Hello again.

Previously, on Narutar…

The girl then dipped her hands into the stream when she heard a faint noise behind her; the sound of a snapped twig. Hinata immediately slapped her hands together, "Byakugan!"

As soon as the veins shot out from her eye, all she saw was a white web coming up behind her before she felt herself entangled in a net. Hinata was instantly flung over the stream and onto the other side. She hit the ground with a thump, spun into the base of a tree, and lost consciousness.

Zuko heard the twig snap, too, but the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a net-gun fired and Hinata slamming into a tree. He shot up from the roots and soon flames were seen exploding from his hands, "Let her go!"

"Go back to sleep,"

Zuko's eyes widened as he felt a presence behind him, then he felt a sharp pain in his head before he fell forward.

-

Smellerbee ran two steps in worry and looked around, then spoke anxiously to Longshot without looking at him, "Longshot… did Jet tell you anything about this?" Turning to him, Smellerbee saw his head shake slowly. Pipsqueak took a step forward,

"Where is everybody?"

Shino folded his arms, "I was about to ask you that,"

Just then, Kiba and Akamaru came dashing back to the group, Kiba's voice stressing every syllable, "Guys, come look at this,"

Smellerbee looked at him in horror.

-

Haru nodded, "My father is greatly appreciated, and so am I. I can't thank you enough for saving my father,"

Gaara turned to him, "Your father?"

Haru nodded, "Yes, my father is still alive, too. I'm thankful that—"

"—I think I know why,"

The Earthbender tilted his head, "What?"

Gaara had his aquamarine orbs locked on Haru's, "I know why my mom saved you," Haru was silent, encouraging him to tell, "Somehow, you and your dad are similar to me and my mom,"

-

The water tribe guardian turned to the boy when the coast was clear, "Hey, I'm Sokka,"

The kid looked up at him with lonesome eyes, but nevertheless gave him a small smile, "Kahn,"

-

"Oh, right. Guys, this is Kahn. I bet he can help us bust outta here, how 'bout it?" He looked at the kid.

Kahn nodded without hesitation, and that's when the tank stopped. The kids heard a blend of yells coming from the front half of the tank, and they strained their ears to listen.

-

The female fiddled with a wheel-like contraption and said flatly, "Just shoot them, then,"

"No, it's not that simple. Princess Azula told us not to openly shoot the Avatar,"

VIII.

(Pirate Ship. Three Hours 'til Daybreak. Hinata)

"Alright, I need all hands on deck. Now!"

"Aye aye, Cap'n!"

White eyes fluttered open from the resonating sounds of creaking doors and whirling footsteps. Hinata blinked twice. Then her gut tapped her on the shoulder, and she gasped. The girl pulled herself up, only to get yanked down by metal snakes clasping around her hands and feet. Hinata took a look at her adorned wrists through the cracks of sunlight peeking through the roof above her head. .

Shackles.

The Hyuuga sighed in defeat, "Not again," She then heard the sounds of a gruff man barking orders above her,

"I need all hands on deck! Pull them in! Pull them in!"

Hinata sat upright, ignoring the pained it caused in her back, and darted her eyes around, "Am I on a…" Suddenly she heard someone shift next to her, and she jumped back. The girl would've hit the ceiling if the chains weren't there to hold her down. She whispered, "W-Who's there?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry, didn't mean to frighten you,"

The two of them were at least two meters apart; at different sides of the cell. Hinata was by the barnacle-adorned bars; the other by the back wall by a small musty-looking porthole. The girl tilted her head, "W-Who are you?"

"My name is Iroh, but you can call me Uncle, milady,"

"U…Uncle?"

-

-

(Hideout. Daybreak. Shino; Kiba; Akamaru; Smellerbee; Pipsqueak; Longshot)

"Hurry!"

Smellerbee, Pipsqueak, Longshot, and Shino rushed to where Kiba and Akamaru were. As soon as they got near Akamaru, the dog ran ahead. Kiba waited until they were there to start leading them. He growled, "This is not good," Smellerbee's teeth grinded together, and Pipsqueak and Longshot furrowed their brows. Shino adjusted his glasses while running while thinking to himself. After a right turn, they all stopped, and held their breath.

Black.

What a night it must've been.

Smoke drifted up from numerous smothered branches; ashen wood shavings pricked off blackened treehouses; bridges hung on single ropes if they didn't dismember themselves from the burst outcrops already; crackling fires burned within other small wooden buildings; and black streaks ran across every tree you could see.

One didn't have to turn their head to tell that Smellerbee was the one biting back tears. Kiba picked up Akamaru while Pipsqueak and Longshot stepped in front of the group and scanned the area for any kids. Shino pushed up his glasses while shaking his head, "What a mess."

Kiba nodded in bitter agreement, "It seemed like a nice place, too."

Bits and pieces of the Freedom Fighters' conversation could be heard.

"When did this happen? We were only gone for three hours."

A nod.

Suddenly Smellerbee bolted away from everyone, and Kiba turned around, "Hey! Where are you going?!"

"Jet! Jet!"

-

-

(Sunset Village. Morning. Gaara and Haru.)

"Me and my… yours and your… What are you saying?" Haru was beyond confused at this point. Who knows how long they've been standing on that desolate hill, overlooking the weary landscape of what used to be a busy town the day before. Or was it two days?

"I don't know what's going on, but, for whatever reason, you and your father were meant to be alive," Gaara kept his gaze towards the rising sun, his aquamarine eyes shimmering with curiousness. Haru decided to just nod his head, and followed Gaara's gaze.

There was a moment of silence, then the sand shinobi spoke, "Bring me to your dad. I think my mom wants to meet him."

"Follow me."

-

-

(Fire Nation Rhino Tank. Morning. Sokka; Shikamaru; Ino; Chouji; Kahn.)

Sokka's spine tingled at Aang's universal title. His mind suddenly kicked into a fastbreak, and his thoughts went haywire. They needed to get out of there. Now.

Sokka pulled Shikamaru towards him, and he whispered in his ear, "Okay, here's the plan."

"Wait," Shikamaru held up his hand, and craned his neck toward Ino and Chouji, "Guys."

"What is it Shikamaru?" Chouji whispered, to Shikamaru's luck.

"You three…" he then looked at Sokka's hand that was still grasping his collar, "Uh, Sokka, do you mind…?"

"Oh, right."

Shikamaru then pushed Sokka forward and leaned forward at the same time, so that they were both looking at the hatchdoor on the floor of the tank, "Okay, everybody huddle."

As soon as all five of them were face-to-face with the hatch, Shikamaru spoke barely above a whisper, "Okay, I have a way to get out of here, but it's pretty risky. Sokka,"

"Yeah?"

"How do these tanks work? Is there an alarm system anywhere in here?"

Sokka thought for a moment and looked around, "Um, I'm not so sure, but I'm pretty sure there's an-Aha, there it is." The water tribe boy pointed toward a row of small sensors under the benches, "Those are our problem. As soon as the hatch opens, those guys activate."

Shikamaru peered at the sensors now that they were at eye-level. One could not see them unless they were looking between their legs and under the bench. There were five below each bench, and they were beeping red, "Lasers?"

"Most likely," Sokka sighed, "But if you wanna get technical—"

"—No. Don't plan on it."

"O-okay. Just trying to make a joke…"

Shikamaru got back in his zone, "Okay, so here's what we're going to do. Chouji, do you still have your kunai with you?"

"I only had time to hide four in a chip bag. They took the rest."

"That'll do. Give me two."

"Got it."

"Ino, can you do your Mind Transfer Jutsu from behind?"

"I never tried it, but I'm pretty sure I can do it."

Shikamaru nodded as Chouji handed him two kunai, "Okay. Sokka," The water tribe boy raised his eyebrows and smiled, making Shikamaru roll his eyes, "Here's the plan. I'm going to try and open the hatch, so you and Kahn are going to distract the guards. As soon as the hatch opens, Chouji and I will use two kunai to reflect the lasers over the hatch to hopefully get rid of the other sensors."

Sokka nodded, "Sounds good, but, how are we going to distract the guards?"

Shikamaru smirked, "With these." He held up the weapons, and Sokka's eyes sparkled,

"Awesome!"

Kahn put a hand on Sokka's shoulder, calming him down, "Right. Sorry." Then he smiled as he swiped a kunai from Shikamaru.

"Hey! Be careful!" Nara whispered.

"I know I know."

"Troublesome. Okay, the female guard will most likely take up the kunai from you, and when she does—Ino—you will use your Mind Transfer Jutsu to take over her body, quickly take out her partner, and turn off the sensors, got it?"

"Got it."

Shikamaru turned away from the rest of them and kneeled down to get a good look at the alarm system, "Good. Okay, Sokka. Kahn. Don't hurt yourselves. We don't have time for mistakes."

As soon as he said that he heard a shriek ring through the walls of the tank, "YEEEOW!"

-

-

"Ow! Sorry, it just hurt, that's all."

"No no no, I'm the one that should say sorry."

(Pirate Ship dungeon. Morning. Hinata and Uncle Iroh.)

Hinata wrung her unchained wrists after Uncle released them, "How did you do that?"

"Oh, I've had some experience with cells and shackles," The former sighed as he propped himself up against the wall by his cell partner.

The girl blinked in confusion, "So… You're not going to get yourself out?"

Uncle shook his head, "I never said I wasn't going to. I'm just waiting for the right time to escape."

"No one's escaping anytime soon."

A gruff voice caused the two to look out of their cell. A man dressed in heavy Fire Nation armor stood before their cell, gripping a boy by the collar. The boy twisted fiercely,

"Let me go!"

"Sure." The man then chucked the teen into an open cell opposite the hall from Hinata's and Uncle's, "Now sit, boy."

Uncle Iroh immediately frowned. Hinata watched the boy roar as he hit a wall of his chamber. It was uncle who spoke after the howl's intense echo died down. He spoke with lucid fury, "Admiral Zhao."

"It's Commander now."

"What's the difference between a pig and a swine?"

Admiral/ Commander Zhao thrust his hand out and released a twist of flames that invaded the cell. If it hadn't been for Uncle's quick reflexes to redirect the flames into the opposite wall, Hinata would have burned. The boy furrowed his brows in helplessness as the girl gasped and covered her face with dirty hands. Uncle Iroh glared at the Fire Nation general and Zhao spoke, "Don't mock me again, or else."

"What have you become, Zhao?" Uncle glowered, "Using your power to strike fear into the hearts of young ones to get a point across? And an irrelevant one at that."

Zhao just snuffed and walked away. After two steps, he turned his back, "Why don't you ask that question to your nephew? He's on this ship, right?"

Before Uncle could open his mouth, Zhao already closed the door to the brig.

Hinata slowly took her hands away from her face, "Is…Is he gone?"

Uncle smoothed her ruffled hair, "Don't worry. He's gone."

Hinata sighed and looked over into the other cell. She saw the boy leaning his head against the wall; a signal of defeat. He reminded her of seeing Naruto like that sometimes. She wanted to talk to him, but decided he had enough problems to deal with.

Uncle sighed and looked up to the cracks of sunlight piercing their cell ceiling though the wooden planks, "Someday… karma is going to swallow him up like a lobster-whale."

"Or fry him into bacon like the Fire Nation swine he is."

Hinata and Iroh looked at the boy in the other cell, and Uncle was the first to ask, "Why were you with Commander Zhao?"

"It's a long story."

"Seeing as we're held down in shackles in a pirate ship, I think we have a bit of time for a long story."

The boy frowned, but Iroh kept up the conversation. Hinata smiled at Uncle's antics; she loved the atmosphere around him. The girl couldn't put her finger on it, but she really liked something else about the man in her cell, something bigger.

Iroh continued, "Let's start with your name."

The boy hesitated, and then decided to just go along with it. He seethed out every syllable, "My name is Jet. Commander Zhao burned down my hideout and captured me. He said he wanted to sell me to the pirates, but after he found who they were holding hostage, the only thing Zhao wanted to do was seize their ship and bring it into Ba Sing Se's port, which is probably where we're about to dock right now. Don't see what's so special about you, though, firebender."

Hinata blinked while Uncle just frowned, "See? That didn't take long."

-

-

(Ba Sing Se Outskirts. Daybreak. Aang; the Others; the Drill.)

Aang stood firmly with his glider as the others stood around Appa.

He was looking up at Azula, who was standing on the top deck of the Drill before her two cronies.

His voice bellowed, "Where's Sokka?!"

She took to biting her nails again, and then turned on her heel, walking right back into the Drill, "I don't have time for this," She said to the Commander of the mechanism, "Start for the wall; we're running behind schedule."

"What about the Avatar?" Mae drawled from the window.

"He'll be on his way up here soon. Don't worry."

"Joy." Mae said as she walked out of the Captain's room with Tai Lee.

-

-

-

(How about a change of scenery? Or dimensions for that matter)

(Konohagakure. Hokage Tower. 12:46 P.M. Hokage; Kakashi; Jiraiya)

"Kakashi… Kakashi…" The same name, repeated over and over as the Hokage paced back and forth in front of his desk. He was gripping a pipe in his left hand.

"Master Hokage, it's getting late." Kakashi was starting to buckle under all the weight his name was putting on him, being slung over his shoulder numerous times. If he had earned five yen for each time he heard his name that night, he would have bounced all the way to his favorite book store to buy enough "Ichi Ichi Paradise" books to have him fired as an ANBU black-ops.

And Jiraiya would've bounced all the way to the nearest pub from his earnings off Kakashi.

But there was no bouncing, just the shuffling feet of a distressed Hokage. Finally, he spoke not a name or a word, but a sentence, "This world is in danger."

Kakashi nodded gravely. As did Jiraiya.

"And no one here can stop it."

This is where he eventually lost them. The three of them have had these gatherings every night for the past three days; the Hokage would inform them about how their students were progressing (well, in Jiraiya's case, student), and then they would stand in his office, waiting for him to tell them why the heck their student/students were there in the first place.

That's right. Not even Kakashi or Jiraiya knew what was going on.

You thought you were the only one asking questions?

"Master Hokage, we are well aware of what you have said, but I'm pretty sure neither Kakashi nor I have any idea as to why you are saying those things. Why did Kakashi have to use his… —that jutsu in the first place?!" Jiraiya finally cracked after Day 6. He didn't have any more patience. Kakashi was the next egg out of the carton.

The Hokage stopped and looked out the big window that surrounded the room, observing the few stars that poked out of the indigo sail.

Oh, the holes of heaven were in abundance that night.

He answered with his back turned, "It's about time you asked."


(A/N:) (Sigh) I'm so sorry guys. This has been the biggest gap yet (well, in this story anyway; there are worse.) Long story short, updates won't be as fast as they once were. (Grr) I'm not holding any shields, so go ahead and spike me with tomatoes. It's the least I can do for being on as long a hiatus as the actual Avatar writers themselves... (ha...ha? my attempt at humor)

Next time on Narutar: The Lost Saga... I can't promise review replies this time, as some of you already know. :( Sorry about that guys. BUT! This story is DEFINITELY not over. The updates will come.

Just not soon.

A small warning.