Chapter 4
Eight bandits lay on the ground, all eight were unconscious by the hand of the fourteen year old blonde teen. It'd been five years and at long last, Naruto Ametsuchi was allowed to stay in the Bending World for long periods of time. Of course this didn't mean that Namiyo and his mother had been happy about it; though she did give him permission to do so. Namiyo didn't like it one bit but knew that she wouldn't be able to stop the blonde. But he had assured her that he was going to come back home alive and well; this was just a journey that he needed to go on alone. It'd been a week in and this had happened the second he arrived in the Earth Kingdom. His attention quickly went to the bleeding girl that lay on the ground. "Bastards." She wasn't dead but she would bleed out in a few minutes if nothing was done. The sheath to the sword was orange and blue, and like his mother, he never needed to bring out the actual blade in battle for a very special reason. Unsheathing his sword, he stabbed the girl's chest. One would think that he was simply putting the girl down, but this was far from the truth. The internal bleeding that the girl was suffering from began to heal near instantly. This was the Jinsei no ken (Sword of life); the blade couldn't actually hurt of kill anyone as its purpose was to heal. After a few seconds, the healing was done and Naruto took the blade out; his thanks was a punch to the face. The girl was breathing heavily, she was panicking while feeling the side where she was stabbed.
"What happened?"
"You got jumped and was suffering from internal bleeding so I healed you." Naruto stated rubbing his jaw. Looking at the girl now, he could see that she was blind but not weak; she was a strong Earth bender. The girl stood up, she couldn't see but she was able to turn to the blonde. "So, what were you doing out here alone anyway?" he questioned standing up, the blind Earth Bender was silent as she stood up. "Alright, can I at least get your name?"
"Toph"
"Nice name, I'm Naruto Ametsuchi." Said putting his sword away "It was nice meeting you, later." He began to walk off only for a wall of earth to block him.
"Where're you headed?" Toph questioned.
"Nowhere in particular, but from what I've heard, there's a town nearby and I'm almost out of food." He stated. "You're welcome to come with me; it'd be nice to have some company." Toph was silent for a few moments before giving in.
"Well, it does give me a better chance of not getting killed." She said. "Alright let's go!" Naruto smiled, he had a companion to travel with. The two then began their journey. It only took an hour before they couldn't take the silence anymore. "How did you heal me?" she questioned.
"My sword, I stabbed you with—"
"You did what?!"
"I stabbed you with the blade of my sword, look, the blade itself can't kill or hurt anything; it can only heal things and people." he explained. "The sheathe on the other hand, Hakai saya (Sheath of Destruction) is what cuts and kills things; it's an alternate blade so to speak." It was a simple explanation for a weapon so powerful.
"Does it always work, the healing part, I mean."
"Yep" the Earth Bender sighed, the two continued walking. "Are you a Bender?"
"Correct."
"What kind?"
"It's a secret, I want you to be surprised." He smirked. Toph could feel his heartbeat; he was absolutely calm so guessing wasn't going to do her any good. Besides, she wanted to be surprised, there was obviously more to him than meets the eye; this expression didn't hold any power over her everything considered. More and more hours went by, and Toph found herself learning more and more about the blonde; from his taste in food to his preferred sword fighting style. She didn't know how he did it, but he managed to get her to open up; it was like it didn't take long to get to like Naruto. There was something about him that she couldn't explain. The duo reached the town without even noticing it. "Now then." The streets weren't exactly bustling even with the open shops. "Anything you want in particular?"
"No, I'm not really a picky eater." She stated. "When you're traveling in the woods for miles, you learn to eat what's edible." She stated implying that she was always alone.
"Well, now you won't have to guess or anything because now you're getting a good meal." He stated, Toph couldn't help but chuckle a bit, the blonde sounded like he was a parent or something. But, it did sound nice enough to hear that without a sense of possessiveness his voice; he hadn't treated her like a child or some helpless little girl with a disability. She was his equal. Night came fast and Naruto obliged to sleep outside with her despite her insistence that he should sleep in the hotel. The blonde wouldn't have any of it; that night nothing eventful would happen as they didn't realize that someone had found them.
The Next Day – Earth Country
The sun shined upon his eyelids, causing him to stir. She was kneeling down in front of him, examining him, taking in his older appearance; it'd been over two years since she'd seen him. Feeling brave, she gently stroked his hair to see that it went past his shoulder; she would do this but wouldn't go into his bag as she respected his privacy. Not his personal space apparently. Toph was being forced down with her bending being locked away for a while. Naruto began to suddenly reacted on instinct. Blue eyes shot open and with speed that she couldn't follow, Naruto had her on the ground with his hand around her throat. "Look who's finally awake." She said. Naruto fully opened his eyes to see the one girl he hadn't seen in so long.
"Azula." He could now see her clearly.
"That's right, now could you please take your hand off of my throat." He saw her hands aiming at his stomach ready to burn him if need be. Letting her go and helping her up, his now heated gaze went to the guard was holding his friend down. Naruto's hand broke the man's helmet instantly with a single back hand.
"I'd rather nobody touched my friend like that." Said with a smile before quickly getting the girl back on her feet. "So, you want to tell me what's going on?" he was still smiling but he was obviously irritated. Azula was more than surprised to see how fast the blonde was. "Right here, so I don't have to beat up the other…
"Seven." Toph stated.
"Yes, the other seven soldiers who followed you, thank you Toph." He gave Azula a serious look; the princess sighed. Something told her that Naruto could and would do it; he didn't seem so shy about people here seeing him. "Well?"
"I want you to help me in a certain endeavor of mine." She stated. "Think of it as a favor or helping out a friend." Commanding Naruto to do something wouldn't work and looking at the blind Earth Bender, she knew that it would be difficult to convince Naruto to help her.
"What kind of endeavor?" Toph questioned; Azula couldn't help but internally curse. Was that girl, Naruto's friend?
"The kind that says, helping out the Fire Nation." Immediately, Toph was in stance ready to fight the princess; Azula responded in kind. The air had suddenly turned tense and Naruto really didn't want to see the two fight.
"Naruto, you aren't seriously considering helping her; are you?"
"I'm his friend; of course he's considering it, right?"
"Just tell me what it is first and I'll give it a thought."
"What?!" Azula smirked.
"We're going to pierce the wall of Ba Sing Se with a giant drill that our best scientists and mechanics created." She stated. Naruto and Toph had heard stories about how the wall was impenetrable and had stood for over a hundred years. It was impossible to break through, but a giant drill did sound like a good idea; a great idea in fact. This left only a single question.
"Why do you want me to help you?"
"We know that there's going to be some, interference by the Avatar and his friends, and we can't have them stopping us." She stated that's when she saw it. The expression on Naruto's face when she mentioned the Avatar, he sported a look of confliction. Naruto knew about the Avatar and his purpose; to keep the balance of this world. To fight the Avatar was a risky move, at worst he would lose, but there were other factors that he had to take into account.
"If I say yes, you have to swear to that on your honor and your life that nobody dies especially children and women; can you make sure that doesn't happen?" he questioned. Azula was taken back; did Naruto really expect her to let children die? The blonde must've heard or even seen the fatalities of the war. "Seeing one body of a child is one to many." He stated. Only days after coming back to this world did he see the death caused by the war.
"I swear on my honor and my life, nobody will die." While this did calm Naruto down a good bit, the same couldn't be said for Toph, she knew that Azula actually meant her promise, but this didn't mean much to her.
"Toph, we can go separate ways now." The blonde stated much to Azula's delight.
'Good, now there won't be any—'
"What if I want to come with you?" the Fire Princess was shocked to hear the question, the blind Earth Bender had asked. Was she serious?
"You'd want to stay with me, but you're against this?"
"What she's talking about doing is horrible and I won't deny that, but… being with you is better than being alone out here." She admitted much to the blonde's surprise and Azula's annoyance she could already tell that the girl was going to get in the way. "So yes, I want to come with you." the blonde looked to Azula to see that she was trying her best to keep her composure, she took a breath.
"Fine, she can come as long as she doesn't get in the way." Naruto smiled.
"Thanks."
"Let's just go." She said quickly ushering them to follow her, she was trying her best to hide the blush on her face. 'His smile.' The image of the smiling Naruto she remembered from her childhood was clear in her mind, she couldn't help but smile.
The Next Day – Outside the Wall of Ba Sing Se
Azula's team consisted of her two friends, Ty Lee and Mai. Ty Lee was a girl with a petite body type with brown eyes and hair. She was obviously the more cheerful one of the group. Then there was Mai, she had the same body type as Azula, she was a year older than all of them, she had black hair and tawny colored eyes; the emotional distant look in her eyes only served to confuse him. At the moment however, Naruto and Mai were currently on top of the drill watching out for anyone who would try and stop the drill. "You seem really bored out here." The blonde said. "Understandable considering…we have company." Looking down the two saw a group of Earth Benders; they were trying to stop the drill. "There goes my boredom." The two slid down the side of the drill, Mai launching knives at her targets while Naruto launched himself at his own targets. Smashing into the ground he moved quickly. Dodging their attacks and getting close enough to take them out with single strikes. His sword was strapped firm, he didn't need to use it against them; the last enemy fell.
"We're going back inside." Mai said.
"You go, I'll be right behind you." he looked to the wall, Mai simply nodded and went back inside without him. Naruto approached the wall and looked around to make sure that there wasn't anyone around. Getting into stance that he was taught, the blonde concentrated on the part where the drill was hitting. Putting both hands forward "Let's speed things up a bit." He pulled them apart. The part of the wall that the drill was hitting began to break apart and open more and more until the drill penetrated the wall even more and a lot quicker. Now satisfied with his work, the blonde went back into the drill using the opening at the bottom.
Azula found herself rather annoyed upon hearing that the Avatar had gotten inside, and that Naruto was still outside. However, she was kind of satisfied that the drill had just made contact with the wall; they were getting through with ease. But at the moment that satisfaction would have to wait as she had just come into contact with the avatar; wasting no time, she launched the first attack. "Wow Azula you were right it is the avatar, and friends." The three immediately ran after Ty Lee attacked only to be pushed back, she easily grabbed onto of the beams. 'And the hunt is on!' she said going after them; the trio chased them down the hall. "Go after them, the avatar is mine." She said chasing after the boy. He was fast, she would give him that and she would have to catch up. Upon reaching the top of the drill, Aang went to work and began cutting inside using the water that Katara had given him. Not even two minutes in was he stopped via a blue fireball. 'Oh no' Azula had caught up to him. Both were now in stance and ready to fight. Azula was standing perfectly still much to Aang's confusion.
'What's she doing?' that's when he saw it, another person behind her; he wasn't wearing any sort of Fire Nation clothing or armor. That's when Aang panicked as the unknown young teen let out a large stream of blue flames, right behind Azula. "What're you—" the flames didn't touch her despite her being behind them. Azula let out a barrage of flames that Aang was forced to dodge via jumping over them and gliding around the two.
"What took you so long?" Azula questioned.
"Sorry about that, I ended up close-lining some guy I didn't know." the blonde stated.
"Likely one of the intruders." She said.
"So, who's this kid?"
"The avatar, he's—wait!" Naruto went after the boy immediately much to Azula's ire, she stayed back. Naruto dodged the boy's attack with only one hitting him, he was cut but the wound healed. Now close enough to the boy, Naruto started attacking. Aang was doing his best to get away by finding an opening, but Naruto wouldn't give him the chance. But Naruto saw his chance. Blocking his face with a mistake as Naruto's only slightly flaming kick to the boy's left arm. His arm broke instantly and the burn only made it worse. Aang didn't get to exclaim in pain as Naruto had him by the mouth. "Talk about brutal." Azula said putting her hand on Naruto's shoulder. Aang began to lose consciousness, but that changed in mere moments. Naruto already knew what was about to happen, he dropped the boy and grabbed Azula just in time. Aang's eyes were now glowing completely white, air and earth were now violently circling around him. "The avatar state!" she was surprised to see it up close, and in truth she knew that taking the avatar like this wasn't a good idea. "Sadly we can't take him on alone like this even with the damage you did, as much as it pains me to say this, we have to retreat for now." Naruto knew that he could take Aang on, but the battle on its own would put Azula in serious danger; if he went all out then she would get hurt or worse.
"You're right." Creating a massive pillar of fire and sending it at Aang, Naruto picked Azula up and retreated into the drill just as the avatar's friends came up. The drill broke through and kept going until the sabotage from Katara and Sokka finally kicked in, the pressure from the combined water and earth kicked in. The drill stopped and broke down from the inside. Inside the control room Azula wasn't as angry as she thought she would be.
"At least it wasn't a complete failure." Toph said. "We got a bit more than half-way inside."
"The Earth Bender is right." Ty Lee said.
"It's Toph, not Earth Bender." She stated.
"We're in, so now what?" Mai questioned. Azula was silent for a few moments.
"How about infiltration, Toph and I would fit right in; I just need to change my clothes" Naruto suggested.
"And what about us, we can't just walk through the front door." Mai said wondering why Azula hadn't said anything.
"Well, those Kiyoshi Warriors are only a couple days away, and they'd be more than welcomed in the city; 'borrow' their identities and just walk in like you belong there; it'll be easy considering what just happened." He said.
"They would want any help from their fellow Earth Kingdom fighters; the Kiyoshi Warriors especially." Azula stated. "Alright, go inside and wait for us to arrive."
"Alright, let's go Toph!" the exclaimed leading the girl out. As she followed the blonde, Toph managed to look at Azula and smirk; instantly the Princess lunged at the blind Earth Bender only for Ty Lee to hold her back.
"Don't let her get to you." the girl said still holding the infuriated back until Azula calmed down. "What was that anyway?" she questioned.
"Nothing." She said lied, it was obvious that she didn't like the Earth Bender but they didn't know why.
Ba Sing Se
Naruto had reluctantly changed clothes when they reached the Hotel, they'd come up with a good story so they could get into the city; homeless friends with nothing but each other traveling together really pulled at people's heart strings. "So what happened when I left you in the room?" the blonde questioned.
"I went to sleep, not being able to see really sucks." She said leaning back. "So, we've just infiltrated Ba Sing Se for the Fire Nation Princess who happens to be your friend; ever saw myself ever going along with something like this." she wasn't a fan of the Fire Nation for obvious reasons an yet here she was; helping them. Well, she was tagging along with Naruto really, and she hadn't done anything really. But now she was in Ba Sing Se, as part of the infiltration mission; she was doing something that she never thought that she would ever do. That's when a realization hit her. "Don't you think that you'll stand out too much with your golden hair? Eventually, the guards will get suspicious and try to find us." Naruto grimaced, Toph was right, he would stand out the most adding to the drill breaking through; he was in a bind. He suddenly snapped his fingers, he had an idea.
"Toph, I'm going to have to go underground until Azula and the others get here, so I'll have to leave you with my sister." He said much to Toph's confusion.
"Sister, you never said anything about have a sister." She stated. The blonde smirked.
"I never really had a reason to bring her up until now, she came into the city without you guys noticing." He stated; of course he was lying about having a sister. "Listen, while she's around you, I have to be very far away; we can't be in the same place at once otherwise things will get…weird." He cringed. He didn't like lying to his friend but he didn't have a choice. "Just try to get along with her, please?"
"I make no promises." To this the blonde simply smiled, he didn't have to worry. Leaving the hotel and going around the corner, he closed his eyes.
'Korra?' the young woman opened her eyes as she was snapped out of her meditative state. 'You can take care of her for now right?' the young woman stood up and stretched out.
'You don't have to worry about a thing, she's in good hands.' Korra stated. 'Now, let's do this.' the blonde nodded in affirmation and closed his eyes for a few moments before opening them to show that they were glowing blue, this glow consumed his body; he began to change rapidly until the glow died down to reveal Korra. The young woman's form was that of her 17 year old self wearing the same outfit she did back then. Clenching her hands she took a breath, this was only the second time they'd done this and last time she was in control for only a few hours, but this time it would be for a few days. Going into the hotel and into the room, she looked to Toph.
"Toph?" she said getting the girl's attention.
"You're Naruto's sister right?"
"Yeah, I'm Korra." She stated. The next couple of days were going to be quite interesting for everyone.
Chapter 4 End
