Bodyguard of Azula

by Deus Swiftblade

Naruto is banished from Konoha but gives them the slip and boards a ship. Soon after, he is shipwrecked on Ember island and is saved by Azula. Three years later, Naruto is Azula's bodyguard while she hunts for the Avatar, but did he see the last of Konoha?

4. Memories and Questions

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Last Airbender

Bodyguard of Azula

Chapter 4: Memories and Questions

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Bijū/ spirit talking"

"Bijū/ spirit talking"

(Location: Konoha)

Both Team Asuma and Team Guy stood in the Hokage's Office, having gotten the request to come urgently. Tsunade looked at them from where she sat. "I'm grateful that you all got here quickly." She said to them.

"What's the problem, Lady Tsunade?" Azuma asked. Even though he and his team had been summoned right away, he remained relaxed. To him, this was just another mission.

"As you all very well know, a month ago Team Kurenai set sail for what we have always known as the Bending Countries. They were given an A-rank mission to protect someone." She began to explain.

"We know that part." Chōji said, remembering seeing that team off. "So why did you call for us?"

"When they met up with the person and his group, they were going to rescue a friend from out of a city by trading him for someone else." She sighed before continuing. "When they went to do the trade, they encountered Naruto Uzumaki." She watched as everyone digested the information.

As she did, she remembered what had happened when the Fire Daimyo arrived at Konoha. She had sent a messenger hawk to him just before he left the capital for Konoha. She requested that when he arrived at the village, he order an investigation into Naruto Uzumaki. When he arrived at Konoha, the Fire Daimyo did just that (which, admittedly, she found odd at first. The Daimyo had always stalled and delayed when it came to things like that). He ordered that everything about the young shinobi was to be looked into. That meant his records were to be studied and interviews of people who knew him were to be made (with the exception of Team 7, as those would probably be biased). The entire process took about two weeks, during which it was discovered that the records for each mission Naruto was on were falsified. They were made to look as if Naruto did little on the mission while Sasuke took most of the credit. The men the Fire Daimyo had put onto the investigation brought this to the attention of Tsunade, who immediately called a council meeting and had asked that the Daimyo attend.

When the council meeting began, she told both the Shinobi council and the Civilian council about the falsified records before demanding that the Civilian council explain their actions. They objected, saying that she had no way of proving that they had actually falsified the records. That was when she pulled out her trump card. She showed them the mission record for her retrieval. It stated that Naruto was attacked and knock unconscious by two Akatsuki members. They would have taken him away had it not been for the intervention of Jiraiya and Sasuke. After chasing the two away, the three of them continued looking for Tsunade. As they did that, Jiraiya had taught Sasuke the Rasengan while doing nothing to help Naruto. The record continued on like that, praising Sasuke while barely mentioning Naruto,

When she had finally finished reading, Tsunade told them that she remembered that mission differently. She remembered Sasuke being sent back to the village after being injured and that it was Naruto trying to learn the Rasengan. She also told them that no shinobi was stupid enough to tamper with a mission record that dealt with a potential Hokage. She then ordered the ANBU in the room to bind the Civilian council. Once they were bound, she ordered Inoichi and the members of his clan who were there to read their minds. He did so and the end result was discovering that not only had they falsified the records, they had bribed the teachers of the Academy to torment and ignore Naruto as well as tamper with his grades (the only teacher who refused to take a bribe was Iruka Umino). As soon as Inoichi reported this, Tsunade stripped the councilmen of their positions and status with the full backing of the Fire Daimyo. New council members would be picked out later, once everything had settled down. Later, the Fire Daimyo officially declared that the ruling for Naruto's banishment was void because of the Civilian council's blatant hatred for the young shinobi and their falsification of his records.

After the Fire Daimyo and his entourage had left the village, Tsunade brought the Konoha Eleven to the hospital. She took them to a file room, leaving the door open behind them. She took a file off the shelves and put it on the table in front of them. She told them that they wouldn't leave the room until they had read every single file, if it took more than a day, food and drink would be delivered to them. She walked out the door, closed it, and locked it. Not understanding why she had done this, they decided to start reading the file in front of them.

However, they discovered that the file was about an incident where Naruto had been attacked while on his way to the Academy. He was left with two broken arms and a broken leg. They remembered that day. Naruto had arrived late that day and the teacher had yelled at him for that. As punishment, he made Naruto do a hundred push-ups and if he stopped for any reason he had to start over again. Sakura, Ino, Kiba and Sasuke with the rest of the class had laughed at him as he tried to do the push-ups but kept collapsing, the others just ignored him.

After reading that file, they were sick to their stomach but they just grabbed another file, thinking that the first one was the only one on Naruto. It didn't take them long to find out that all the files were of Naruto and this was a big room. It took them a week to read all of the files. When they had been let out of the room, the first thing they did was rush to the bathrooms and throw up. After that was done, they went straight to Tsunade and demanded why she had made them read all of those files.

"So that you could glimpse at the hell that boy has been through." She answered. She then told what had really happened to the Kyūbi the day he attacked Konoha. After that explanation, the Konoha Eleven made it a priority to find Naruto every time they went on a mission. They were going to bring their teammate and friend back.

"What happened?" Shikamaru asked, bringing her attention back to the present and the group in front of her. "Did he join with Team Kurenai?"

"Come on, Shikamaru, it's Naruto we're talking about here. Of course he joined them." Ino told her teammate.

"YOSH! Ino is most correct. Naruto would've rejoined with his comrades and tried to youthfully rescue their friend!" Guy cried out.

"I agree with Guy-sensei, Naruto definitely would've tried to join with Team Kurenai, especially if Lady Hinata was there." Neji stated. It seemed like the thing the blonde would do when he met them. Now, they would probably see him once Team Kurenai came back.

While everyone began to agree with Neji said, Tsunade stayed silent. "…He didn't join them, did he?" Shikamaru finally asked, silencing everyone else in the room. They all stared at her, silently hoping that wasn't the case.

She sighed, knowing what came would shock and stun them. "The Bending countries have been in a war for the past century. It was instigated by one of the countries, called the Fire Nation, when they completely annihilated another of the countries, the Air Nomads." Everyone was indeed shocked by what she told them, but she didn't stop. "Apparently, their motive for this was to prevent the rebirth of someone called the Avatar."

"I'm guessing that the Avatar survived?" The Nara clan heir asked her.

"Yes, the report states that the Avatar fled the Air Temple where he had lived when he learned he was to be taken away. He was caught in a storm in the middle of the ocean and encased himself in an iceberg. He stayed that way for a hundred years."

"I know this is relative to the mission that they were on, but what's have to do with Naruto?" Asuma asked. He couldn't see how all of this would be relevant.

"When they went to go to the trade, they met up with the other party. The other party consisted of the Fire Nation princess, her two friends…and her bodyguard: Naruto Uzumaki." The words came out easily enough, but they still hurt.

The expression on everyone's face was obvious: denial, complete and utter denial. "That can't be right! Naruto is not so unyouthful that he would join with that kind of country!" Lee argued. The blonde would've joined with Team Kurenai to fight against the Fire Nation

"Lee's right! We're talking about Naruto. He would never join the Fire Nation, not of his own free will." Tenten said. She was sure that he must've been brainwashed or something.

Tsunade shook her head, silently telling them they were all wrong. "Not only did he join the Fire Nation of his own free will, he's been fighting in their war for three years now." She continued, further crushing their hopes.

"I take it that Team Kurenai tried to get him to come back?" Shikamaru didn't like where this was going, but the questions had to be said.

"They did and he refused. They tried to take him by force."

"What happened?" Chōji asked, despite not wanting to hear the answer. The question came out involuntarily.

"He defeated them easily. He broke through a B-ranked Genjutsu and took out Kurenai with a single punch, as well as Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino." The Hokage told them.

"What about Lady Hinata?" Neji demanded. She didn't mention his cousin and that worried him.

"She also tried to attack him but from what the report says, he didn't fight back until he distracted her. He grabbed her by the neck and threatened to kill her if they continued to fight. To make his point clear, he stabbed her in the stomach and formed a Rasengan, threatening to use it on her face. Needlessly to say, afterwards the trade negotiations fell through and Team Kurenai with their charges had to leave the city and the surrounding areas." She answered, making him angry.

"So you called us in to have us help out Kurenai's team." Asuma said, figuring out why she called them in. He also realized that what they heard just now was relevant.

"Yes, I'm upgrading this mission to S-rank and I'm sending you all to help Team Kurenai. Your primary mission is to help with the protection of the Avatar. Your secondary mission is to try and locate Naruto Uzumaki." She said to all of them.

"Is anything else we should know about Naruto?" Guy asked her.

"According to Hinata, his chakra control was so strong and controlled that she could not see it unless he had used a jutsu."

"That should be impossible." Neji objected. There was no way that the Naruto he fought could've managed to get that much control over his chakra in just three years.

"Lady Hokage," Shikamaru spoke. "The Rasengan that Naruto created during the fight, did he create a clone to help make it?"

"No, he formed the Rasengan with only one hand." She answered him. Her answer made everyone minus the Nara clan heir look at her with surprise.

"Then I think it's safe to say that his chakra control has at least improved." He commented to himself.

While everyone thought that over (trying to believe it), Ino asked a question. "Shouldn't Lord Jiraiya be able to track Naruto via the Toads?"

Tsunade shook her head. "He tried as soon as the banishment was declared void and repelled. He asked the Toads to Reverse-Summon Naruto to Mt. Myōboku. When they attempted to do it, it was revealed that, somehow, Naruto had put a Block on his name in the Summoning Scroll."

"A Block?" repeated Tenten. "What's that?"

"A Block is something someone with Summon Contract uses when he doesn't want to be found but still be able to contact them. To put simply, the only time the Toads will be able to find and/or Reverse-summon Naruto is if he summons them first and if he stays in the same area." She explained. While she knew the principles behind a Block, she had never used it herself.

"And he hasn't summoned them in over three years and possibly will be constantly on the move." Shikamaru noted. So there went the option of using the Toads.

"That's all the information I have for you. While you are out looking for Naruto, be sure to also look for intelligence on him." She told them all. "Now, I want you all to reconvene here in twenty minutes so that you'll be able to reach the Bending Countries."

"But Lady Tsunade, it took Team Kurenai a month at sea to get there. How are we supposed to get there without leaving the village?" Ino protested.

"We have already figured out a way. We have recently place a seal in the mission records room. The seal allows messages from far away, such as other countries across the sea, to come in quickly. If we add enough chakra to the seal, we'll be able to send you all through to Kurenai and her team. Dismissed!" barked Tsunade. They all left the room, except for one person. "What is it, Guy?" She asked the spandex-wearing shinobi.

"Why wasn't Team Kakashi notified about this?" He asked in return.

"Why do you think?"

"Lady Tsunade, they should at least be told. This is their teammate we're talking about and―"

"And that is exactly why Team Kakashi wasn't notified." She cut him off. "The primary mission is to protect the Avatar, not find Naruto. If they had the chance to abandon the Avatar and go after Naruto, you and I both know they would do so in a heartbeat." Guy remained silent, so she continued. "It's for the best, Guy, now go pack for the mission. Also, you are not to tell anyone else about this conversation." He nodded once and left the room. Tsunade leaned back in her chair and sighed. "How long were you listening, Jiraiya?" was the question she asked aloud, looking up at the ceiling.

The air besides the window twisted and shimmered, revealing Jiraiya standing there. "Since you said that he was the bodyguard to a princess," He answered.

"How is it that he kept up with his training? There are no shinobi in the Bending Countries!" She demanded, looking over the part of Team Kurenai's fight against him. The report had been on her desk the entire time in plain view.

"My spy network is only in the Elemental Countries, but I think I know who taught the gaki." He said in reply, looking at the report in general.

"Who is it?" Tsunade demanded.

"You know as well as I do. There's only one who could've taught him."

Tsunade's eyes went wide at the thought. "How would the Kyūbi be able to teach Naruto anything?" The last time she had checked (which was, admittedly, three years ago), the Bijū would look for the slightest opportunity to get free.

"He was sealed inside your grandmother and Kushina. He was bound to pick up a few things over time." He told her. The Toad Sage was certain the fox knew to properly train Naruto just from the stuff he knew.

"It was probably more than a few things." She commented and he agreed.

"If Naruto was taught by the Kyūbi during three years of war…" Jiraiya left the sentence hanging but both of them shared the same thought. "Dear Kami, he'd be a shinobi that hasn't been seen since the Shodaime Hokage and Madara Uchiha during the Clan Wars."

(Location: Earth Kingdom town)

Zuko glared at the swordsman that was walking away from them. "I hate him." He growled, his fists tightening. He wanted to get up and teach that arrogant ass a proper lesson in swordsmanship.

"Hatred is something that should not be given lightly, nephew." Iroh told him. "That man did nothing to you, so you have no reason to hate him."

He shook his head. "You misunderstood, uncle. I don't hate him in particular. I hate his kind."

"His…kind?" asked a somewhat mystified Iroh. He had never really heard his nephew speak like that.

Zuko nodded. "The kind of people who think they're invincible and can do whatever they want if they have a sword in their hand. The novices who think they're masters just because they know a complicated technique." He took a breath to calm himself. "They're just amateurs, the lot of them. That guy included."

Iroh looked interested. "How is that man an amateur?" He had thought the man was quite competent.

"He had no stance to speak of and only knew how to swing back and forth. He felt the need to attack you just so he could show off." He listed the fact off with his fingers.

"Zuko, if I had just met you as a stranger and heard what you've just said, I would've thought you were a swordsman rather than a Firebender." Iroh praised him, very impressed by what he said.

"…Thank you, uncle." He felt a small amount of pride at those words. He hadn't been praised much for anything before.

"I never did find out how you took an interest in swords." All he knew was that his nephew had just one day started using them.

Zuko looked out at the town as he remembered that day. "Naruto talked me into it."

(Flashback)

Zuko stood on the family beach, panting in exhaustion. Hearing footsteps on the sand, he turned around and Naruto coming towards him. "Hey Zuko!" greeted the blonde.

"What do you want?" He growled. He was trying to train and his irritation was evident in his voice.

"What's the matter?" Naruto asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Nothing's the matter." He replied, trying to focus on what he was doing. But that was a little hard with him right there.

"Right, that's why you're standing on a deserted beach, panting in exhaustion. You've been practicing your Firebending again, haven't you?"

"What's it to you?! You're not even a Firebender, so why should you wonder whether I'm practicing my Firebending or not?!" The prince of the Fire Nation yelled at him, his temper snapping.

"Alright, no need to bite or burn my head off." He held his hands up in surrender. He didn't want to make what was going on worse.

Zuko took a breath. "Sorry, I'm just mad." He apologized, trying to calm himself down by slowly breathing in and out.

"What happened?" The blonde asked him.

"Azula decided to get all the kids on the island together and have a Firebending contest. Every time I tried to do what she did, I failed and got laughed at as a result." He explained. As he did, the memories of that contest came back, sharply reminding him of how he kept failing.

"So they basically called you a dobe?"

"…Yeah." He didn't want to admit it, but it was pretty much the truth.

"Oh don't let that get you down, Zuko." Naruto put an arm around him, a cheerful smile on his face. "While you could be a dobe in one thing, you could also be a genius in another."

He was confused by that. "What are you talking about?" He asked, wanting an explanation.

"Why don't you try something that isn't Firebending?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know." The blonde's face had a look of extreme concentration. "Why don't you try swords?"

"Swords?" asked Zuko. Why would he try to use swords?

"Yeah, try using a sword."

"And where am I going to find a teacher to show me how to use one?" He asked with sarcasm lacing his voice.

"Actually, I think I saw a guy with a sword the next beach over. Come on, you could ask him to help you!" Naruto grabbed his hand and raced off, bringing Zuko along for the ride.

(End Flashback)

"After that, he dragged me over to where the swordsman was and I introduced myself to Master Piandao. He seemed curious when I asked if he could show me how to use a sword. He decided to teach me swordsmanship and I took to his teachings like a turtle-duck to water." Zuko finished his story.

"I see, so that is why you detest the swordsmen like that man." Iroh said. It would make sense, considering who his nephew learned from. Zuko simply nodded, staring in the direction the swordsman went.

(Location: Azula's group)

"Okay, people, the rest period's over." Naruto stated as he stood on the edge of the hill.

"Could we please take it slow this time, Naruto?" Ty Lee asked with a whine. They had been riding hard all day and she was sure her whole backside was sore.

"Yeah, I'm not one for killing our rides." Mai stated as she looked at her mongoose dragon. The creature had gotten its breath back, but it still looked tired.

"Fine." answered Naruto both with annoyance and exasperation.

"Oh, relax. It's not a fate worse than death." Azula told him as she got into her saddle.

"Look, I'm just trying to make sure we stay with the Avatar. The last sighting we had was that the sky bison flying towards a giant swamp, which was four hours ago. Plus I'm going as fast as the mongoose dragons are and I'm not breaking a sweat." He told them.

"Then it won't hurt to slow down. We're at the swamp's edge so we have to move slower now." She said in reply.

"As you wish," He told her with resignation in his voice. "Lead on, Princess." They proceeded into the swamp.

(Location: Aboard Appa)

They flew across the giant swamp. On board, everyone was doing their own thing. Aang was steering, both Katara and Sokka were reading a Waterbending scroll, Akela was sleeping against Sokka's side and Momo was looking over the edge of the saddle. Both Kurenai and Hinata were doing the same thing, only they were looking for anything that could attack them. Shino was meditating and Kiba was double-checking his equipment while Akamaru watched the clouds. Aang stared at the swamp below. He couldn't exactly say what it was, but something was trying to talk to him and it was coming from below.

Sokka stop reading as he noticed something. "Hey, are you taking us down for a reason?" He asked Aang, looking over at him. The Air Noad said nothing, he just kept looking down. "Aang!" called Sokka, finally getting his attention. "Why are we going down?"

"What?" Aang asked. "I didn't even notice." Then he realized that Appa was indeed going down.

"Are you noticing now?" The Tribesman asked him, sarcasm out in full force.

"Is something wrong?" Katara asked as she and Hinata joined Sokka.

"I know this is going to sound weird but…I think the swamp is calling to me." Aang told them.

"Is it telling you where we can get something to eat? Because I'm hungry." said Kiba. The only thing he really had to eat was soldier pills and those weren't snacking material.

"No, I…I think it wants us to land there."

"No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land there to land on." Sokka told him. All he could see were either trees or the swamp water beneath the trees.

'I don't know. Bumi said to learn Earthbending I would have to wait and listen. And now I'm actually hearing the earth, do you want me ignore it?" He asked them.

Hinata activated her Byakugan. "I'm not seeing any chakra signals down there." She announced. The canopy was making it a little difficult, but she couldn't see anything that had a chakra signature.

"Perhaps it is best if we keep going." Kurenai suggested.

Akela woke up, took one look over the edge of the saddle and then looked at Sokka, giving him a look that asked why they were going down. The Tribesman could only shrug his shoulders in response. "Okay, if it's such a bad idea." Aang said. "Bye, swamp." He yip-yipped Appa into flying higher in the sky, making them go farther. As they flew away, they heard something coming up behind them.

Kiba took a look behind and then quickly whipped his head back around. "I don't want to cause panic, but there is a tornado right behind us!" He all but shouted at them

Sokka looked to double-check. "Aang, throw in another yip. We gotta move!" He told the Airbender. They tried to out fly the thing but it kept getting closer and closer to them. Soon enough, it was so close that it began to pull Akela in. Sokka quickly grabbed onto his wolf's hind legs but was also pulled off the saddle. His feet were grabbed both Kiba and Shino. As they tried to bring them back down, Akela turned his head and looked back at them. Sokka immediately knew that look. "Now is not the time for you to fart in my face, Akela!" He warned.

Seeing the danger his friends were in, Aang quickly jumped into the saddle and bent together a big sphere of air that encompassed Appa entirely. While both Sokka and Akela landed safely in the saddle, Appa flew into the tornado. Aang did his best to hold the sphere together, but the twisting fury of the tornado as well as the difficulty of holding that big of an air sphere together, made him lose his concentration. The air sphere collapsed and everyone went flying. The humans and one animal went one way; the rest of the animals went another.

Thankfully the humans managed to land in the drink (if water in a swamp can qualify as that). Aang managed to on his feet while the others did not. "Where are Appa and Momo?" He asked, taking a quick look around.

"And where's Akela?" Sokka asked as he looked around as well. Both of them were worried.

"Hey, have you've seen Kiba?" Hinata asked.

"No need to worry, I'm right here." Kiba announced as he lay in the water with his partner right on top of him. "Did you really have to land on me, Akamaru?" The dog barked in the affirmative. "Then please get off."

(Location: Azula's group)

"Hey, did you guys hear that?" Ty Lee asked them as they traveled through the swamp.

"Hear what?" Mai asked, completely bored. Once they had gotten into the swamp, all she saw was tree, water, roots, and more trees.

"It sounded like something crashed." It was faint and a little far off, but she had heard it all the same.

"Ty Lee, what could've crashed in the middle of a gigantic swamp?" Azula asked her, exasperation filling her voice.

"Well, let's see…" Naruto began, lifting his hand to count on his fingers.

"It was a rhetorical question, Naruto." She told him, now annoyed.

"I know." He replied as he counted off the number of things that could crash in a swamp.

"Then why are you still counting?"

"Because I like riling you up, it's a perk of being your bodyguard." He grinned at her, prompting her to throw a fireball at him, which he avoided by ducking. "But in all seriousness, right now, there is only one thing I can think of that could've crashed." He became serious as he looked at Azula, putting his hand down. "And that's a sky bison."

She nodded in agreement. "Let's keep moving." She ordered. They continued to travel deeper into the swamp, now aware of the fact that their target must be close by.

(Location: Appa's group)

Appa was currently caught in a big tangle of vines. Both Akela and Momo were still in the saddle. Hearing Appa's cries of frustration, the flying lemur hopped out of the saddle and began to chew through the vines. After getting through a few of them, the sky bison was free but was caught by surprise by gravity and fell to the water below. After landing with a splash that got everyone wet, and after everyone shook their fur dry, Appa took off. But again, he got caught again in a tangle of vines. As Momo chewed the vines, Akela was on his stomach, covering his eyes with his paws. He then proceeded to, somehow, tell Appa off.

(Location: Aang's group)

Aang had disappeared into the trees to see if there was any sign of the other animals. While everyone else waited below in the water, Katara noticed something on her brother. "Sokka, you've got an elbow leech." She told him.

Sokka freaked out. "WHERE?! WHERE?!" He whipped his head around frantically trying to find it.

"Where do you think?" She asked him sarcastically. Sure enough, it was on his elbow.

"Why do things keep attaching to me?!" he demanded as pulled the leech off and threw it away.

"Akamaru now is not the time to look for lunch." Kiba warned his dog as he became interested in the leech.

Aang flew back down on a vine. "You couldn't find them?" Katara asked as he landed in the water.

"No." He answered as he landed. "And the tornado…it just disappeared."

Feeling a presence, they all looked towards the swamp, like something was beckoning them to go deeper. "Let's keep moving." Kiba said before taking out a kunai and began to hack through some nearby vines.

"Maybe we should be a little nicer to the swamp." Aang suggested. He had a bad feeling what the Inuzuka was trying was not a good idea.

"What do you want me to do? Say please and thank you as I cut through them?" He asked sarcastically as he continued hacking away.

"Kiba, maybe you should listen to Aang. Something about this place feels…alive." Katara said. She could feel…something around them.

"You've got a point." Sokka told her. "But we also have to find Appa if we don't want end as something's dinner." He pulled out his machete and began helping Kiba cut a path through the vines. They soon began to make headway into the swamp. But as they went deeper and deeper in, they still didn't have any luck finding Appa and the others. After a while, it began to grow dark in the swamp until night had finally fallen. "Appa! Momo!" Katara called out as they walked along a giant tree root.

"Akela, you out there?" Sokka yelled as well. But they didn't get an answer.

"There is no way they can hear us or see us. It's the same for us." Kiba told them.

"That's easy for you to say. You've got Akamaru." Sokka pointed out. He then sighed. It was too dark to see anything now. "Look, let's just make camp for the night." They heard something pop and saw a small plume of smoke coming up from the water.

"What was that?" Katara asked in a nervous voice.

"It's just swamp gas." Sokka pointed out before they all inadvertently smelled said gas. Needless to say, it didn't smell good. They heard something that was the rough equivalent of a banshee shrieking. After jumping together and holding each other (while Team Kurenai looked like they were ready to fight), they noticed that said shrieking was coming from a small fat bird. "I think we should build a fire." The Tribesman stated before heading over to some smaller roots and began hacking off parts.

"Sokka, the longer we're here, the more I think you shouldn't be doing that." Aang told him. It felt wrong to let that happen.

"Do you have any better ideas?" He asked. "If it helps you sleep tonight, just think that I asked the swamp and it said that it was fine." The answer he got from Aang was a scowl.

Soon enough, they had a fire going in the remains of a big, hollow tree trunk. The trunk help keep the heat from the fire contained, keeping them warm. "Does anyone else get the feeling that we're being watched?" Katara asked after she had briefly looked out at the swamp. She had that niggling feeling at the back of her head that was telling her that they were being watched.

"Come on, we're all alone out here." Kiba told her. He started swatting at a fly that was buzzing around his head. The fly then flashed a huge light in front of their faces. It temporarily blinded them while also waking up every animal that were in the surrounding trees.

"Except for them," Aang stated as he looked at how many eyes were watching them.

"Kiba, please stop talking." Shino told his teammate.

"Yeah, I'm done." He agreed.

(Location: Appa's group)

The swamp was full of noises that kept Momo awake, while both Appa and Akela were sound asleep. Momo kept scurrying back and forth across Appa, making his own noise and trying to make the noises stop. Finally, the noises got so loud, they woke up Appa and he gave off a roar that was the equivalent of a man yelling "WOULD YOU SHUT THE HELL UP?!" out a fourth story window in the middle of the night at loud people. The noises decided to stop after that.

(Location: Azula's group)

"Finally, time to sleep!" Ty Lee said as she lay down on the tree root. Traveling through the swamp at a quicker pace had made her backside feel even worse. When she got off her mongoose dragon, she felt stiff as a board.

The girls all took to their bed rolls, happy to sleep. As she got into her bed roll, Azula noticed Naruto was still watching the swamp. "Naruto, nothing will attack us." She told him. They had made camp on a root that was big enough to hold them all and high enough so that no one was in danger of rolling directly into the water (they had to fall first).

"You don't know that." He told her. He knew nothing about this place and that made him nervous. Lack of information about something could get people killed (a fact that he knew all too well, having lost soldiers that way whenever he was put in the midst of the war).

"You're right, but I do know that no creature will attack us if the fire is going. And we've put a good amount of sticks on and around the fire. So just go to sleep." She ordered.

"That fire will run out eventually."

"Just go to sleep, Naruto." She repeated her order, her voice already getting slurred with sleep.

He sighed as he watched her fall asleep. "I might as well." He laid down against the root/

"Hey kit, just be glad you can willingly be a light sleeper." TheKyūbi told him.

"Years of experience and practice." He told the Bijū silently, lying down so that his face was looking at the fire, and fell asleep.

"Yeah…I know." Kyūbi thought to himself. He was to blamed for that.

(Location: Aang's group)

Aang, Sokka and Katara slept back-to-back-to-back while Kiba, Shino, Hinata and Kurenai slept by themselves, Akamaru sleeping next to Kiba. The fog had seemed to grow thicker as they slept and from the fog, came vines.

The vines slowly crept up to the group and began to wrap around them. When the vines had wrapped the group so that they couldn't get loose, it gave them a rude awakening by dragging them into the fog.

Sokka reacted immediately by whipping out his machete and stabbing it into the root underneath him. Katara and Hinata were dragged off together while Aang and Kurenai were dragged off together in a different direction. The same went for Kiba, Shino and Akamaru.

Sokka cut himself loose from the vines and stood up. He looked around nervously to see where the vines were coming from. They suddenly appeared in front and tried to grab him. He turned around and began to run but a trip sent him crashing down the root and into the water. He then ran off to avoid the vines that were still coming after him.

Both Katara and Hinata were struggling against the vines that had them. Managing to get a hand near her water pouch, she quickly bent the water to slice the vines off, allowing her to get free. She fended off the vines while also freeing Hinata. Once the both of them were free, they ran off into the fog. Both Kiba and Shino had managed to grab hold of a kunai and started cutting off pieces of the vines. After freeing Akamaru, they also ran deeper into the fog, trying to get away from them all.

Aang and Kurenai were tied together and were trying to break free. After managing to get his hands loose, Aang bent the air that was between him and Kurenai and the vines to form an air sphere, thus getting them loose from the vines. They took to the trees but a vine had grabbed Aang and dragged him back down to the ground. Kurenai jumped down, grabbed a kunai and cut off the vine while Aang air-blasted the rest of it off his leg. After taking a giant leap, courtesy of an air-blast right beneath them, both Aang and Kurenai landed another root that was a ways away from the campsite. They also realized that they had lost sight of the others. "Guys?" called out Aang as he looked around.

(Location: Azula's group)

The sudden loss of warmth on Naruto's face woke him immediately. He took look at the camp fire and immediately got out of his bedroll. "Everyone, wake up!" He ordered in a loud voice. The three girls began to stir as he started screening the surrounding area.

"What is it, Naruto?" Azula asked, immediately waking up. This wasn't the first time she had heard that loud of voice come from him. When it did, it was always best to follow everything he said.

"The fire is out." He said, answering her question while still looking.

"So? You woke us up because of that?" Mai asked. If one paid attention, one could tell that she was annoyed.

"Look at the fire, Mai." All three of them looked at it. It was out, but only some the sticks were burned. Another thing was the fact the fire pit was completely wet.

"Well, we are in a swamp. Maybe some of the water managed to hit the fire and doused it?" Ty Lee suggested. She knew it was probably wishful thinking, but she could also hope.

"We're on a giant tree root that is about ten feet above the water line. Also if the water managed to douse the fire, there would be a runoff." He pointed out. Before anyone could say anything else, the water below them suddenly surge upwards. Splitting into four different streams, it hit them and forced them off the root, washing away the mongoose dragons in the process. Each of them were pushed deeper into the swamp but in four different directions.

After a while, the four water streams stopped and then fell back into the water below. "Now all I have to do is make sure they find where I live and I'll be satisfied." Someone who had watched the whole thing said as he stepped out of the shadow of a nearby tree, a mad and sadistic grin on his face. He was looking forward to having his…guests for food.

(Location: Katara and Hinata)

"Aang! Sokka!" Katara called out as she and Hinata made their way through the swamp. They had walked through the night, trying to find the others with no success.

"Kiba! Shino! Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata looked around with her Byakugan active, but the surrounding trees somehow made hard for her to actually see anything. "It's no use using it." She muttered to her as she deactivated it.

"Don't worry Hinata, we'll find them." Katara told her before looking out at the swamp. She then saw a person but their back. "Hello? Hello? Can you help us?" She asked as she and Hinata made their way over. As they got closer, she thought the person looked familiar. "Mom?" She asked before finally recognizing who the person was. It was her mother. "Mom!" She cried before running over to her, Hinata behind her. "I can't believe…" But as she grabbed her mother's shoulder and tried to look at her, it turned out that her 'mother' was just a tree stump. Katara knelt down and began to cry, memories of her mother coming back to haunt her.

Hinata watched all of this and was reminded of her own mother. "Kaa-san," She whispered as tears fell from her face as well. The both of them then felt a hand on their shoulder. Turning around they saw Hinata's mother standing behind them. "Kaa-san, is that you?" Hinata asked.

The woman only smiled in response before a small cloud of fog passed in front of her. When it passed, Hinata's mother had disappeared but they could hear her voice saying "Do not worry, it'll be alright."

(Location: Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino)

"Guys! Where are you?" Kiba shouted as he, Akamaru and Shino walked through the swamp. "Are your kikaichū getting anything, Shino?" Despite their best attempts, they couldn't see far ahead, due to a seemingly thin barrier of fog surrounding them.

"No, they can't seem to get past the fog barrier." Shino answered. Every time he tried, they would just come back to him.

Just then, Akamaru went shock still and began to whine. 'What is it, Akamaru?" Kiba asked as he looked in the same direction. What he saw made him go still. "That's not possible." He said before rushing over to a particular tree.

"What is it Kiba?" Shino asked as he followed but when looked in the same direction, he too was shocked.

Standing beneath a gigantic tree was a man. But Kiba knew this man quite well, he just hadn't seen him in a long time. "Dad?" asked Kiba with hope in his voice.

Shino was surprised at what he saw but it something else that his attention. Sitting underneath a different tree, across from Kiba's dad, was a little girl that looked to be about five years. "Shina?" asked Shino.

Both Kiba's dad and the little girl opened their mouths to say something but both Kiba and Shino took that moment to blink. When they opened their eyes again, what they thought were people turned out to be just oddly shaped roots. "You still think about him?" Shino asked after a quiet moment.

"Every day, you?" replied Kiba. He had lost his dad when he had been five. What hurt the most for him about that was he didn't realize it until he had gotten older.

"The same…it's been so long since they left us." He said.

At that point, a gentle wind blew past them. And in that wind, somehow, the three of them then heard the voices of the ghosts saying "We never left you."

(Location: Sokka)

"AANG!" yelled out Sokka as he hacked his way through some vines (the non-moving kind, mind you) "KATARA!" Muttering curses against the swamp and the vines, he continued to forge his own path. As he did, he managed to trip over one of the vines, making him land in the water. After lifting his face out of the water, he noticed a shaft of sunlight and in the middle of that shaft was a vision of Yue. He walked up to her, finding it hard to look away. "I'd like to say that I'm hallucinating or something like that. But I'm not, am I?" He asked her quietly.

"You didn't protect me." The vision told him angrily.

"Only because you didn't let me protect you," He replied. He wanted to, the Spirits know he wanted to protect her. But she had refused (even if she had done it gently, it still hurt).

The anger on her face disappeared. She smiled and floated down, so that it looked like she standing in the water as well. "I know." She told as she cupped her hand to his cheek.

He tried to touch her hand with his own, but it past right through it. He closed his eyes, trying to fight back the tears. When he opened them again, Yue was gone. Just as he was about to continue on, he saw someone out of the corner of his eye. "Who's there?" He demanded as he whipped around. He pulled out his boomerang, ready to fight whoever was there.

A man stood before him, a fellow Tribesman, if the coloring of his clothes were anything to go on. He was older, much older, then Sokka. His build was bulky and muscular, like he had been fighting all his life. He also had the scars to prove it. He wore an eye patch over his right eye and had half of Glasgow smile carved onto his face, on the left side of his mouth. He was bald (whether it was shaved or not was unknown). Strapped to his back was large, double-bladed axe. And hanging in front of his clothes for everyone to see, was the same Paragon Medallion Sokka had. The man seemed to silently study the younger Tribesman before nodding his head once and disappearing into the fog.

"What was that all about?" Sokka briefly wondered before deciding to keep looking for the others. He left the area, hacking apart any vines that stood in his way.

(Location: Aang and Kurenai)

"Katara!" yelled out Aang as he and Kurenai made their way through the swamp. "Appa!"

Kurenai kept looking around for anybody else. "Aang, look over there." She pointed to a large rock that jutted out of the water. On top of the rock were two girls with a boar that had wings. One girl wore a fancy dress while the other wore a formal kimono with a symbol on it (they were too far away to see what the symbol was). The winged boar was standing closer to the girl in the fancy dress then the one in the kimono.

"Hello?" called out Aang. "Who are you two?" The two girls just giggled and took off in different directions while the winged boar just flew off. "Hey! Come back!" He told them as he leapt after the one in the dress while Kurenai chased after the one in the kimono.

While Aang was lead on a weird and direction-confusing chase, Kurenai was able to catch up to her target much faster, using her training to close the distance. "Who are you, what are you doing here?" She demanded as she faced the girl in the kimono. The girl just smiled and slowly walked closer to Kurenai. As she readied herself for a fight, Kurenai saw something that made her eyes go wide. The symbol on the kimono was one she knew: it was the symbol of the Sarutobi clan. "Who are you?" Kurenai asked again, this time with curiosity.

The girl now stood in front of Kurenai. She simply brought her hand up and touched Kurenai's stomach. Though she could see the hand touching her, she couldn't feel it. The girl spoke and what she said floored Kurenai: "…Kaa-san."

Kurenai took a couple of steps in shock. "Kaa-san? What does she mean by…?" Then, it all came back to her.

By the way, my congratulations to you, Kurenai," The blonde said to her.

"Congratulations?" She was suspicious of those words, as she didn't know what he meant.

"When you trapped me in that Genjutsu, I looked for your chakra so I would know where to attack. I was quite surprised when I found you. Now that I think about it, you looked like you're almost glowing. I just surprised that Inu-teme here hasn't figured it out yet."

"If it's true, then who…?" Then she remembered the symbol on the kimono. Suddenly, it was all clear. "Dear Kami, I have to tell him." She thought to herself as she looked down at her stomach.

When she looked back at the girl, she was gone and Aang stood in front of her. "Are you okay, Kurenai?" He asked, openly concerned.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." She answered, not wanting to tell him what she had just learned. "Did you see where they went?" She asked, changing the subject.

He looked around to see if either one of them was nearby. "There's one of them!" He pointed to the girl in fancy dress, who was standing on a nearby tree. She just giggled and ran away. Aang went after her and Kurenai followed.

(Location: Appa's group)

Appa, Momo and Akela watched the humans in the boats that were in front of them. Appa considered getting closer until the tall, thin one in the middle boat said that they were going to be eaten. At that point, the sky bison essentially did a U-turn and started running away. While Momo hung on for dear life, Akela was barking for all his worth. If anyone besides the Inuzuka clan (and Kakashi Hatake) could speak and translate canine, they would tell you basically tell you that the wolf was a back seat driver.

(Location: Ty Lee)

Ty Lee jumped through the trees at a fast pace. She had lost track of where she was and was trying to get back to the campsite. But the water had sent her far away and she was lost. "Where is everyone?" She wondered out loud. She then landed in the water below, the splash echoing all around her. "Mai! Azula! Naruto! Are you guys out there?" She yelled. When she didn't hear an answer, she kept moving forward through the swamp.

She then saw someone standing with their back to her. Ty Lee didn't know how, but she could tell that the person was female. She wore a green kimono that was armored and wore bracers on her arms and a sword on her waist. Her hair was brown and braided into a ponytail. "Uh…excuse me? Do you know where my friends are?" Ty Lee asked as she approached the woman. She didn't know why, but she felt nervous and cautious.

The woman turned around to face Ty Lee. She wore white make-up that covered her face entirely with both red and black accents around her eyes and also wore a metal headdress. She looked at Ty Lee for a moment and then she pointed off to the left. "Thanks!" The acrobat chirped and ran off in the pointed direction. But she stopped as the details of the woman came back to her. Quickly turning back around, she saw that the woman had disappeared. "Was that…me?" She asked. Did she just meet her future self?

"It could be, young lady." A voice from behind her said. Whipping around and being ready to strike, Ty Lee saw an old man facing her. "If you want it to be." He told her. He wore a red gown-like robe that tied off with a white sash. He wore a white coat as well as a white scarf over the robe and a funky looking hat. It was red except for small white part in the front; on the white part was the symbol for fire.

"Who are you?" She asked cautiously.

"Someone who tried to take care of Naruto when he was younger," He answered cryptically. "But I failed." His face grew sad. But a small graced his face as he looked at her. "It's good to know that there are people who still consider him to be a friend. He will need that."

Ty Lee was about to ask more, but then she blinked and the man was gone. Deciding to wonder about him later, she ran off in the direction that was pointed out to her.

(Location: Mai)

Mai walked silently through the swamp, trying to make her way back to the camp. Though she would never tell this to anyone, being alone in the swamp unnerved her. She just felt very small against it all. "Does anyone else live here?" She asked out in a bored but slightly scared voice. "Where are there? I wasn't sent that far away…was I?" She thought. They had been caught off guard by the sudden attack and she wasn't exactly sure how far she went.

She then saw, in the distance, two people standing side-by-side. Not knowing who they were, she walked cautiously to them, quietly fingering a knife. As she approached them, she saw that the man on the right was old while the one on the left was young. Another thing that she noticed about the old man was the fact he wore the headpiece of the Fire Lord. "Excuse me." She called out, the young man turned to face her. He wore a military uniform that she had never seen before. He wore a dark red coat over what seem to be a white uniform that consisted of pants and shirt. The reason she could tell that it was military was because it was crisp and clean, like it was ready for a parade. "Have you seen my friends around?" She asked, her face an emotionless mask. The young man nodded and pointed behind him, in the direction the old man was facing. "Thank you." She took a closer look at the young man. His face looked a little familiar, but she couldn't place it. "So who are you two?" she asked.

The old man turned to face her and Mai took a step back, falling in shock. Standing in front of her, as an old man, was Zuko. She could tell, not just by his scar (even though it was obvious), but by the fact she knew it was his face. Then she realized why the young man looked so familiar. Despite looking a little different, she could see Zuko in the young man. That meant the two of them were related somehow.

As she got up out of the water, she saw that the old Zuko and the young man were gone. "What was that?" She asked out loud, not expecting an answer.

"A possibility," A voice told her. Spinning around and drawing out the knife she had been fingering, she saw someone. Standing on a tree limb above her was a masked person. He wore a short kimono on the outside and shirt-like piece of clothing on the inside as well as split skirt. His hair was long and black but you couldn't see his eyes because his mask hid them so well.

"Who are you?" She asked.

The person reached for the mask and pulled it off, revealing a feminine looking face. "Someone who told him that only when you are protecting someone precious to you is when your true strength is shown." He answered, being cryptic.

"Him?" asked Mai.

The person smiled. "The one who calls you Doom and Gloom." He clarified.

"Naruto," Mai answered with a little annoyance and looked away. She didn't want to think about the blonde at that point, she just wanted to get out of the swamp.

"You know he calls you that to shows he cares about you. He considers you to be one of his precious people."

Mai turned back to look at the person to say something back, but he had disappeared. She shrugged and moved on. She could worry about ghosts who apparently knew Naruto later.

(Location: Azula)

Azula moved through the swamp, wanting to find her friends and get out of there. "Where are they?" She asked to herself as she walked forward, a small feeling of nervousness beginning to build inside her. As she passed by a giant tree, she saw a child standing in the middle of a clearing, the water of the swamp rippling around his knees. The child was crying where he stood, his shoulders shaking with each sob. "Are you okay?" She asked the child. He turned around and she looked at him in surprise. Standing in front of her, complete with whiskers, blue eyes, and blonde hair, was Naruto as a child.

"No! Stay away. I didn't do anything wrong!" He cried as he backed away from her. His eyes were alight with fear and hurt.

"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you!" Azula protested. She might be many things, but a willingness to hurt children was not one of them (even her childhood tortures of her brother were relatively harmless).

"That's what they all say!" He felled to the ground and began to cry again. "What did I do? Am I really a demon? Why do they keep hurting me?" As she watched him weep again,she couldn't take it anymore. She walked up to the child, knelt down, and gave him a hug, holding him tight enough to be comforting. "Let me go!" He protested as he struggled against her grip.

"It's going to be okay, Naruto." She told him, trying to make her voice sound soothing and calming. "It will be alright, no one is going to hurt you."

He finally stopped his struggling and his tears began to dry. "…Thank you." He said. She felt him just disappear from her hug.

She stood up and back away from the spot where he was. "Please great Agni, please tell me that wasn't what I think it was." She begged to herself. She knew that her bodyguard had problems (who didn't?), but she hoped they hadn't been that bad.

"It was." She spun around to where the voice was coming from. Standing in front of her was another surprise.

"N-Naruto?" she asked. The man looked like Naruto, only older and without the whiskers.

The Naruto lookalike shook his head. "No, I'm not him. But I am responsible for the hell he's been through." He told her, his eyes filled with sadness and shame.

"What do you mean 'responsible'?" She didn't like the way that had sounded. It said to her that he had done whatever happened to Naruto on purpose.

But he didn't answer her question. "Your friends are that way." She turned to where he was pointing and then turned back but he had disappeared.

"I should go find everyone else." She ran off in the direction that had been offered. "But I will find out who that man is and his connection to Naruto."

(Location: Naruto)

"Damn it all to Kami and back!" Naruto swore as he leapt through the trees. "I knew that it wasn't going to be that easy for us!" He had separated from the girls and he had no idea where they were. He had also lost his jian, sheath and all, when he was blasted back by the water.

"Don't sell yourself short, kit. You were awake the second the fire went out and became immediately alert." Kyūbi told him.

"And yet, we were still separated! It's my duty to protect them and now, I don't even know where they are!" He was beginning to panic at the thought of not finding them. He had already lost of comrades on the battlefield and off of it (whether it had been from ambushes or their wounds). He couldn't lose Azula and the others.

"Control yourself, Naruto Uzumaki!" The fox barked out like a commander on the field of battle. "What was one of the first things I drilled into your head?" It was vital to remember those lessons, especially now.

Naruto landed on a root of a tree that was almost submerged in the water. "Your emotions do not control you, you control them." He recited. That was a vital lesson, he knew it. It had meant the difference between life and death one too many times.

"You're letting your emotions take control over your actions. Now calm down, take a breath and then start looking for them again."

Naruto did so and began his search again, leaping through the trees. Five minutes later, he spotted someone standing on a root and facing a tree while also standing in its shadow. "Excuse me." He called out as he landed on the root. "Have you seen my friends? There are three of them and they're all girls. One doesn't show emotions, another has a bubbly personality and the third one sometimes acts like she owns the world."

"Sometimes?!" demanded the fox.

"Shut up, furball!" was the order he shouted in return. He really didn't need it right now.

"Your friends are that way." The man pointed off to the right.

"Thanks." He was about to head off but was stopped when the man spoke again.

"Do you know his name?" He asked quietly. The words he spoke

Naruto turned back to look at the man but once again, could only see his back. But this time he could actually see that the man wore a white cloak that had nine magatama in rows of three and what looked to be a sterilized ripple pattern in the shape of an eye. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

His Bijū, on the other hand, was having different thoughts. "Is that who I think it is? But he's dead!" Kyūbi silently thought in disbelief.

"I am here to give you some advice, Naruto Uzumaki." The man said to the blonde. "No matter how hard you run or fight against it, your past will come back to you. The question is, what will you do when it catches up?"

"Who…are you?" Naruto asked carefully.

Although he couldn't see it, he knew that the man was smiling. "I was like you once. I faced impossible odds and it looked like there was no hope. I drew a line in the ground and said that this is where I stand and where it stops. I had held my ground when others had turn tail and ran and I was victorious. After all…" He slowly began to turn his head. "Your stubborn, furry friend knows me quite well." Naruto didn't see much of the man's face but what he did see was the glowing, purple eye that held a ripple pattern.

He took a step back. "I don't know why…but it feels like I should respect this guy but also be afraid of him as well." By the time his thoughts were back in order, Naruto realized that the person had disappeared. "Where'd he…I don't have time. I need to locate the others." He said as he took off in the offered direction. "Hey, Kyūbi, what was that guy talking about when he asked if I knew your name?" he asked the fox.

"It's something I'll tell you at a much, much later date." Kyūbi answered. They didn't have time for it now.

(Location: Aang and Kurenai)

They went after the giggling girl but could never stay with her. She was always one tree away. As they looked through the trees and bushes, they finally saw her just standing on a root. "Who are you?" Aang asked before rushing at the girl. But as he got close, it turned out to be Katara. He crashed into her, which sent them straight into Sokka. All three of them crashed onto a U-shaped root. Standing just below the root was Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino.

"Guys, you're here! Have you seen Hinata or Kurenai-sensei?" Kiba asked.

"We're right here, Kiba." Kurenai answered as she and Hinata landed on the root. The shinobi there were all relieved to see one another.

"Thank Kami! We've been looking all over for you!" He cried in relief.

"So have we." Hinata told him. "Everyone was looking for everyone else.

"Actually, we were chasing two girls." Aang replied, gesturing to Kurenai and himself. It had pretty much occupied their thoughts once they had seen them.

"Girls?" asked Katara. Out of all the answer that could've come out of his mouth, she hadn't expected that one.

"Yeah, Kurenai and I saw two girls. We went after them but lost one of them. We kept after the other girl who kept giggling or laughing."

"So you saw someone as well?" Shino asked. Once he said that, everyone looked at him.

"Yeah, did you see anyone?"

Shino and Kiba looked at each other for a quiet moment before he answered. "I saw Shina."

"And I saw my dad." Kiba told them

While Kurenai and Hinata looked sad at those words, the others looked confused. "Okay, you saw your dad." Sokka said, pointing at Kiba. He got that. "But who is Shina?" He asked Shino.

He remained quiet for a few minutes. "Shina was…my twin sister. She had contracted a rare disease when she was five. She died less than a week later."

Everyone else was quiet. "…I'm sorry." Katara finally answered.

"It is alright. I take it that you two saw someone as well?" He asked her and Hinata. If he and Kiba had seen something, they must've seen something as well.

"We saw our mothers." Hinata told them. That was all she was going to say about it. Just thinking about it made her remember her mother, and she didn't want to do that right now.

They all turned to Sokka, the one person who hadn't spoken yet. "Why are you looking at me for?" He demanded.

"Well, right about now you would be saying that there was a perfectly logical reason for all this." Aang pointed out. If there was anyone who could insist that there was nothing weird going on and a rational reason for it, it would be Sokka.

"Well, I liked to say this was all because we were scared and hungry. But I don't think that's the case here." He told the Air Nomad. Something was definitely going on here.

"So you did see someone?" Katara asked. She had been surprised by her brother's answer. Usually, he would've denied anything spiritual was going on.

"I…saw Yue." He made it sound like he didn't want to talk about it. He didn't tell them about the other person he saw. That, he felt, should stay with him.

"It's funny, but all our visions led us here right here." Aang noted as he looked around.

"So where is here? The middle of the swamp?" asked Katara.

"Yeah, the center," He said as he turned around and noticed a tree where the definition of "Huge" would be on the small side. "It's the heart of the swamp. It's been calling us here. I knew it."

"Yeah, a tree was calling us." Kiba said. "Next, you'll be telling us that we were being hunted by some sort of monster made of vines."

At that moment, there was a big splash of water and a big, green monster made of vines appeared behind them. In the moment of shock and surprise that followed, Sokka looked over at Kiba and said "You just had to say it."

(Location: Ty Lee)

She ran through the water, trying to find one of the others, before crashing into someone familiar. "Mai!" She cried in joy as she leapt up from the water, pulled the other girl up, and hugged her. She was so glad to see a familiar face.

"Nice to see you too, Ty Lee," Mai said her. "Now please, let go. I need to breath."

"Sorry." She apologized, letting go of her. "I'm just glad to see someone else."

Before she could say anything in response, they heard someone landing nearby. "Good, the two of you are already together." Azula said from atop a nearby root.

"Thank Agni it's you, Azula." The acrobat said happily as she climbed up the root with Mai behind her. "I guess that old man did point me in the right direction."

That got the attention of the princess. "Wait, you saw someone too?" She asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, actually I saw two people."

"Same here, but I saw three people." Mai told them.

"Who did you see?" Ty Lee asked her.

"I saw an old man wearing the Fire Lord's headpiece with a young man that was probably his grandson." She answered, thinking back to them. She could still see them perfectly.

"How did you know that it was his grandson?"

She took a breath to steady herself. "The old man…it was Zuko. And the reason I say that it was his grandson was because I could see Zuko in him."

"That's only two, who was the third?" Azula asked, curious to know.

"The third person was a stranger to me, but it sounded like he knew Naruto." She told them, getting their attention.

"Hey, the old man that I met said he knew Naruto as well." Ty Lee put in. That couldn't be a coincidence. It just couldn't.

"Well, what happened with you?" Mai asked her.

"I first met this woman in a green kimono with armor and face paint." She grew quiet at this point.

"What is it, Ty Lee?" Azula asked. It was rare for the acrobat to fall silent like this. Not to mention a little disturbing.

"The woman…looked like me." She told them." It was like I was looking into a mirror, but with a ten-year difference. Then she disappeared and the old man showed up."

"So, what did you see, Azula?" Mai asked, looking at her. She might've not looked like it, but she was curious.

Azula looked away with a sad face. "I saw Naruto, but as a child." She said, sounding almost ashamed about it.

"Oh, what was the cutie like?" Ty Lee was very curious. Naruto didn't really talk about his life before they found him on Ember Island. For her, that was like a mystery that looked to be unsolvable.

"He was terrified of me. He thought that I was going to hurt him. He kept asking what did he do wrong and if he was a demon."

Out of all the things she thought would come out of her friend's mouth, that wasn't one of them "Dear Agni, what did he go through?" She asked. She was horrified by what she heard. And if the subtle expression on Mai's face was any indicator, she felt the same.

"I don't know, but after he disappeared, another person showed himself. He looked like Naruto, only older and with no whiskers." She told them. "He said that he was responsible for what happened to Naruto. But before I could anything else out of him, he told me where you guys were and then disappeared"

"What are you going to do?" Mai asked, not letting anything slip past the emotionless mask she wore.

"What we are going to do is not tell Naruto about what I saw, no arguments." She ordered, putting emphasis on the word "We." They both nodded in agreement, even though their curiosity burned now.

They then heard a loud THUMP behind them. "There you three are!" exclaimed Naruto said as he walked hurriedly towards them. They all heard the relief in his voice. "I guess that guy was right."

"What guy?" Mai asked him. Now it definitely wasn't a coincidence if he had seen something too.

"That's not important." He said shortly. "Right now we need to get out of this swamp and regroup."

"No! We are not losing the Avatar!" Azula protested. The Avatar was in the swamp. He could be just passed the next tree for all they knew. They couldn't give up his trail now!

"We've already lost the Avatar as well as the mongoose dragons." The blonde told her firmly. We don't have any idea of where we actually are or where the Avatar is. We need to leave the swamp."

"When I was heading this way, I think I passed near an edge of the swamp." Ty Lee offered. It had been a brief glimpse, but she was sure of it.

"Take the lead, Ty Lee." Naruto ordered. They began to leave, but he noticed that Azula hadn't moved. "Azula, it's for the best." He told her.

"We need to capture the Avatar, nothing else matters!" She argued. She couldn't fail her father. Not like Zuko did.

His face turned cold at those words. "So you are willing to risk your friends' lives to go looking in a swamp for someone who is possibly on the other side of or not even in it at all? You're willing to do that and potentially sacrificing the means to your answer on something like that?"

She tried to come up with a defense but his rhetorical questions had left her without one. He was right. There would be another chance to hunt the Avatar. "Which way did you come in from, Ty Lee?" She asked with a defeated sigh.

"This way, follow me!" She answered cheerfully.

(Location: Aang's group)

They split off just as the monster swung its arms at them. It reached for Sokka as he ran through the water. It grabbed him and began to drag him back. Seeing his situation, Kurenai grabbed hold of his arms and tried to pull him out of the grip of the vines. But they proved to be too strong as Kurenai was dragged into the grip as well.

Aang saw what was happening and quickly bent the air into a slicing wave. It flew at the monster and cut off the end of its arm (there were no hands on this thing), letting Kurenai and Sokka to fall back into the water with a splash. The monster retaliated by flinging his other arm at Aang, hitting him and sending him away in the air.

Sokka and Kurenai tried to cut themselves of the scraps of vice that were still attached to them. However, they noticed that the vines were floating out of the water and reattaching to the damaged arm, lengthening it back to what it had been before. The monster swung his arm again at Sokka and Kurenai, but this time, Shino had knocked Kurenai out of the way, so the monster grabbed Shino and Sokka. "Shino, is there any chance of you using your bugs?!" Sokka demanded as they were lifted up.

"The vines are holding me too tightly, my kikaichū cannot get out." Shino answered. He could barely even move in the grip.

The monster began to glide through the water away from the rest of the group. It was quickly stopped when Hinata landed in front of it. "Hakke Kūshō (Eight Trigram Vacuum Palm)!" She shouted as she put her palm out in her front of her and gave a thrusting motion. The monster was pushed back and was momentarily distracted, which allowed Kiba and Akamaru get in close.

"Gatsūga (Fang over Fang)!" The Inuzuka yelled as he and Akamaru drilled through the arm that held Sokka and Shino. As soon as they fell to the ground and had gotten clear, Katara bent the water into ring-like shapes and sent them at the monster.

As she bent a continuous barrage at the monster, slicing off chunks while it tried to reattach the vines, Sokka noticed something about the monster. "There's someone in there!" He announced to the group. "He's bending the vines!"

Katara bent one last water ring at the monster, slicing off the top half of the wooden mask that passed for a face, as well as the top part of the monster itself. For a brief moment, it looked a small tower that was made out of vines. But that moment was over when vines from the water tried to restrain Katara. That idea was stopped by Aang as he landed in front of the monster and blasted it with air. As the vines disassembled, they could briefly see the person who was manipulating the vines before he was covered again by said vines. "Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us?" Aang demanded.

"Wait!" The person cried before the vines fell down, revealing a middle-age man with grey hair and beard. He wore a green loincloth with leaves in the front. "I didn't call you here."

The group all gave each other a look and then faced the man again. "We were flying over and I heard something calling to me, telling me to land." Aang told the man.

"He's the Avatar, stuff like that happens to us a lot." Sokka explained.

In the back, Kiba muttered "Tell me about it." He and his team hadn't been around them for long and they already were going through some weird stuff.

"The Avatar," The man repeated. "Come with me." He gestured behind him and walked toward the center of the swamp (AKA the very, very, very, very huge tree). The group just lowered their weapons and followed him.

"So, who are you then?" Katara asked as they climbed the tree. It was a little steep, but they were able to manage. Soon enough, they had reached a level surface.

"I protect the swamp from folks who want to hurt it." He explained. "Like these two with their knives." He gestured to Sokka and Kiba.

Kiba looked sheepish, but Sokka wasn't. "So there is nothing mystical about this swamp then, huh?" The Tribesman asked him, generally curious about it.

"Don't worry, the swamp is a mystical place, it's sacred." He told them as he sat down. "I reached enlightenment right here under the banyan-grove tree. I heard it calling me, just like you did."

"Yeah, it sounds real chatty." Kiba said.

"Knock it off, Kiba." Kurenai told her student. They really didn't need that right now, otherwise they would probably end up in more trouble.

"Sorry." He replied. Akamaru just rolled his eyes in exasperation.

The man continued, like the two of them hadn't said anything. "See, this whole swamp is actually one tree spread out over miles. Breaches spread, then sink and take root and then spread some more, one big living orgasm, just like the entire world."

As they took in what he said, Aang looked at him. "I get how the tree is one big thing but…the whole world?" He asked. That seemed a little far-fetched to him.

"Sure, you think you're any different from me or your friends or this tree?" The man asked back. "If you listen hard enough, you can hear every living thing breathing together. You can feel everything growing. We're all living together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots and we are all branches of the same tree."

"But what did our visions mean?" Katara asked. That question, and the fact she saw her mother, was the one thing that was bugging her.

"In the swamp, we see visions of people we've lost, people we've loved. Folks we think are gone but the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to them, time is an illusion and so is death." He explained.

"So that's what they meant when they said that they never left us." Kiba quietly said to Shino, who only nodded in agreement. The two of them both knew there was a little more to it, but they were happy with that answer for now.

"But, what about my vision?" Aang asked. "It was two people I had never met."

'You're the Avatar, you tell me." He said with a small smile.

Taking the challenge, the Avatar thought hard about it. "Time is an illusion." He said to himself. "So…they'll be people I will meet."

The man nodded. When Kurenai heard this, she brought her hand down to her belly. The vision of the girl in the kimono came back to her. "I guess I will meet you soon." She thought to herself.

The man then glimpsed at something beneath Sokka's shirt. "Hey, youngster, what's that under your shirt?" He asked. Sokka reached inside his shirt and pulled out his Paragon Medallion. The man's eyes widen in surprise at the sight of it. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were a Paragon." He apologized, bowing his head slightly.

"It's okay. I'm still new at it." The Tribesman assured him. "But how do you know about the Paragons?"

"Well, legend has it that the first Paragons were the first ones to attain enlightenment under the banyan-grove tree. It was here they found their last teacher, who taught them the two abilities that only a Paragon can have."

"Well that's informative." He remarked, silently filing the information away. "Now we just need to find Appa, Momo, and Akela."

"I think I know how to find them." Aang placed a hand on the tree and began to concentrate. "Everything is connected." He saw Appa being caught in a net by people who wore clothes that were similar to what the man wore. He also saw Akela being caught in the net as well. "Come on! We have to hurry!" He told the others before speeding off into the swamp with Katara close behind. The others were right behind them.

He tore through the swamp, intent on finding the lost animals. At the speed he was going, it wasn't long before he saw the boats that the men were in. He also saw Appa and Akela trapped in the net and also saw Momo's tail sticking out of a bag in one of the boats. He quickly sent an blast of air at the boats, breaking one of them and sending the two people in it flying into the water. "Appa! Akela!" He cried out as he jumped out of the bush and landing on a root in front of the boats. As Katara joined him, he sent another air blast at the person (a short, chubby man) who held the bag containing Momo, sending him into the water as well and letting Momo free.

"We're under attack!" Another person (a tall, thin man) exclaimed before bending the water around him, sending a wave at Aang and Katara who pushed it back.

After a few moments of fighting each other via the wave, Katara realized something. "Hey, you guys are Waterbenders!"

"You too?" asked the tall thin one. "That means we're kin." Katara looked a little put off by that remark (they didn't really look alike and she was pretty sure something that smelt funny was coming from him). As the three of them let the wave collapse, Sokka and Team Kurenai as well as the man approached Aang and Katara. "Hey Huu, how you been?" The tall thin man asked the man.

"You know, scared some folks, swung some vines, the usual." The man now known as Huu said casually.

"Huu?" asked Shino as the rest of the group looked at the guy.

"I think it's best to take it in stride, Shino." Hinata told him. They had gone through a lot that day.

(Location: Azula's group)

"I think we're almost there." Ty Lee told the rest of the group as they walked into a clearing. They had been following for the past two hours now.

"Well, that's good to know." Mai commented dryly. She almost desperately wanted to get back on dry land. She was quite certain her feet were waterlogged.

"Look, there's some dry land right ahead." She pointed out. As they approached the dry land, they saw that there was a hut on it as well as a fire going with knives lying next to it on the ground

"It looks like there's someone already here." Naruto noted. The fire was crackling merrily and even from where he stood, he could tell there were no rust spots on the knives.

"Hello?" Azula called out. "Is anyone in there?" Suddenly from behind them, the water surged forward and hit them in the backs, knocking them to the ground and putting them in a daze. Before they could react, someone had tied their arms behind their backs and their legs together with rope.

"Well there we are." A voice said. They looked up and saw a man in ragged, Northern Water Tribe clothing standing above them. "I was beginning to wonder if you ever show up. But then again, when I separated the four of you, I knew it might take a while."

"You were the one who separated us?" Ty Lee asked.

"I did just say that, didn't I?" He told her with a smile that sent shivers down her spine.

"What are you going to do with us?" Mai asked in a seemingly bored tone of voice. But even though she looked bored, she felt nervous, very nervous.

"Why my dear, the four of you are going to be my dinner. I always do enjoy a feast." The man said with a mad giggle. When they heard those words, their eyes went wide in horror and shock.

"You're a cannibal." Naruto stated, cold outrage shining in his eyes, replacing the horror and shock that had been there mere moments before.

"Aren't we all? I just happened to like a different kind of meat." He gave off a mad laugh.

Before he could do anything else, Azula had free herself from her bonds and jumped up. "Did you really think that rope would be able to hold me?" She taunted arrogantly. The burnt remains of her rope fell to the ground all around her.

The man didn't say anything, only to thrust out a hand and bend the water into a whip-like shape. He attacked Azula with the whip, only for her to dodge him. But he got her the second time, the whip wrapped around her leg and pulled, making her fall to the ground. He then noticed that the others had gotten free as well, so he bent the water again and froze their arms and legs. "Oh I do enjoy the feisty ones." The man said as he let the water whip dissipate and fall the ground as he walked over to Azula. "You know what? I'm going to have some 'fun' with you."

She didn't know what it was exactly. Maybe it was the way he said it, or how his eyes gleamed with lust. But she suddenly felt very afraid. "You keep away!" She yelled, kicking him in the chest with both feet, pushing him back. She got up and tried to get away, but he grabbed her legs and pulled her back down to the ground. She landed face first right next to the fire and the knives.

Deciding that enough was enough he reached down and flipped her over onto her back. "Now stay put, you'll like it and soon, you'll be begging for more." He told her as his hands reached for her pants.

It was then she acted. In her right hand was a knife she had managed to grab before he had flipped her. Moving in speeds that only desperation combined with fear could give a person, she slashed the man's throat with the knife. Blood gushed out of the throat as the man choked to death on his own blood, the last look he had on his face was one of shock and surprise, like he had never expected her to do that.

Azula quickly freed Ty Lee, Mai, and Naruto from the ice that was holding them. As they stood up and messaged their frozen limbs, she stared numbly at the corpse that lay on the ground. "We better keep moving." Naruto told them. "The edge of the swamp is just over there." He pointed off onto the distance. They could see the trees thin out and lead into solid land. They began to move away but Naruto noticed that Azula was stilling staring at the body. "Azula, are you okay?" He asked.

"What?" She asked, coming back to the present. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He knew what it was like to kill someone. People were never just "fine" afterwards.

"I said I was fine, Naruto!" She snapped at him.

He saw how close her temper was to actually snapping and decided to drop it. "Very well, let's get moving."

They made their way out of the swamp, their eagerness to get out of there quickening their pace. When they finally got clear of the swamp's edge and took a quick breather, Ty Lee saw something. "Hey, aren't those our mongoose dragons?" She asked, pointing to a hill in front of them. Sure enough, the mongoose dragons were sunning themselves there. On the backs of the mongoose dragons were the packs they had left there.

"Isn't that helpful?" Naruto commented dryly.

(Location: Aang's group)

That night, after being introduced to the Foggy Swamp tribe by two of its members, Tho (the short chubby one) and Due (the tall thin one) they were led to the village and given dinner. "How you like that possum chicken?" Due asked the group.

"Taste just like artic hen." Sokka answered. "So why you were guys interested in eating Appa and Akela? You got plenty of those big things wandering around." He pointed to the catgater behind Tho and Due.

"You want me to eat old Slim? He's like a member of the family." He told them before tossing a fish at the catgater.

"Nice Slim," Sokka said as he tossed the insect in his hand at the creature. It just bounced off his snout, making him growl at Sokka. While Sokka flinched a little, both Akamaru and Akela raised their heads and growled back at Slim, making him shut up.

Due laughed. "Oh, he don't eat no bugs, that's people food."

"Hey Due, could you please not talk about bugs? Shino can hear you." Kiba asked, pointing over to his teammate. When Shino had discovered the fact that the tribe ate bugs, he almost had a fit of hysterics. His teammates managed to calm him down but now every time he saw someone eat an insect, he would flinch, dropped his head and muttered the words "The horror!"

"What's the matter with him?" Due asked.

"He's kind of a…Bugbender." Hinata explained, trying to find the best way to explain what Shino was to them.

"Sorry about that, then," He told Shino who nodded in response. Then he saw the giant bug that Sokka ate and shuddered. If that kept up, it was going to be a long night.

"Where'd you say you was from?" Tho asked Katara.

"The South Pole." She answered. She was still surprised by the fact that there were Waterbenders in the Earth Kingdom. She had thought they were all in the North Pole.

"Didn't know there was Waterbenders anywhere but here," He told her. "They got a nice swamp there, do they?"

"No, it's all ice and snow." And it was home for her.

"…Hm, no wonder you left." He said after he and Due looked a little wide eyed.

"You know Sokka, I'm surprised." She told her brother, looking at him. "You haven't even tried to say that there was nothing mysterious about the swamp."

"Well, I like to say that, but I can't. Something is out there in the swamp. I just don't know what it is." He answered. They then heard the cry of a screeching bird. But as they turned to the noise, they saw a vine rise up and smacked the bird away. After watching this play out, Sokka just turned to the rest of the group and said "I rest my case."

Kurenai then felt a tingling sensation in her hip pouch. Opening it up, she saw that the seal tag with the kanji for "fly" was glowing. Standing up, she walked away from the group, which her students noticed. "What's the matter, Kurenai-sensei?" Kiba asked, bringing his attention from his food to her.

"I think we're about to receive a message from the Hokage." She told them. Once she had enough room, she slapped the seal down on the ground and backed away. Suddenly the area was filled with smoke and they all heard a POOF! When the smoke cleared, Team Asuma and Team Guy stood before Kurenai, who had a look of surprise on her face. "Why are you guys here?"

It was Asuma who answered her. "Nice to see you too, Kurenai." He replied with an easy smile.

"Who are they?!" Sokka demanded as he reached for his boomerang.

"It's okay, they're friends." Hinata told him, her voice reassuring.

"Aang, Katara, Sokka, this is Team Asuma." Kurenai introduced.

Asuma stepped forward. "Hey, the name's Asuma Sarutobi. These are my students, Shikamaru Nara," He pointed to the boy with the lazy expression on his face and spiky black hair in a ponytail. "Chōji Akimichi," He pointed to a (let's big-boned) boy with brown spiky hair that went down to his waist. "And Ino Yamanaka," He pointed to a girl with long blonde hair done up in a high-ponytail.

Asuma wore a black suit as well as a dark green jacket of sorts over the suit. He wore a sash at his waist that had the symbol for fire on it. His black hair was short and spiky. He also had a beard that connected with his sideburns but no mustache.

Shikamaru wore the same thing as Asuma minus the sash. He also wore mesh armor underneath the suit and his jacket was lighter shade of green. He wore studs in his ears and his headband was attached to the sleeve of his suit.

Chōji wore a red suit that had plated armor on it. On the chest was the kanji for "food" (although Aang, Sokka and Katara did not know that). He had swirl marks on his cheeks. He also wore studs in his ears and the cloth of his headband was red.

Ino wore a purple, sleeveless blouse and a purple apron-skirt over a shorter skirt that black with fishnet shorts underneath that. She wore fishnet warmers on her elbows and knees. She also wore studs in ears but didn't seem to wear a headband.

"And this is Team Guy." Kurenai finished.

Guy stepped forward. "Hello to you all, it is very youthful to meet you! I am Konoha's Green Beast, Might Guy! These three youthful people are my students, Rock Lee," He pointed to bowl-style haircut boy. "Neji Hyūga," He pointed to a boy with black hair that reached the middle of his back and eyes that looked similar to Hinata's. "And Tenten," He pointed to a girl with brown hair that was done up in buns.

Guy was something to look at. He wore a green spandex jumpsuit with orange leg warmers. His headband was worn around his waist like a belt and a jacket the same color as Asuma's, only his was unzipped. He probably had some of the biggest and bushiest eyebrows that Aang, Sokka, or Katara had seen in their lives.

Rock Lee was the spitting image of his teacher. He wore the same suit and leg warmers, but he wore bandages around his hands and wrists where Guy did not. He also had the same haircut and the same eyebrows. His forehead protector was worn like a belt as well and he wore a jacket the same color as Shikamaru's. But unlike his teacher, he had it zipped up.

Neji was (thankfully) wearing something quite differently than Guy or Lee. He wore a white shirt that had loose sleeves and white pants. Over his pants was a navy grey apron. Unlike his teacher or teammate, he wore his headband on his forehead. Just like Hinata (as they apparently shared a name), he had the same kind of eyes.

Tenten wore a white blouse with a high collar that had a red fastener on it. She also wore red pants that looked a little puffy. She had on black, fingerless gloves and on her back was a big scroll. Her headband was also on her forehead and the cloth was also red.

"Hello, my name's Aang." The Airbender introduced himself. He then introduced the rest of the group, including Appa, Momo and Akela.

"Asuma, I need to talk to you." Kurenai told him as everyone else got to know one another and catch up. "Alone."

"Okay." He replied, following her away from the small village.

"So, how've you guys been?" Chōji asked as he walked forward and sat down with the group. He reached out and took one of the sticks with bugs on it. After inspecting it for a moment, he began to slowly eat it, ignoring Shino.

"We've been doing okay." Hinata answered as the others joined them, sitting down around the fire.

"Lady Hinata, are you alright? We heard from Lady Tsunade about the encounter with Naruto." Neji asked as he went to her.

"I'm fine, Neji." She assured him. But she could tell that he didn't really believe her.

"So how are the two of you related?" Katara asked.

"Neji is my cousin." She answered. Then she noticed something. "Where are Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke and Sakura?" She would've thought that they would be here.

"Don't know. Lady Tsunade only called us in for the mission." Ino replied. Guy suddenly looked away with an expression of unease on his face. He quickly brought his attention back to the group, but Shikamaru had noticed what he did.

"Speaking of the mission, has there been any change to it?" Shino asked. He wanted to focus on something other then what was for dinner and the mission would be an ideal choice.

"Lady Tsunade has upgraded the mission to an S-rank. Our primary mission is still to protect the Avatar, but our secondary mission is to try and find Naruto." Neji filled Team Kurenai in.

"So, how are we going to do that?" Kiba asked.

"We're still figuring it out. We didn't come up with a definitive plan until we got your input." Shikamaru explained.

Before they could any further, they a cry of "WHAT?!" coming from the swamp. A few minutes later, Both Kurenai and Asuma came back to the group. Both had looks of stunned wonder on their faces. "What was all that, then?" Due asked.

"Kurenai just told me something that was… probably the most surprising thing I've ever heard." Asuma explained, a slightly dazed look replacing the stunned wonder he just had. It was like he couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"What was it?" asked Tho.

"I'm…um…I'm pregnant." Kurenai told them with a small blush on her face. For about a minute, the only thing that was heard the sound of crickets. Then, there was a cry of "WHAT?!" coming from all three teams. Both Hinata and Neji activated their Byakugan to validate what Kurenai said.

"S-she's telling the truth." Hinata announced as she and Neji deactivated their Byakugan. Her stutter had come back momentarily, but she didn't really think about it. All she could see was how brightly her sensei's chakra was glowing and building around her stomach. Meanwhile, Kiba was currently kicking himself. This was what Naruto meant, back at Omashu. And the blonde had been right, he should've realized it.

Guy immediately hopped up from where he sat. "YOSH! It seems that your Flames of Youth have melted the Ice Queen's heart!" he shouted with tears falling from his face. "To celebrate this most youthful moment, I will do 400 laps around this swamp!"

"Yosh, Guy-sensei!" cried out Lee as he jumped up, tears also falling. "If we cannot do that, then we will do 800 laps as well as 1200 push-ups!"

"LEE!" Guy grabbed Lee into a tight hug, which Lee returned.

"GUY-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GUY-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GUY-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GUY-SENSEI!"

As they hugged each other, somehow the image of a setting sun appeared behind the two. "DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THEM!" Neji and Tenten warned everyone in perfect unison. Everyone quickly looked away after that warning.

After finally managing to get the hug-fest to stop, everyone started to ask Kurenai and Asuma questions. Everyone that is, except for Sokka. "Sokka, what's the matter?" Aang asked as he noticed the Tribesman was still sitting down and had look of concentration on his face.

"Something caused made that tornado and force us to land, Aang and it wasn't a weird occurrence of the weather." Sokka told him. "I just want to know what it caused it."

Before Aang could say anything, they heard a voice. "I caused it." It around, the two of them noticed that time had seemed to stop. Everyone else was frozen, stopped in whatever motion they were doing. And standing on the opposite side of the fire, was the same cloaked person Aang had met over Omashu.

"You?" asked the Air Nomad in a stunned voice.

"Hello to you too, little Avatar." repliedthe spirit.

"Who are you and what did you do?" Sokka demanded. He slowly reached for one of his weapons, trying to make himself ready for a fight.

"I froze you two in a moment in time so we could talk." It answered him, like it was nothing at all.

"That's nice, but you didn't answer my first question. Who are you?"

"I've been called many things over the years. But recently, I prefer to be called 'Sifu'. I know the Paragons and the Avatar rather well." He told the Tribesman.

"How?" asked Sokka with suspicion. Even though he had stopped reaching for a weapon (there was something in the spirit's voice that convinced him that he wasn't a threat), he was still unsure of the spirit before them.

"Because I was the last teacher of the first Paragons, and I have known every Paragon since." He answered, like it was obvious.

Both Aang and Sokka look at him with surprise. They had thought the last teacher would've been human and therefore, dead."Wait a minute. Huu said that the Paragon's last teacher taught them the two abilities that only they knew. What are they?" Aang asked.

Though they couldn't see it, they knew that Sifu was smirking. "Trying to give yourself an edge against them, little Avatar?" He asked.

He tried to defend himself, but couldn't find a good answer. "One of those abilities is being able to cut off the link between the Avatar State and the Avatar, isn't it?" Sokka asked the spirit. Since he had experienced that power before, it stood to reason. Sifu's only response was to nod. "So what is the second ability?" The Tribesman asked.

"Well, let me put it to you like this: it's a form of Bending that only a Paragon can have. I'd tell you more, but he's here." Sifu looked briefly at Aang to emphasize his point. "Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, I have a question. Why did you train the Paragons?" Aang demanded. "Can't you see that they're a threat to the world's harmony?!" He still couldn't believe that they were there to kill him. They threatened the balance of the world just by that act alone.

"Don't you mean a threat to you, little Avatar?" He asked with cold fury lacing his voice. The Avatar took a step in fear as he heard that voice. All of a sudden, he felt very tiny, and very weak. "I'll tell you why I trained them. Because it had been necessary then and it's still necessary now."

Before Aang could say anything else, Sokka cut in. "Sorry about that, Sifu, he gets like that sometimes." The Tribesman apologized on behalf of his friend, while also silently telling him to stay quiet.

Sifu sighed in exasperation. "Trust me Sokka. It seems like every Avatar I meet gets like that when they find out about the Paragons."

"That's another thing: just how have you been around?"

Once again, they couldn't see it, but they knew Sifu was smiling. "While I'm not as old as some of the spirits out there, I am one of the few spirits out there that Koh is afraid of." Before they could ask anything else, he continued. "I think it's time you went back to your friends." He disappeared and just like that, time started to flow again. Aang and Sokka sat on the ground on the ground, watching their friends begin to move again.

(Location: Azula's group)

The four of them sat around a campfire with the mongoose dragons sleeping nearby."So, what do we do now?" Ty Lee asked. She was very glad to get out of that swamp, but she had no idea what they would do now.

"We head for Yu Dao. It's the closest Fire Nation colony as well as the closest military base." Naruto told them. When they had been separated, they had left some necessary supplies behind. Now, they had to restock.

"You okay with that, Azula?" Mai asked, looking over at her friend, who was staring at the fire.

"Yes." She answered curtly, not taking her eyes off of the fire.

"Are you alright, Azula?" Ty Lee asked cautiously. She knew when the princess got like this, it was always best to trend lightly.

"Yes, I'm alright."

"Because ever since we left the swamp, you've been kinda―"

"I'm alright, Ty Lee, drop it!" She barked out. After a second of silence, she took a breath to calm herself and stood up. "I'm going to bed." She told them before heading into the tent that she had.

"She is not alright." Naruto said after she went into the tent.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Mai asked.

"Right now, I'm going to do nothing." He told them. If he did something right, odds are it wouldn't be pretty. "So, what happened to you two in the swamp?" If something had happened to him, something must've happened to them.

"What about you? Did you meet someone?" Ty Lee asked back.

"Yeah I did. But I didn't really see the guy. I only saw his back and a side of his face." He looked at the two of them. "Who did you guys see?"

"Well, I think I saw a future version of me and Mai saw an old Zuko and his grandson. But we also met people who sounded like they knew you."

He immediately paid attention. "Who were these people?" Both Ty Lee and Mai describe the two people to him. "Why would they see Jiji and Haku?" He wondered to himself. Neither of the girls actually knew who had shown themselves to them. It was a little weird.

"Hey Naruto," Mai said, getting his attention.

"Yes, Doom and Gloom?" He replied.

She ignored that. If they got into that now, the subject they were on would be forgotten. "Those people we saw, who are they to you?" She asked him, looking intently at him.

He sat there silently. It went on like that for a couple of minutes and it felt like he wouldn't tell them. "…I knew them once, a long time ago." He finally answered

"Are they…are they dead?" Ty Lee asked. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that they were.

He simply nodded. No one spoke for a while after that. They were hoping he would elaborate on what he said and he chose to remain silent. "I think it's time we all went to bed." Mai said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Ty Lee agreed as she hopped up from where she sat. Both she and Mai went into the small tent that the two of them shared, leaving Naruto at the no tent of his own, he opted to sleep by the fire.

As he laid out his spare bed roll, he noticed someone out of the corner of his eye. Standing up and quickly turning around, he came face-to-face with a fair-skin woman with red hair and dark grey-blue eyes. While Naruto didn't know who she was, Kyūbi's jaw had dropped. "What the…! She's dead and we're not in that Kami-forsaken swamp! How is she here?!" He silently demanded, despite knowing that he wouldn't get an answer.

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded, his hand reaching for a kunai he kept in a pouch. The woman gave a sad smile and lifted her hand to touch his face. But as she did that, he took hold of the kunai. "I'll ask again: who are you?" The woman opened her mouth to speak but before she could, a single leaf flew across Naruto's eyes which distracted him. When his eyes refocused, the woman was gone. "Who was that? Any ideas, Kyūbi?" asked Naruto as he put the kunai away.

"I'm not sure." Kyūbi lied, for he knew that person and he knew her very well. "I'd have to go through my memories to double-check."

"Alright," The blonde took his word for it. "Good night, fox."

"Good night, gaki."

---

The sound of Azula screaming woke him up immediately. Tearing himself out of the bed roll, he ran into her tent. There he saw her thrashing around in her sleep, in the hold of a nightmare. "Azula, wake up!" He told her as he grabbed hold of her.

Her eyes snapped open, but she wasn't fully awake yet. "Let me go!" She cried as she tried to get out of his grip, thinking she was still in the nightmare.

"Calm down, Azula." He told her. "It's me, Naruto."

When she heard his name, she began to calm down. As she stopped struggling against his grip, she took a breath to calm herself. "Sorry, Naruto," She apologized to him.

"Was it the same dream?" He asked. Surprisingly, she shook her head in the negative.

"No…no this time it that man from the swamp." She told him.

"What happen?"

"I had slashed his throat but he didn't die. I tried to run, but no matter where I ran to, he always seemed just behind me. He had finally caught up and…and was about to…" She couldn't finish the sentence. The mere thought of it was making her tremble in his arms. She was the Princess of the Fire Nation. She could not tremble at a dream.

"He was about to do what he was going to do to you in the swamp?" He quietly asked her.

She nodded. "That's when you woke me up." She couldn't hold it in, not to him. She looked at him with scared eyes. "Why? Why can I still see him?"

He pulled her into a hug. "You just killed someone for the first time. Nothing really prepares you for it." He said to her, his voice gentle.

"So…you had nightmares too?" She asked as she remembered that night. She had always thought he hadn't, given the way he had acted.

"Yes." He looked at her. "Do you want me to stay?" He asked her.

She nodded. "Um, Naruto? Could I…could I listen to it?" She asked him, blushing slightly. He also had a slight blush on his face, but nodded anyway. He stood up and removed his boots, putting them to the side. He undid the cloth-belt and let the vest fall off his body by simply rolling his shoulders back. He took off his shirt and stood before her. She had seen it before, but what she saw still made her blush a little.

Three years of constant training and fighting had definitely changed his body. His muscles were lean, like a runner, but also hard. When she saw them, she knew that they could move underneath his skin like they were flowing through water. He wore his Paragon Medallion over his chest, but he also wore a small, beautiful, green crystal as well. She knew for a fact that his Fangirls would die just to see him as he was now. And she was proud to know that he would only do this for her.

He lay down on the bed roll and pulled her in close. "Good night Azula." She got closer, melding her body to his, laid her head on his chest and listened. She listened to the gentle beating of his heart. To her, it was a piece of music that soothed her and lulled her to sleep.

"Good night, Naruto." She replied, already getting sleepily. Soon afterwards, both of them were fast asleep in each other's arms.

---

She was walking down the Royal Gallery when she felt a presence behind her. Turning around, she saw the same man she had seen in the swamp. "You!" She exclaimed. The man simply nodded. "Why are you here?" She demanded. As she looked around to see if there was anyone else, she somehow knew that this was a dream.

"We came here to talk to you." He told her.

She was confused by those. "We? What do you mean by 'we'?"

"He means me." A voice told her. Stepping out from behind the man was a woman with bright red hair (even though Azula didn't know it, it was the same woman Naruto had seen).

"What do you want?" She demanded. She knew that the man was somehow important to Naruto. So by extension (and the fact that she was there), the woman must also be important to her bodyguard. But she didn't know what they wanted.

"He considers you to be one of his precious people, never lose sight of that." The woman told her. "Please protect him as much as he protects you."

As she listened to those words, she narrowed her eyes at the two of them. "You're talking about Naruto." They both nodded. "What is he to you?" She asked them. "Why do you care about him so much?"

They began to fade away, but she heard the man say one more thing before they disappeared. And what he said stunned her. "It's only natural that we would care about our son. What parent wouldn't?"

(Location: Earth Kingdom town)

The swordsman walked down an alley in the middle of the night. Hearing a door creak, he spun around and drew his swords. "Who's there?" He demanded as he waved his swords around. Hearing footsteps coming from behind him, he turned around again but he was too slow. He was quickly disarmed and thrown at some nearby crates. Looking back, he saw someone in black garb standing over him. The person reached down and took his swords. It was then he saw the person's face or rather, the blue mask that covered his face.

The former swordsman looked at the masked person with surprise. "The Blue Spirit." He said, knowing who it was. The Blue Spirit began to walk closer to the man, the swords seemingly gleaming in the light of the moon. "What do you want from me?" He asked nervously.

"Humiliation," The Blue Spirit answered.

"But I've never done anything to insult you!" The man protested but the Blue Spirit now stood directly in front of him. "Please don't kill me!" The man cried as tears fell from his face. He wanted to live and he would do anything to be spared.

The Blue Spirit put the two swords into the sheath on his back and then grabbed the man by the shirt, bringing him face to face. "So there's nothing a fat man dancing for his dinner, huh?" The Blue Spirit growled. "Well, there's also nothing like a coward begging for his life." Before he could even respond, the Blue Spirit punched him in the face and knocking him. As the man collapsed on the ground, it awoke the surrounding houses. But by then, the Blue Spirit had disappeared.

End

Author's Note: Thank you all for the reviews you've sent me.

I'm going to say this right now: I am skipping Avatar Day, but I am going to mention parts of it in the next chapter.

I will state this now for the record in case anyone decides to complain: no actual cannibalism was shown here.

Now, I'm not going to have all the teams going with Aang at the same time. That would get a little complicated. How it's going to work will be explained in the next chapter.

There was a reason I had to come up with someone for Shino and it all has to do with this question: have you seen Shino get emotional over anyone? Hence, why I came up with Shina and had her die when both she and Shino were five.

For those of you who are mad that Team Kakashi isn't on the mission don't worry. They'll find out about it later. But they will not be on the mission itself.

I'll see you all next chapter!