you help me out with my own relationship problems. I really want it to work out but I'm not sure if I can do it on my own." She confided and he tightened the grip of his hand on hers.

"Of course. Just say the who, what, when and where and I'll figure out the how." He claimed and she giggled before nodding, she pulled his hand a bit and he leaned so she could kiss his whisker mark making him shiver.

"Thanks, Naruto... Go on back to our tent. We can talk later. With me out of commission for a while, you'll probably have to take my place in the acts from now on. So be prepared for when Chon comes to ask you to do that." She stated and he nodded. Getting up, he leaned over and kissed her forehead, making her blush a bit and he just smiled before heading out of the healer tent. His clone dispelled and lucky, no one came. Getting to their shared tent he settled down on his hammock and feeling more at ease than he had in years, fell asleep easily.

Just like she said he would Chon came and asked if he could take over her act while she was recovering and he agreed, but only until she was completely healed, which he agreed to easily. He'd make his first performance during their first show in their Fire Nation tour, about 3-4 solid weeks from now after their last week here, breaking down camp and getting passage across the sea to the fire nation or a fire nation ship.

After that, it was business, as usual, going through the routine of work, practice, performance with the other acrobats and so on, though he cut time out to always go see Ty Lee to keep her company. Things between him and Ty Lee became closer to their secrets now shared, and their...relationship, now open though no one in the circus dares try to define what Naruto and Ty Lee were to each other as they didn't give any straight answers, and their public affection didn't help matters, which may have been more for their own amusement. A few days later Ty Lee was allowed to rest in her own tent. Though it was awkward as he tried to help her when she needed anything, like bandages, bathing and all that, much to their own embarrassment, she didn't like being alone in the healer tent all day.

Under Ty Lee's tutelage again, though just her eye and words, he was branching out to explore other areas of acrobatics, balancing, tightrope, swing, aerial stunts, even the standing high pole, contortion and other skills that he hadn't trained yet that weren't apart of her regular act. He could do most of these things with some skill already, but she wanted him to be at his best, and once she was recovered, she'd have to get back into the swing of things with him. Their time in the Fire Nation was going to be memorable, that was for sure.