I know it was a while for the update, but I was in a shitty mood after I had read what the author of "Avatar Naruto" had to say about only 3 readers reviewing his work, and that made me think since I understand his point of view since through the reviews that's how we, the writers, know if we are going through the right path on the story and whether or not we have to make corrections to our stories, which brings me to another topic, that and add to the fact that I've been on the hospital due to back injuries and have been going to therapy ever since;
To the author that wrote about the missing plot between the four sages and Sasuke, I left that out on purpose so I can present it later on in the story.
And so, without further adieu, sit back and read on the final chapter of book one!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Avatar: TLAB, and the song "Imagine"
Avatar timeline:
Episode "The Waterbending Master" will be Naruto modified
Episode "The Siege of the North, Pt. 1 will be Naruto modified
Episode "The Siege of the North, Pt. 2 will be Naruto modified
And now . . . On with the show!
.
. .
. . .
. . . .
. . . . .
. . . .
. . .
. .
.
Water
Earth
Fire
Air
Long ago the four nations lived together in harmony,
Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked,
Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them,
But when the world needed him most, he vanished.
One hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar,
An air-bender named Aang,
But unknown to us, the avatar of legend, a man named Naruto had reawakened.
And although Aang's air-bending skills are amazing and Naruto may be the crimson avatar, they both have a lot to learn before they're ready to save anyone.
But . . .
I believe Aang and Naruto can save the world.
.
. .
. . .
. . . .
. . . . .
. . . .
. . .
. .
.
Previously on Avatar of the Four Dragons:
Red light shot towards the skies, forcefully dispersing the pillar of fire as it revealed Naruto, his eyes still closed, unharmed and floating a good fifteen feet of the ground as the tattoos had now become fully visible, a double headed arrow on his chest with two small lines going downward on the sides of his pectorals, a circle on each shoulder with scoop underneath it, a spiral tattoo on each forearm, starting from his wrist to halfway up his forearm, all glowing a bright crimson
- / . \ -
"Aang, the person from your vision is a man whose power overshadows all of the Avatars combined," revealed Roku, causing Aang's eyes to widen in shock
- \ . / -
"You can't possibly be saying that there could be two Avatars, are you?" asked an incredulous Katara
- / . \ -
"Aang . . . beware of the man with the crimson eyes with black tomoes in them."
- \ . / -
"After ten thousand years, you're still as powerful, Namikaze," thought the man in silence
. . . . .
. . . .
. . .
. .
.
Calm Before the Storm;
Wrath of the Awakened Dragon, pt. 1
-\ II /-
\ . /
Naruto was seen relaxing on Appa's tail, enjoying the soft feeling he felt as he rest on the bison's fur as they flew around the ice bergs on their search for the Northern Water Tribe, but so far, they didn't had any luck;
"Ahh this feels good so peaceful and tranquil," thought the blond with glee as he closed his eyes and got ready to take a nap, that is until someone had to go whining and complaining;
"Not that I'm one to complain but can't Appa fly any higher?" whined Sokka as he mope around while hanging half body over the saddle, annoying the young Avatar and the their blond friend;
"So much for peace and tranquility," muttered Naruto as growled while sitting up so he could get up and join the rest of the teens in the saddle as he sat next to a laying Katara
"I have an idea, why don't we all climb on your back and fly to the North Pole!" retorted Aang crankily as he pointed his finger towards Sokka, making the older boy glare back;
"I'd love to! Climb aboard everybody, Sokka's ready for takeoff," The older boy snarked as he pointed to his back and wiggled his ass around, only to have Momo sit on him.
"Both of you relax, we're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been flying for two days straight," Katara said as she got on her knees and tried to calm both of them down, but saw that they both were ignoring her. Seeing that her words were having no effect, she turned towards the calmest of the group;
"I would appreciate if you helped me out," remarked Katara as she saw the blond with his arms over the saddle and his head leaned back;
"Just throw them overboard, the water will cool them off," was the lazily reply from Nartuo
"And how is it that you're flying with us instead of your dragon!" Suddenly remarked Sokka as he pointed an accusing finger at Naruto, who just lifted his head and raised an eyebrow lazily;
"For one, Shen is out hunting for food, he came find me anywhere I go, and two, it's better to travel with you guys since I have the company of a lovely lady," said Naruto as he teased Sokka in the end by hitting on Katara by wrapping an arm around her shoulders, making her blush lightly while Aang glare at the blond with jealousy in his eyes, but neither one of them noticed a stream of ice heading towards their direction as it formed an ice berg as it reached up, the intention quite clear, luckily though, Aang quickly got a hold of the rails and managed to steer Appa to the side, making everyone on the saddle to grab a hold so they weren't thrown off. Katara, however, was barely hanging on with one hand and with another jerk made by the flying bison as he tried to dodge another attack only to be nicked on one of its paw, spiraling out of control, making her release of her hold as she felt herself being thrown off, until suddenly, she felt someone reaching out and wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her close towards the saddle, allowing her to grip her arms tightly around the waist of the person that save her, only to look up and let out a gasp of surprise to find that it was Naruto that had saved her again as he held firmly on the rail of the saddle with one hand;
"Don't worry, I got you," assured the blond as he held on while holding her close with his arm around her waist and braised them both for impact as they crashed into the water with a loud splash;
"Are you alright?" asked the blond softly as he looked down at her, only to feel a nod in response on his chest from the girl
"Yea, thank you Naruto," whispered Katara softly as she slowly detached herself from, only to feel cold once again when she separated herself from him, then she stared at him as he got up and saw him reached for his sword with Sokka following suit as he reached for his boomerang only to be shook once more as they saw ice forming around Appa, freezing him in place with no chance to jump into the skies;
"Looks like we have a welcoming committee," sarcastically said Naruto as he saw a fleet of water tribe members floating towards them, causing Katara to jump to her feet in excitement;
"They are water-benders! We found the tribe!" she exclaimed in excitement as they surrounded them
- / | \ -
At another part of the world, a port was occupied with Fire Nation soldiers, as they camped while their higher ups held a meeting inside a large tent, with Admiral Zhao in the lead;
"The Avatar is heading north, towards the Northern Water Tribe," exclaimed the admiral as he faced the map till he turned towards the other captains in the meeting, "The Avatar needs to master water-bending, so he will look for a teacher there."
Then an elder man with a long beard shouted;
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get him!"
"Patience Capt. Lee," instructed Zhao passively as he stared sternly at the captain, "This isn't some little earth village that we can just march into. The water tribe is a great nation," lectured the Admiral as he walked around the captains, "There's a reason as to why they have survived a hundred years of war, the frozen thundra is treacherous and the landscape itself is an icy fortress," by then he had reached the other side of the table and placed his hands on top of it as he stared at each and everyone gathered around it, "We'll need a massive invasion force."
"But Admiral Zhao, what about the rumors of the Crimson Avatar?" question another captain
"What about them?" asked the Admiral as he narrowed his eyes at the captain
"The people are talking that he is real and far more powerful than the current Avatar," informed the captain, "If the rumors are true and he were to aid the Northern Tribe, we would suffer a deathly blow."
"I assure you captain, with the fire power we will have at our disposal, even this so called Avatar of Four Dragons won't stand a chance against us," reassured the Admiral, however, one of the captains wasn't convinced;
"Don't coy with us Zhao!" accused another captain, who looked far older than Zhao, "I know what happened to the fleet you sent to the Southern Tribe a couple of months ago, they were destroyed by the Avatar himself, leaving no survivors and I also happen to know to the current incident that occurred at the Puhai Stronghold. Even with the aid of the Yu Yan archers, he managed to free the current Avatar and slip out of your fingers, leaving you with heavy casualties in the end. So how do you expect us to believe your word that the Crimson Avatar won't be hindrance on our plan?"
By now, all eyes were on Zhao, who stood quietly with a dark look in his eye, causing some of the captains to get nervous as he spoke;
"Believe me when I say this gentleman . . . If he decides to intervene in our conquest," he began as he got off the table, "Avatar of legend or not, he will fall with the rest of the Northern Tribe."
- \ | / -
Meanwhile, back the gang, they were being escorted by the water-benders they had encountered earlier towards the Northern Tribe and along the distance, a massive wall made out of ice came into view as they kept getting closer and closer;
"There it is!" exclaimed Aang as he pointed
"The Northern Water Tribe," muttered Katara as she stared in amazement
"We finally made it," muttered Sokka as if he were still dreaming
Then the group watched as some of the water benders melted a part of the wall to create a pathway for them to enter. One of them gesture them to enter with a smile, and entered they did as they came to a dead end, only to be surprised by the amount of water-benders the tribe contained as they melted parts of the wall along with another wall so they could rise to higher levels of the stream and continue on their way into the heart of the city;
"I can't believe how many water-benders live up here," exclaimed Katara in awe
"Finding yourself a teacher won't a problem now," pointed out the blond with a small grin on his face
They followed another escort that was waiting for them and showed them around the city as they venture towards the town hall, while Aang simply waved at everyone who had gathered around to see who was the person that had intrude into their city, while Naruto simply was mesmerized by the architecture of the city itself, some of it looking very similar to that of Konoha;
"What a beautiful place. . . "thought Naruto the blond as he looked around, feeling right at home for some reason as he noticed some of its people staring at him while the children just waved at him, in innocence with a smile on their faces, making Naruto to smile softly and wave back
Meanwhile, Sokka was also entrance by the beauty of the city, till he caught sight of a canoe heading straight in their direction, but what really caught his attention was the girl that was inside the canoe, adorning a purple coat with her white hair being in two pigtails down by either side of her face, and two giant loops being held by a piece on top of her head, causing the young warrior to blush by her beauty;
"This place I beautiful," said Katara
"Yea she sure is," replied Sokka dreamingly with Naruto being the only one to have heard him and glanced back to what he was staring at and gained a smirk when he caught sight of the white haired girl;
"Ah love at first sight," thought Naruto with a small smile
After floating through the city, they had reached the Tribe's main tower, walking up the stairs as they went to meet up with the chief of the village, but Naruto came to a stop as he looked up to the sky, making the rest of the group stop as well;
"Something wrong?" asked the air-bender, but only got a grin in response;
"No, nothing, just Shen finally found us," was the reply as a loud roar was heard, causing the people to panic and scream in fright at the sight of the dragon. Many water-benders and soldiers rushed to fight off the beast, but when they reached the floor, they stopped on their march, stupefied when they saw Katara petting the dragon, as said beast was laying while the beast nuzzled its head gently against the girl, growling softly in content as it made her giggle while Naruto turned towards the soldiers;
"He is with me and as you can see, he is harmless unless provoked, so please, refrain from attacking him," warned the blonde as he walked up the stairs after Aang and Sokka, Katara walking next to him with Appa and Shen walking after them.
- / | \ -
Night had fallen and on the prince's ship, Iroh was having a musical night with the rest of the ship's crew which ended abruptly once Zhao came aboard, only to be the bearer of bad news to Prince Zuko;
Zuko was sitting on his bed, relaxing and contemplating on what action to take on his capture of the Avatar, until he heard a knock coming from his door;
"For the last time uncle, I'm not playing the sungi horn," growled Zuko without turning his head, that is, until he heard his door being opened with Iroh coming in looking somber;
"No, it's about our plans. There's a bit of a problem," informed the former general as he allowed the Admiral inside the room;
"I'm taking your crew," said the Admiral, causing Zuko to get up from his bed in anger;
"WHAT!"
"I've recruited them for a little expedition to the North Pole," turning towards his uncle for confirmation;
"Uncle, is this true?"
"I'm afraid so, he's taken everyone," told Iroh as he began to sob, "even the cook."
"I'm sorry you won't be there to watch me capture the Avatar, but I can't have you getting in my way again," said Zhao without a hint of sincerity as he passively stared down at the teen as he watched Zuko try to attack him in rage only to be restrained by his uncle. Suddenly, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, and walked towards the wall to inspect the item only to stop, rooted on his feet when he saw the broad swords, recognizing them when he had flashbacks on his mind of the blue spirit when he broke inside the fortress and freed the Avatar, to later on being helped by the blonde Avatar. Reaching for one of the swords, he twisted his hand with the blade in hand as he inspects it, causing Zuko to tense up;
"I didn't know you were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko," admitted the Admiral, watching the prince's reaction out of the corner of his eye, watching as the banished teen stayed perfectly clam;
"I'm not, they're antiques, just decorative," was the banished teen's reply. Turning towards the former General, "General Iroh, have you heard of two individuals, the Crimson Avatar and the Blue Spirit?"
"Just rumors, but I firmly believe that neither one of them are real," replied Iroh
"Oh they're both real general, and both are enemies to the Fire Nation" said Zhao as he handed the sword to Iroh, "and I have a feeling that justice is going to catch up to both them very shortly," claimed the Admiral as he walked towards the door and stopped, "General Iroh, the offer to join my mission still stands, if you changed your mind."
And with that, the Admiral closed the door as he walked out of the room, with a dark glint in his eyes.
- \ | / -
Back at the North Pole, a banquet was being held in honor of the Avatar and the arrival of their sister tribe members;
Servants were seen carrying food as they walked inside the chamber, serving the people and the high chief, who had Naruto and Aang sitting on his left while Katara and Sokka sat on right. Even Appa was served while Shen was getting annoyed by the servants as they were too scared to approach him, causing the beast to growl in frustration till he launched himself towards the cart carrying meat, scaring the servants shitless as they scurried back, causing the blond to laugh out loud while Aang and Katara just smiled nervously at the chief. Shaking his head, Chief Arnook got up and gained the attention of the people when he raised his hands;
"Tonight . . . . we are gathered here to celebrate my daughter's sixteenth birthday," announced Chief Arnook as he gestured behind him, making Naruto and the Gaang turn around only for Sokka and Nauto to see the same white haired girl that they both had seen earlier in the city, "Princess Yue is now a marrying age."
The identified princess nodded at her father, "Thank you father may the great ocean and moon spirits watch over us in these troubled times," and took her seat next to Sokka. The High Chief then gesture towards the crowd to quiet down;
"Now, also tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Water Tribe," gesturing towards the siblings that sat on his right, "And they have brought someone very special, someone who was led to believe to have disappeared from the world on till now," then he gestured towards Aang, "The Avatar."
The crowd began to cheer even louder as their hope was renewed, however, a voice from the shadows shot out, causing everyone to go deadly silent;
"The Avatar will fail to fulfill his duty, just as the Avatar before him failed his when Roku didn't eliminate the catalyst that brought this war upon us," said a blue robed figure with insignia of water sage on his back walked out behind a pillar, his face covered by the shadows of his hood
"Who are you?" demanded the High Chief Arnook as his water-benders went into motion to protect their leader and the Avatar as they bended the water into ice shards, but the robed figured simply lazily lifted his left leg in front of him as he supported his body weight on his right, his hands moving in a circular motion till he slowly made a fist and slammed it onto his right palm in front of him just as he brought his leg down with a stomp, using the same water against the water benders as it melted into liquid again and fell on them and freezing them in thick blocks of ice, making everyone go wide eyed at the level of skill;
However, Naruto's eyes were the ones that held the most shock;
"It can't be! There's only one person that can control the water like that," thought the blonde avatar;
"I did not come here to fight Chief Arnook, but to simply tell you that he has awakened," said the robed figure, causing Arnook's eyes to widen at this revelation
Aang was about to jump at the figure but was held back, turning to his side in anger only to get a surprise when he found that he was being firmly held in his place by Naruto;
"What are you doing? Let me go!" harshly whispered Aang but quiet down when the blonde turned towards with a look that scared him;
"You have no chance of defeating him, so shut up and listen," whispered Naruto back and turned his sights back towards the robed person
"I see . . . "was all the High Chief said as he sat back down with his legs crossed, "but how do I know what you say is true?" asked Arnook only for the person to slowly raise his hand up, making everyone look up to see what was he pointing at, finding the carving of a dragon with its body shaped in a spiral with a crystal orb being held in its jaws, giving a soft red glow as it caused some to be hypnotized by its beauty; (A/N: picture the dragon statue in the ceiling that held the dragon scroll in Kung Fu Panda)
"This orb along with another three were made by the first incarnation of the avatar and given to each sacred temple of the first Sages taught by him, as a way to know when the next reincarnation would be born . . . . or to foretell of his return to the world as the orb glowed red," explained the person
"Who's return?" asked Katara
"The return of the Crimson Avatar."
At this, Aang's eyes widen, for he remembered the conversation he had with Avatar Roku at the Fire Temple, his words echoing in his mind while everyone inside the room murmured and whispered around, not believing that there were two Avatars;
"You mean that there are two Avatars?" exclaimed a shocked princess, only for the robed entity to nod in affirmative
"Sokka's was right! There are two Avatars!" thought Katara in disbelief
"But if he has reawakened, why hasn't he stopped the war already? Too many people are dying while he bides his time!"Shouted Sokka
"Despite of the power he posses, he still recovers from his slumber, for if he were to fight the Fire Nation at his current level, even he will be overwhelmed and everything would be lost," replied back the unknown entity
"Can you tell us who he is?" asked Katara, but the entity only shook his head slowly;
"I cannot say, for I'm prohibited to do so."
"Why not!" almost shouted Katara, but got no answer from the person
"My time is up, though be warned, for the tides have hanged and soon, war shall come to your door steps, and the dragon will rise once again to restore the balance that should have been kept, as it was the duty that was charged to you young Avatar" were the last words the entity said as he slowly began to turn into water and slowly dispersed into the floor.
Naruto simply stared where the entity stood, only to look at his right hand when he felt something being inscribed under his arm, lifting it up, he saw an inscription;
Meet me at the Spirit Oasis that is hidden behind the tower
After reading the note, Naruto simply waved his arm on top of the message and made it disappear, watching as Chief Arnook order for the festivities to continue as he presented Master Pakku with two of his students perform a water-bending show, quickly taking the recent event of everyone's minds as they became to entranced with the show as they applauded their skill. Scooting closer to Aang, he whispered to the young lad;
"Aang, tell the others that I've headed towards the room to rest, I'm still feeling drained from the long trip," to which he got a rapid nod from the young air bender, giving him a chance to spend time with Katara as the blonde got up and walked out of the room, making sure no one was around in the hallway, he sprinted quietly out of the tower through the window, quietly landing on the snow as he looked around for an entrance;
"I wonder how can there be an Oasis here with this kind of freezing temperature," thought the blonde as he walked forward till he saw a circular wooden door. Curious, he slowly walked towards it till he stood in front of it and placed his hand over the door;
"Hmm . . . I feel a great spiritual essence on the other side of this door," thought Naruto. Making his mind up, he pulled the door open and walked inside, becoming completely stunned when he saw a patch of land, covered in grass with a little forest growing behind a small pond, mesmerized at the beauty that lay before his eyes;
"How is this possible?" muttered the blond as he walked on top of the water towards the small island, where he kneeled down and touched the grass, but suddenly a small smirk appeared on his face as he got up to his feet and turned around to face the same robed entity that had crashed the festivities earlier, standing on top of the lake as he faced off against Naruto;
"That was quite a display of water-bending you displayed back there," praised Naruto, "it seems with my absence, you managed to grow into a powerful bender, I'm proud of you . . . . . Inari."
The robed figure slowly reached for his hood and pulled it off, revealing a wrinkled face with a hair style like Tazuna's except white with a matching goatee, if Naruto didn't know better, he would have believe that it was the old drunk himself standing in front of him due to the similarities;
"It's good to see you again Master," replied Inari with a raspy voice full of wisdom, a small smile adorning his face.
"A tad bit strange, but interesting nonetheless, as to how you became the spirit of the ocean," exclaimed the blonde avatar with humor, making the water sage chuckle; "I may be a spirit, but am not immortal, for I gave my immortality to be with the one I love."
"And who would that be?" asked Naruto, interested in his former student's love interest
"Why it was none other than the spirit of the moon herself, Tsukuyomi, or also known as Tui in the culture of the Water Tribes," answered Inari calmly, making Naruto to go eye wide, "What! How?"
Inari just shrugged his shoulders as he answered, "I simply fought her after claiming that I would take her and have her by my side, and defeated her."
"You used the oldest trick of the book, didn't you, deception," smirked the blond as he spoke
"Well, I had her underestimate me, since she didn't expect a mere mortal being able to have absolute control over the waters," explained Naruto's former student with a slight shrug, "That, and I was persistent on courting her every time I went to her temple I had stumbled across by accident, only to be turned down every time I asked," smirked the aged sage
"And I take it that you taught her water-bending, considering that the people of the Northern Tribe worship her and believe that it was her that brought water-bending to the water tribes," concluded the blonde to receive a nod in response, causing Naruto to chuckle softly;
"Ironic, isn't it?" said Inari with a small grin on his face, till his features suddenly changed, becoming serious all of a sudden, "We have lots to discuss."
"Yes we do," replies Naruto, with a look that matched the aged sage, his eyes hardening, "And you can start by explaining to me what happened after my confrontation with Sasuke at the Valley of the End and how the hell is he still alive after ten thousand years!"
Taking a deep breath, Inari just closed his eyes as he let out a tired sigh and looked up towards the sky, looking directly at the moon; "Moegi, Konohamaru, Udon and I confronted the Uchiha traitor after a giant explosion had occurred at the mouth of the Valley. When we got there, everything was destroyed yet somehow; he had managed to survive, barely of course. Despite his weakened state, he bragged how he was stronger than you since he proclaimed to have killed you, and us, not being able to sense your presence anywhere, we believed him and in our grief at the outcome, I froze him alive and Udon sent his icy tomb to the depths of the valley," explained the water sage while the blonde quietly listened to his former student's tale;
"Why your four didn't just kill him instead of leaving him freeze to death?" asked the blonde Avatar
"We felt that death was a lesser punishment for him and it would be preferable to let him live inside an icy prison that he could not escape, left to be forgotten," responded Inari, "but it seems that it didn't turn out quite as we had hoped."
"Yes it didn't! Due to the inability to kill him, you four left a major threat live only for him to escape one day to cause destruction and bloodshed," retorted Naruto, causing Inari to go quiet at his master's anger, "Now this world is paying for our mistakes."
Both men stayed quiet after the blonde's rant;
"Then you already made up your mind as to what needs to be done?" asked the water sage
"Yes, I will kill him," responded Naruto in a cold voice before he turned towards the door and began to slowly walk towards, then stopped suddenly without turning back, as if asking an unasked question;
"Ten-ten never once blamed you for the choice you had to make, Naruto," said Inari as he stared at the back of his former master, watching as his shoulders slowly slumped, "She loved you unconditionally. She proved it to you when she stayed by your side when everyone was doubtful of you when you revealed how you gained your bending abilities, she stayed by your side through thick and thin, going as far as supporting your decision to confront the Uchiha."
"Did she find happiness after my . . . death?" asked the blonde quietly as he turned back, with eyes filled with grief and pain
Shaking his head, Inari replied, "She never married after your disappearance. She loved to you too much, living her life happily as much as she could while raising your son."
Looking up in the sky, he murmured;
"My son . . . . "
Nodding his head, the former sage then looked up to the sky as well and noticed that it was close to sunrise;
"It's time you head back, and prepare for what it is to come," said the sage, turning his sights back on his former master, "The world needs you once again, for only you have a chance of defeating Sasuke and restoring order on this world."
Nodding his head, the blonde headed towards the door and opened it slightly, making sure no one was outside, he opened it completely and before he took his step, Inari said one more piece;
"Ten-ten would have wanted you to live your life and find happiness, Naruto, instead of pinning yourself to her memory."
Naruto didn't say anything or turned around to respond as he just stood there, unmoving, until he just walked out of the Oasis and headed towards the shed, to get some rest as he lay on top of Appa's tail and closed his eyes, letting sleep claim him as he comfortable on the creature's fur and drifted into darkness, with the image of his weapon mistress, smiling down at him.
- / . \ -
Morning had arrived, and it wasn't a very good morning for Katara, for she had woken up excitedly at the fact that she was going to finally begin to learn water-bending along with Aang, who had met the Master Pakku the previous night after the festivities were over, only for her mood to turn sour once that the water-bending master refused to teach her, simply for being a woman. That didn't sit well with either one of the two, and Aang threw a tantrum by refusing to learn from Master Pakku if he didn't teach his friend, but Katara quickly changed his mind to not forsake his training because of her and left towards the healing huts to learn the healing arts, grumbling in displeasure at her misfortune, only to stop once she had spotted Naruto sleeping on Appa's tail inside the she where both Appa and Shen resided. Smiling a bit brightly, she slowly walked towards the shed as she approached the sleeping blonde, getting a closer look as she him sleep with his arms behind his head, using them as pillows as he snored quietly, causing her to giggle when she heard him mumble about food.
Naruto began to stir once he heard the giggles, and lazily, he sat up as he stretched his limbs, only to end up scratching his head with a sleepy look on his eyes;
"Morning sleepy head," heard someone say, and turned to the source of the voice, only to find Katara standing over him with a smile on her face. Grinning shamelessly, he replied;
"Morning, aren't you a little early to be awake?"
Seeing her smile falter a bit, he grew a bit concern; "What's wrong?"
Sitting down next to Naruto, Katara brought her legs close to her chest;
"I went with Aang to go meet Master Pakku, Aang's new water-bending teacher," she bagan, which caused confusion in the blonde, "But that's great, that means that you can now learn water-bending with Aang," Katara then let out a sigh, making Naruto deduced something happened, "But he refused to teach you didn't he," he stated, which he got a nod in response;
"All because I'm a girl," at her response, Naruto just narrowed his eyes, "You're kidding right?"
Katara just shook her head, "No, Master Pakku said that women are forbidden to use their water-bending to fight, instead they use their water-bending to heal."
"Learning how to heal is not that bad Katara, for it wasn't for you, I may had been injured even worse when that arrow struck me," reasoned the blonde, which in turn got a skeptical look from the young girl;
"Look, what I'm trying to say is, never disregard anything that is presented to you, take in everything that comes in your way, learn from it, take in what is useful and discard the rest, and you'll develop yourself not only as a better person, but also as a better fighter," instructed Naruto as he hesitantly placed a hand on the girls shoulder
"What is wrong with me? Why do I feel slightly nervous around her?" pondered the blonde avatar in his mind while he maintained eye contact with Katara, but filed it for later as he stood up and helped the young girl up to her feet;
"Well then, you ready to go?"
"Go where?" asked Katara confused, making Naruto chuckle;
"To your healing sessions, I'm gonna walk you there before I go look for your flamboyant brother for some training," replied the blonde avatar, making the young girl blush lightly as she mock glared at the blonde for the joke he made at her brother;
"What? It's so boring around here, there's nothing to do except keeping these two company," pouted Naruto as he crossed his arms, causing Katara to giggle while both animals glared at the blonde before they both began walking towards the building, both enjoying each other's company as they walked into the city, striding around until they reached Katara's destination, both standing at the doorway of the entrance as they just stood there, with Katara hiding her hands behind her back as she leaned back against the frame;
"Here we are," said Naruto softly as he stared at her eyes once again
"That we are," replied Katara back, staring back, getting lost into those deep sea blue eyes of Naruto's
"This is wrong . . . "suddenly thought Naruto, as his conscience drifted towards his deceased wife, feeling as if he was betraying her and quickly broke their gaze as he turn his head to the side, confusing and concerning the young girl, "I have to go, I'll see you later," and without another word he jumped on top of the building and sprinted away, leaving a sadden girl as she watched him leave before she walked inside and began learning about the healing arts.
In another part of the town, Sokka had bumped into the Princess, as she was taking a trek on her canoe throughout the city, making conversation of the previous night's festivities, as well as asking her if they could meet up, to which the princess had agreed upon on a bridge later at night.
Meanwhile, back with Katara, as the lesson let out and some of the others helped carry out the fake human body used as an aide for teaching Katara walked over to Yagoda and thanked her for the lesson.
"He's one lucky boy," said Yagoda out of the blue as she leaned forwards and looked at Katara's necklace.
"What?" Katara asked.
"Your betrothal necklace, you're getting married with that weird haired color boy, aren't you?" Yagoda said, causing Katara to blush slightly, but recomposed herself
"No, I'm not ready for that yet. My grandmother passed this down to my mother and my mother passed it down to me." Katara said as she looked at her necklace, and fondled it tenderly.
At a closer inspection, Yagoda gasped in surprise;
"I recognize this carving. I don't know why I didn't see it earlier. You're the spitting image of Kana!" said Yagoda.
"Wait, how do you know my Gran-Gran's name?" Katara asked as she backed away.
"When I was about your age I was friends with Kana. She was born here, in the Northern Tribe." Yagoda explained.
"She never told me," Katara said softly to herself.
"Your grandmother had an arranged marriage with a young water-bender. He carved that necklace for her," Katara looked down before she asked;
"If Gran-Gran was engaged, why did she leave?"
"I don't know; it's always been a mystery to me. She left without saying goodbye." Yagoda said sadly.
- \ | / -
Iroh bid the crew good luck and tried to get Zuko off the ship to interrupt his sulking. But as he walked away, the pirated that were hired by Zhao closed in on the ship and rigged it to blow with blasting jelly. But one of the pirates made a handle squeak which alerted Zuko to another's presence on his ship. As he wandered the halls, in a ready stance, he made it to the helm when he saw the pirates' parrot-lizard fly by which alerted him too late that something was seriously wrong just before the ship blew.
"AHHHHH!"
Iroh heard the explosion and saw the smoke.
"ZUKO!" he said worried before he raced back to the ship only to see a burning wreck in its place.
"Zuko." He said sadly and softly as he closed his eyes, crying at the loss of a person that was a son to him.
- / | \ -
Back at the Tribe, night time had fallen over the city, and Sokka excitedly ran towards the pot where he and Princess Yue were suppose to meet, only to turn sour as the Princess told Sokka that she made a mistake agreeing to their meeting and ran without as much giving an explanation, leaving Sokka dumbfound before he got mad and threw the carving he had made for the Princess into the water canals of the city.
Putting his hands inside his pockets, he walked depressingly back to the building, where he and the others were given by Chief Arnook for their stay in the Northern Tribe.
Walking in, he noticed Naruto was sitting on the far right corner, messing with some sort of musical instrument as struck some of the strings as he tried to tune it, while Aang and his sister were both getting ready to sleep, until the young Avatar spotted Sokka;
"So how was warrior training going?" Aang asked Sokka, who kicked his pack angrily in response before he dropped down on the bed made ofut of some animals skin hide.
"That bad?" Aang said.
"No, its Princess Yue, one minute she wants to go out with me the next she's telling me to get lost!" Sokka grumbled, calming down he turned towards his sister;
"How's waterbending training going?" Sokka asked, only to raise an eyebrow when he saw Katara flopped down at the same time Aang replied;
"Master Poop-head won't teach her because she's a girl."
"Why don't you just teach her Aang?" Sokka said.
"Why didn't I think of that!" exclaimed Katara as she lifted her head and stood up, "You can teach me at night whatever moves Master Pakku shows you during the day. That way you have someone to practice with and I get to learn water-bending that way everyone's happy!"
"I'm not happy." Sokka said.
"But you're never happy," Katara said as she put her hands on her hips, then looked at Aang with a smile, "Come on Aang," she told her friend, but both were stopped before they even made a step by Naruto's voice;
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Naruto as he tunes the instrument, only for Katara to look at him with in anger;
"And why not! Don't tell me that you agree with that sexist rule that women shouldn't learn water-bending!" shouted Katara
"I don't agree with it one bit, but you forget that we are hosts on this lands, and as such, we are to follow their rules and customs, even if we don't like them," replied the blonde back, now looking at the girl in the eyes, "and if you both were to be caught, the consequences could be dire, such as banishment from the Tribe and Aang would lose the opportunity to master water-bending and we would have come here for nothing."
Neither one said afterwards as they just stared at each other's eyes, until Katara turned her back towards Naruto;
"We won't get caught, come on Aang," they both walked out the door, as Naruto let out a tired sigh as he placed his instrument and leaned back against the wall, slowly drifting to sleep.
Unfortunately, they both didn't heed Naruto's words, for his warning had come true as they were caught by Master Pakku, who discharged Aang as his pupil for disobeying him and insulting his culture.
Next morning, the group were standing in front of Chief Arnook, with Yue on his right and Master Pakku on his left, both with an impassive look in their eyes as they stared at the girl before them;
"What do you expect me to do, force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?" he asked as if it were easier to turn back the tide without water-bending than that.
"Yes please," Katara said.
"He might if you swallow your pride and apologize," Chief Arnook said.
Katara looked back at Aang and was about to apologize until Pakku had to open his mouth;
"I'm waiting little girl," said Master Pakku snidely
"I'm beginning to dislike this man," thought Naruto with irritation clearly evident in his eyes as he eyed the man. Turning his head towards Katara, he saw how hard she was clenching her fists until the dam broke and her anger was flooding out;
"NO! No way in hell I'm apologizing to a sour old bastard like you!" yelled Katara as everything around them cracked due to her inability to control her water-bending under emotional stress, making Aang and Sokka hug each other tight in fright while Naruto just stood there, unaffected by it all
"Um . . . Katara . . . "mumbled Aang as he looked at the giant pots of water crumbling down
"I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me," she challenged him to a fight, shocking everyone in the room while Naruto just shook his head in disapproval as he and Master Pakku watched Katara walkout to prepare for the confrontation;
Aang then turned around nervously towards the chief and the members of the council that sat behind the chief;
"I'm pretty sure she didn't mean that," said Aang, only for Sokka to say otherwise;
"Yea I think she did," making Aang's eyes go thin lined till he looked around and searched for Naruto, but was nowhere to be found;
"Hey, where did Naruto go?" asked the young air-bender
Outside the building, Katara was walking down the stairs, unaware that Naruto was following right behind her;
"Katara you're biting more than you chew, you're not going to win this fight," said Naruto as he stopped walking, making Katara stop as well without turning back to face him
"I know and I don't care," replied the girl surprisingly calm
"Then why?" now the girl had turned around to face him, and gasped softly when he saw the eyes of the young girl.
Determination, courage, betrayal, anger, raged within her being as she stared back into his eyes;
"I thought, you, of all people would understand," she said in that same calm voice, "I'm not doing this for Aang, I'm doing this to prove that despite my gender, I'm equal just as him or you," then Katara turned around, trying to hide the tears that threatened to spill, "but mostly, to have you notice me as an equal, instead of some little girl that needs to be saving."
Having heard her murmur the last part, he couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu, when he was younger and wanted to gain everyone's respect, for them to stop pushing him aside, believing that he would amount to nothing, only for him to be the one to save the nations from an immortal mad man that wanted to rule the entire world, such is the irony of life;
Letting out a sigh, he slowly walked up to Katara and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look back him over her shoulder, to see a grin on his face;
"Just remember what I taught you at the lake, be one with the water and you shall control its very essence, for even a master like Pakku will be pressed," instructed Naruto, making the girl's eyes widen before she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly;
"Thank you, Naruto," whispered Katara in his ear before she detached herself from him and pulled off her parka and shoved it at her brother, who had barely arrived and stood next to Naruto as they watched her wait for Master Pakku;
"You do know she has no chance of winning right?" asked Sokka
"I know," replied the blond back without looking at the teen
"Then why let her go through with this?" asked a confused Sokka. Naruto just simply turned towards him and gave a small smile;
"In some battles, the victor is not chosen by the last person standing, but by the one person who made an impact by a proving a point, whether it be via a loss or victory," said Naruto as he turned his sights back towards Katara, "Katara is not fighting for victory, but to prove her worth as a fighter, and that's something far more important than any victory."
Sokka and Aang just stayed quiet as he let those words sink into their minds. Once they heard the approaching footsteps, they turned back to see Master Pakku descending down the stairs, ignoring the looks that everyone gave him, while Katara glared at him and tried to goad him into a fight;
"So you decided to show up?" remarked the girl, but it was ignored as the water-bending master simply passed her by without a batting an eye, irritating Katara even further;
"Aren't you even going to fight!" she yelled at Pakku's retreating form
"Go back to the healing huts with the others where you belong," said Pakku as he kept on walking, only to stop once when Katara used a water whip and hit him on the head
"If you want to learn so bad, then study closely," remarked Pakku as the fight went underway.
Throughout the fight Naruto stood with a calculating look with his arms crossed, watching as how Katara was having a less difficult time water-bending while a few others who had gathered to witness the fight were constantly cheering loudly for the girl;
"Well, well, looks like her control has improved quite a bit," thought the blonde avatar with a smile, witnessing as she easily flung the water ring that surrounded her and the master to the side with a twist of her wrist, sending the water straight at the spectators, but more directly towards Naruto, who just sidestepped out of the way and had Sokka get hit with full force as he was sent ailing back by the water with a yelp of pain;
"Sorry," said Naruto as he looked back towards Sokka beforehe turned his attention back towards the girl who had landed on top of the massive armrest of the stairs and dissolve the miniature tidal wave that was sent by Master Pakku and dashed towards him, trying to hit him with tai-jutsu, but she was flung into a pool of water. Rising out of the water, she created a small pillar of ice and sent disks of ice at the master, who deflected them with hand strikes, but one nearly sheering off his hair by mere inches and turned towards Katara with a disbelief look, causing Naruto to smirk;
"That's it Katara, show this old timer what you're made of," muttered the blonde as he watched the girl got out of the pool and sent a botched torrent of water towards Pakku, who easily countered and sent two tidal waves towards Katara, hitting her head on as they knocked her back, but held strong as she quickly got up and brought down the pots at Pakku, but the master didn't look worried as he just raised both arms up with the palms flat in the air, and dissolve the pots into dust;
"Well, I'm impressed, you're an excellent water-bender," he admitted, "But I still won't teach you."
Katara tried on last effort as she sent a wave at him, but he just made a column out of ice and dashed towards Katara and slid to the side as he sent a water strike at her, knocking the necklace off her neck and landed on top of the edge of the pool he had sent Katara into earlier and finished the fight by trapping her in multiple vertical ice spikes, making Katara unable to move no longer and therefore could no longer fight.
Everyone just gasped at how the master ended the fight while Naruto had a face made out of stone;
"This fight is over," declared the master as he began to walk away
"Come back here, I'm not finished yet," declared Katara she struggled to break free, but Master Pakku paid no heed to her as he continued to walk until he spotted the betrothal necklace he'd unknowingly knocked from Katara's neck during their duel, picking it up, he inspect it closer, gasping in surprise;
"This is my necklace," claimed the old master
"No its not, it's mine, give it back," yelled Katara
"I carved this sixty years ago for the love of my life, For Kana," He said in a voice that held such sadness as he bent the spikes back into water.
"My Gran-Gran was supposed to marry you?" said Katara in surprise looking very disheveled, her hair a complete and total mess.
"I carved this for your grandmother the day we got engaged, I thought this would be the start of a long happy life for us," Pakku said sadly, "I loved her," he admitted.
"But she didn't love you, did she? She didn't let your tribe's stupid traditions rule her life. Leaving here must have taken more strength then I can imagine," Katara said contemplatively.
At Katara's words, Yue began to cry and took off running, leaving Sokka behind, who was unsure of what to do, until he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find that it was Naruto with a small, comprehensive smile on his face;
"Go to her, Sokka," said Naruto and Sokka took off running after her,
Sokka found out why Yue ran off crying and why she kept giving him Hot and Cold signals: She was engaged. Of course she revealed this after she planted one on the confused Southern boy.
The next morning Pakku was still as much of a grouch as ever but he allowed Katara, who was late, join in their lesson that morning along with Aang
- \ . / -
"My fleet is ready, set a heading for the Northern Water Tribe," he ordered his helmsman. His massive ship led the way for the massive invasion fleet behind him, unaware that he had a supposed dead prince as a stowaway aboard his ship.
- / | \ -
It has been a month and a half since the group had arrived at the North Pole, and things had been interesting for all four members of the group, but the most noticible of all, was Katara, who was a water-bending prodigy, and under Master Pakku's tutelage, she exceeded far from his expectations as she now could go toe to toe with his most advanced students, making them look like novices. Far impressed with his student, he praised her abilities of a hard working genius, and not that just talent alone could achieved such level of mastery, while deadpanning at the avatar who was playing with his flying lemur.
On another part of town, Sokka and Princess Yue were walking around the city, happily conversing despite the fact that Yue couldn't deny her growing feelings for the wolf-tailed warrior and that she was engaged;
"Sokka, this is wrong," the princess said looking slightly depressed, but Sokka just played stupid;
"What's wrong? We are just taking a walk," exclaimed the teen
"Sokka I'm engaged and - . . . hey isn't that your friend, Naruto, over there?" princess Yue pointed out at a water fountain that was on an open lot as the people walked around on their business. Sokka turned around to see if she was telling the truth, and indeed, his blonde friend was sitting on the edge of the fountain, playing with his stringed musical instrument as he struck a few cords till he closed his eyes and began to play some melody, catching the attention of the passing people as they were curious as to what the strange blonde was doing. Yue and Sokka looked at each other and smiled softly as they went and got closer to hear what Naruto was going to play, and everyone around the fountain got quiet once Naruto began to sing;
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today ah-ha ahh
The people that had gathered around became relaxed and entranced as they began to listen the words coming out of Naruto's mouth;
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace yohoo ohh
By now the people were beginning to realize that he was singing a song about peace, making some of the older generation that had managed to live in the last days of peace, reminisce as to how peaceful everything was, no bloodshed or destruction, while the new generation took Naruto's words as the words of an idealist, of someone who dreamt of the impossible, since they knew that the Fire Nation was close to winning the war;
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Katara was walking towards the building she and friends were staying at, but on her way there, she saw a crowd gathering around a fountain, with Naruto being in the center of it, playing that musical instrument he had gathered somehow as he continued to play the melody, having the people in a trance as they listened to every words that it was being said, and some with hope that the words being spoken would come true in the end.
Curious, she walked closed towards the blonde as she tried to hear the song he was singing;
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world yohoo ooh
Katara could feel the emotions that rolled off his voice, and closed her eyes as she listened to his singing;
Sadness, hopefulness, sincerity.
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one. . .
When Naruto finished his song as he finished playing the last not, everyone was quiet till someone slowly started to clap. More people joined in as they began to clap as well, causing Naruto to open his eyes and look at the mass of people that had gathered to hear him sing, with Katara in the front on one side while her brother and Princess Yue stood in front on the opposite site, clapping, but suddenly, all the clapping came to an end when the people began to notice black snow began to descend upon them, causing everyone to look up to the sky in worry.
"So . . . the battle for survival has finally begun," thought the blonde as he narrowed his eyes when he too looked up in the sky and saw a giant black cloud hovering upon the Northern Tribe;
"What is going on?" asked a frightened Princess, Sokka just kneeled down and grabbed a handful of snow and inspect it as he stood up;
"Soot mixed with snow," said Sokka with a hardened voice, "I've seen this before, just before my village was attacked by the Fire Nation," then he looked up to the skies with a hardened look in his eyes, "and from the looks of it, it seems there's a lot of them."
At these turn of events, the villagers' panic and fear within them grew and when the sound of the drums sounded throughout the village, their paranoia became ten-fold as they ran towards the tower to find refuge, however, problems arose between Sokka and Yue, as she told him they cannot longer associate with one another due to her growing feelings for him contradicting her engagement to her betrothed, despite the fact Sokka pointing out the lack of love in the engagement, but Yue made it clear that it is her duty as the Princess of her tribe and left, leaving the young warrior with a wounded heart as he watched her helplessly leave. Naruto watched the whole thing from afar, and walked towards Sokka and placed a hand in comfort on the teen's shoulder;
"I'm sorry," was all that Naruto could say, but Sokka just muttered a thanks and both went inside the tower.
- \ . / -
Every villager and soldier alike have gathered in front of their Chief, waiting for their leader to speak;
"The day we have feared for so long has arrived," spoke Chief Arnook with grimace, "The Fire Nation has arrived in our doorsteps, it is with great sadness that I call my family here before me, knowing full well that some of these faces are about to vanish from our tribe, "he continued to speak in solemn, "but they will never vanish from our hearts. Now as we approach our battle for our existence, I call upon the great spirits," raising his arms into the air, the Chief raised his voice, "Spirits of the Ocean! Spirits of the Moon! Be with us!"
"Chief Arnook! Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but we must reconsider an alternative option," a young warrior spoke as he stood on his feet, gaining the attention of his leader;
"And what option would that be?" asked Arnook
"We give them the Avatar," proclaimed the unknown warrior
"WHAT!" shouted Sokka and Katara, while Aang looked nervous at this and Naruto just narrowed his eyes dangerously at the unknown person;
"Listen to me m'lord, we have had a century of peace, unworried of the Fire Nation ever appearing on our territory for they knew that it was suicidal disadvantage for them to confront us at our own land," shouted the warrior, then angrily, he pointed at Aang, "Then he arrives and the Fire Nation knows he's a threat to them and are desperate to eliminate that threat no matter the cost!"
"But we cannot give up hope, there's still the Crimson Avatar to consider," shouted a female villager, only to be silenced with a glare by said young warrior;
"And where is he now! HE hasn't once shown his face since his prediction of his revival!" shouted the young teen
Everyone had fallen quiet at this, for the words spoke clarity of truth; however, one person shared his opinion at this intellect;
"You're afraid."
"What?" said the unknown warrior as he turned to the person that had called him a coward;
"You're afraid," repeated Naruto as he stood up and based his eyes upon the scared warrior, who was clearly shaking at the knees with a look of anger;
"Take that back!" demanded the teen
"Why should I? When it's clear as day that you wish to not partake in this battle, so you use Aang as a scapegoat to hide your fear, and to be honest, it's really sickening," stated the blonde coldly, making some of the people in the room flinch at the sudden drop of temperature, but the teen, blinded by rage, reached for a nearby spear and charged at the blonde with the spear in front, but Naruto just calmly stood there as he watched the charging warrior;
"NARUTO!" shouted Katara and was about to help her friend but was stopped on her tracks when Naruto signaled her to stand her ground and as soon as the charging warrior was within the blonde's reach, he sidestepped the spear strike and grabbed onto the spear while elbowing the warrior right in the side of his face, making him stumble as he let go of the spear, allowing Naruto to take it and turned it against him, holding the spear at the young warrior's neck, making him stand still in his place, in fear of making any movement to give the blonde a reason to pierce his neck while nearby warriors stand up and get ready to jump the blonde and defend their comrade;
"I don't see why you're against us, when we're brothers in the same cause," said Naruto as he glared into the eyes of the young warrior, but he didn't see it that way;
"Brothers?" laughed the unknown warrior, "You brought death upon my people. The Fire Nation will follow him everywhere he goes- they will come for the Avatar, they will stop at nothing until he's captured and killed."
"And they will come swiftering deadlier once they have killed the Avatar," retorted the blonde back, causing the young warrior and everyone else to go silent at his words. Slowly retracting the spear away from the neck, Naruto then turned to populace of the Northern Tribe, "The Fire Nation will stop at nothing. Hide here as long as you can like you have done over the past century, but believe me when I say this, they will find you. And if they aren't stopped, they'll sweep across this land and destroy all of you just like they have done to the Southern Tribe!"
"And who's going to stop them, Naruto?"
The blonde turned around, to find Chief Arnook staring at him;
"I asked a question, who's going to stop them? You? Will you stand alone before the fury of their army?"
All eyes were on Naruto now, as he stood there in the center of it all with his head low, his eyes overshadowed by his eyes till he slowly raised it up and showed everyone an unbending will of courage and a raging fire of confidence as he stared back at Arnook;
"Yes," was the blonde's response.
Nodding his head in approval, the Chief asks for volunteers for a dangerous mission, which Sokka is first to stand and say, "Count me in," despite Katara's objection. Katara then looks at Naruto to help her change her brother's mind, but all that Naruto says that he must do what it takes to protect all that he loves.
As they watched Sokka goes up the stairs and receives his mark from the Chief, signifying his acceptance to join the mission, Yue looks on as he heads back to his seat. Yue looks away blinking tears from her eyes.
- / . \ -
Later that night, Naruto was seen inside the room, sharpening his sword as he focused his mind on tomorrow;
"So tomorrow we go into battle," thought Naruto as he inspected his blade's sharpness with his thumb, slightly cutting himself without flinching, and watched as the wound healed within seconds, as if it were never there, but was brought out of his musings when he heard the movement of the curtains, and turned around to see who it was that had entered the room, only to find Katara walking in and sitting close to him with her legs close to her chest and her chin resting upon her knees, silent and nervous. Grabbing the scabbard, Naruto sheathed his sword and turned towards the girl;
"What's wrong Katara?" asked the blonde, but got no response. Growing concern, he scooted closer to her and sat in front of her, and tried to ignore the feeling of his heart aching when he saw the silent tears falling down the girls cheeks. Unable to stand it anymore, he reached out for her and pulled her into a hug, to which she gladly received and let out all of her fears as she cried. Naruto tried to calm her down as he softly rubbed her back and soothe her with his whispers;
"Shhh it's alright, what's wrong?" he asked softly, and this time Katara raised her head from his chest and looked at him with tear filled eyes
"I'm afraid, Naruto," she admitted, "I'm afraid of losing the people I love in this war. I don't want to lose you, Sokka, or Aang," she cried out as she hugged him tighter, "I've already lost my mother and it still hurts."
Naruto just hugged her tighter as he growled in his mind, "Damn you Uchiha! I promise, I will kill you for the hell you have wrought!"
Calming down a bit, Naruto pulled the young water-bender out of the hug and looked at her eyes with tender care;
"Katara, don't worry about a thing, we'll pull through this battle, I promise," assured the blonde
Looking into his eyes, she saw no lies, then without a word, she reached into the back of her neck and took off her mother's necklace and wrapped it around Naruto's wrist;
"Um . . . Katara, I'm flattered, but uh . . . I don't think I'm ready for marriage," said the blonde as he eyed the necklace now tied around his wrist, making said girl blush deeply red
"I'm not asking you to marry me," replied the young girl as she tried to control her blush
"Then why givie it to me?" he asked
"I want you to promise me that no matter what, you'll come back alive and return it to me, promise me," urged Katara as she pleaded with her eyes, making Naruto recall a memory from the past;
- ( Flashback ) –
"Naruto, don't go by yourself! At least take your students with you," pleaded a very pregnant Ten-ten as she tried to reason with her husband;
"Ten-chan, you and I both know that no matter how skilled they are, they are no match against Sasuke," countered Naruto, then he hugged her lovingly as he pulled her close, "Trust me Ten-ten, I will not lose to the Uchiha, no matter what."
"Then promise me Naruto, promise that no matter what, you'll come back to me," pleaded Ten-ten as she held on onto him with tears streaming down her cheeks
"I promise Ten-chan, that even if I have to crawl using my hands, I promise to come back to you, it's a promise of a lifetime," said the blonde as they both stayed in their embrace.
- ( Flashback End ) –
"Naruto!"
Being snapped out of his trip down memory lane, he looked back again into the eyes of the young girl in front of him and couldn't help but feel the similarities between the two;
"I promise Katara, it's a promise of a lifetime," said the blonde softly as he felt the girl hug him tightly once again and stayed in each other's embrace for a while, till Katara pulled out of their hug;
"Naruto . . . "
"Hmm?"
"May I stay with you for the night?" she asked without looking at him in the eye, "If you don't mind that is."
Getting rid of his surprise, the blonde couldn't help but think;
"The two of them may be different people, but their personalities are almost the same."
"Yea I don't mind," replied Naruto
Naruto, then laid down on his futon and scooted back, to allow her to jump in and cuddle into him. Naruto just stayed quiet as he pulled the covers on top of them, and rested for the night.
- \ . / -
The sun was slowly rising while everyone was on full alert as they stood in arms, waiting on the first strike to be made by the Fire Nation as the first ship became visible on the horizon, however, they were unprepared as they saw a flashing dot on the ship, being launched towards them. Naruto recognized the incoming attack and turned towards everyone on the frozen wall;
"INCOMING!"
And without warning, the ball fire crashed into the wall, causing an explosion that launches some of the people back, while a few stood their ground, Naruto and Aang being some of them as each rode their animal companion. Anotherball of fire was shot, but this time it went over the icy wall and smashed into some part of the village, not waiting any further, Naruto instructed Shen to take flight;
"Shen! Let's take the battle to them!" shouted the blonde and the dragon let out a roar as it jumped off the wall and took flight, heading straight towards the enemy ships with Aang and Appa flying right behind him as he deflected another fireball into the mountain side, and watched as the Avatar jumped off the bison into the ship below him and destroyed the catapults while he fought against the ship's crew, only to be sunk by the water-benders as they made a giant iceberg and pierced it.
Looking ahead, the blonde's eyes widen in shock when he saw the Fire Nation's invasion force;
"Oh shit . . . this could be trouble," muttered the blonde, but not being intimidated the slightest, he steeled himself as he grabbed onto his dragon's rails, "Let's go Shen, let's show these guys how it's done."
And so, the dragon dove closer to the water and flew at fasts speeds as he dashed towards the Fire Nation's ships, Naruto then unsheathes his sword and applies his wind affinity, making the dull part of the blade razor sharp as he struck the first five nearby ships, slashing side to side as he made a giant gashes on the metal and watched as the ship slowly sunk into the water, then the dragon evaded each fire strike from the fire-benders aboard the ships. Noticing this, Naruto reached for his kunais and launched them upwards the fire-benders; nailing them right in the head as they fell overboard lifelessly, then the blond made slight hands movements, making the water freeze right under them, then slowly, he brought his hand up and snapped his fingers, causing the ice beneath them to shatter along with the metal, making 20 ships sink without warning into the depths of the ocean, making everyone stare in shock at the blonde's display of power;
"Unbelievable . . . "gasped one of the water-benders while the others just nodded their heads numbly
Naruto then jumped into one of the ships and saw that he was quickly surrounded in all directions with either their weapons drawn or fire dancing in their hands, as well as four other ships surrounding the one he was on, making sure he didn't escape. Smirking, the blond simply waved his hand to the side and made a giant mist cover the five ships. Everyone aboard the ships grew tense and fearful, for they didn't know from where the blonde was going to strike, then a voice was heard out of nowhere, but the thing that scared them the most was the sound of the voice that seem to be everywhere, almost demonic;
"8 choices . . . liver, lungs, spine, clavical vein, neck vein, brain, and kidney hearts . . . which one should I go after . . . ?"
The soldiers almost pissed themselves when the blonde spoke, but then ran like headless chickens when they began to hear the screams of their comrades drying with the sound of flesh being cut, screaming loudly for everyone to hear, however, the people outside of the mist couldn't see a thing due to the thickness of the mist, but were able to hear the pain screams of those that were being butchered. Then slowly, the mist began to clear, and the sight that was before them made a few turn green.
In the middle of the ship, was Naruto, with sword in hand and his head lowered while the dead carcasses of the crew lay on the ground, bleeding profusely. Around him, the rest of the ship's deck, bodies of the dead were scattered all over. Naruto signaled for his dragon to come, and come he did as he landed next to the blonde and lowered his neck, allowing him to mount and descended towards the skies once again. Once he was a good distance away, Naruto made a simple hand sign and made all five ships explode.
- / . \ -
Admiral Zhao and General Iroh saw from a distance at the damage the blonde had caused, making the admiral grit his teeth in anger, then turned towards the general;
"Tell all the ships to launch an all out attack, let's see if they can prevent the unavoidable," barked Zhao as he turn his glare back towards the Nothern tribe
Iroh just quietly nodded his head and left the room, but not before he gave his nephew the news of a boarding soon
- \ . / -
Naruto and Aang along with everyone else then saw all the ships simultaneously launch fire balls at them, having no choice, they evaded them and watched as how they were headed for the village, making Aang's eyes widen in fear;
"They are headed for the village!"
"It's time for you to enter the battle boss," thought the blonde as he calmly stared at the village
- / . \ -
Katara and Master Pakku saw the fire balls heading their way, and knew that they had no chance of defending against that many, resorting to run away, much to their dislike;
"Abandon your positions and take cover!" shouted Pakku and everyone retreated, all except one, making Katara stop as she stared at the individual, he wore the usual Northern Tribe gear, except the coat was sleeveless from the shoulders down with his head being covered by the hoodie of his coat with black bandages wrapped around the lower part of his face with a black bandana covering his forehead. Running back towards him, Katara grabbed onto one of his arms and tried to pull him, but wouldn't budge;
"Are you deft? Run!" shouted Katara, but the individual simply turned his head towards her and made her gasp when she saw his eyes, letting go of his arm as she took a few steps back.
Crimson eyes glowing softly with slits in the middle staring at her, then slowly the person spoke;
"Step back or you'll be caught in the torrents," then he took a few steps forward and placed his left leg forward as he twisted his upper body till he shot both his hands forward (AN: think of the Kamehameha wave hand position in the end.) launching a huge blast of wind, leveling any of the fire boulders that came in its path; destroying majority of them, leaving but a few as they still descended onward the village. Quickly the individual jumped into a horse stance and spread both of his arms out, forcefully brought them together, with his forearms put in front of him as a shield, making the mountains on both sides of the wall spread into the gate, creating a giant wall, tall as the mountain themselves to protect them as the boulders crashed into it, not even making a dent as he maintained it tall.
Katara and the rest of the water-benders watched in awe and shock as how one man single handedly destroyed the boulders and protected the city while some glowing markings began to appear on the individual's arms as he lowered his arms slowly and made the wall crumble onto the water. The rumbling sound of rocks hitting the water was heard throughout the city while the man just slowly turned around towards the people of the Northern Tribe, causing of them to tense for they didn't know or recognized him;
"Who are you?" shouted Master Pakku
"My name is unimportant, but be rest assured, I have come to help you," declared the man
Katara, slowly approached him, and locked eyes with him;
"You're him, aren't you?" she questioned, causing the man to turn towards her, "You're the Crimson Avatar."
Many were shocked at her question, and turned at the man, waiting for his answer; all he did was nod his head.
- \ . / -
Meanwhile, those that had volunteered for the special mission assigned by Chief Arnook, they were being debriefed on infiltrating the Fire Nation navy by wearing actual Fire Nation soldiers suits, however, Sokka pointed out that the suits were too old since the new suits were very much different from the ones they had. Hahn didn't like being upstaged and challenged Sokka's intelligence only to be defended by the chief himself. Then Sokka was very source full again when provided information on the admiral when Arnook commanded his soldiers to find out who was the chief in command. Impressed with Sokka's knowledge, he instructed him to tell everything he knows to Hahn, who was later soon to become his son-in-law, much to the distaste of Sokka who grumbled a congratulation.
- / . \ -
The sun was soon setting and the Fire Nation was still launching their boulders towards the village, however, the damage wasn't as much with the Crimson Avatar joining the fight, shooting compressed air bullets or using air blades to cut the boulders in half and make them explode in mid air while the rest of the water-benders created giant pillars of ice to stop the boulders from impacting;
"Damn it, for every boulder we manage to destroy, two or more boulders have already passed our defenses," thought the hooded Avatar, then he grinned under his wraps "Looks like I'm going to take it up a nudge."
Suddenly, his markings began to glow their crimson hue and retreated into the center of the village and turned to face the icy gate. Spreading his legs apart with his bodyweight leaning more on his right leg while his left hand was balled into a fist and placed close to his side as his right hand was stretched out all the way to his right with his palm open and slowly brought in front of him while twisting his hand with his fingers extended out and rapidly, he balled into a fist, causing a great quake throughout the village and across the ocean as small tidal waves began to surface.
"What's going on?" asked Yue
"I don't know," replied Katara, only to hear the rumble on something crumbling. Turning to the front gate, Katara gasped in shock when she saw the wall crumbling into pieces and a bright light caught her attention. Looking down, she saw that it was the Avatar himself that had brought the wall down;
"What is he doing?" almost yelled Yue in fear when she saw as well what the Crimson Avatar had done;
After he had brought down the wall, he shifted his weight forward on his left leg as he pulled back his right hand and pushed his left hand out in a claw motion facing up, raising it as he pushed his hand out, making the quake even stronger as it shook the whole village even more as an ice berg slowly began to emerge from where the great gate was. Bringing his right leg forward as he made a scooping motion with his right hand till he brought it upward, making the ice berg rise rapidly into the sky, standing tall as the mountains themselves. Then he brought both his hands forward and balled them tightly, causing the ice to hardened as it look transparent, standing completely on his feet as he brought his arms to his sides as he watched the incoming fire balls made impact with the wall and explode, only to barely make any damage.
- \ . / -
Back at the commanding ship that transported Admiral Zhao and General Iroh, both fire-benders could gape at the events that had occurred before heir very eyes, however, one held pure disbelief while the other held nothing but absolute anger and hate;
"Damn him! He will not deny me my destiny!" snarled the Admiral in his mind as he gripped into the rails tightly, causing his knuckles to pop from the sheer pressure.
"It's almost twilight Admiral, as your military consultant, I must advice you to hold your attack," said Iroh without taking his sights of the new build wall, "The water-benders draw their power from the moon and it is nearly full tonight. You should wait and resume the attack on day break."
Calming down a bit, the Admiral placed both his hands behind his back as he turned towards his General;
"Oh, I'm very aware of the moon problem and I'm working on a solution," said the Admiral darkly, "But for now, day break it is."
Iroh simply bowed his head before he left to instruct the other ships to stop their assault, leaving the Admiral alone as he turned his sights back towards to the wall, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread washing over him in the back of his mind, but he ignored it as he believed no one could stop him.
- / . \ -
The boulders kept on coming only to be stopped on their tracks once they kept on crashing into the new made wall while the Crimson Avatar continued to observe;
"There, with a density that thick, it should be enough to hold off the fire balls and buy us time to recuperate," muttered the Avatar as he watched the lat of the balls coming, making a few cracks on some parts but still held strong. Then he narrowed his eyes as saw they had stopped their attack, "Strange, why would they stop attacking."
Then suddenly, two shadows hovered above him. Looking up, he saw that it was the Avatar's flying bison with Shen flying suit till they landed close to Yue and Katara;
"They're back," he muttered to himself, and sees the blonde mounting off the dragon uninjured or strained, "And it looks like my accomplice had no trouble dispatching of a few Fire Nation ships, time to put the next phase in motion," and so, he disappeared in a swirl of wind.
- \ . / -
After lading and sliding off Appa, Aang brought his knees close to him and placed his elbows on top of them as he held his head in his hands;
"I can't do it, I can't do it," muttered Aang
"What happened?" asked Katara as she ran towards him and kneeled beside him, placing a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder
"We're being overwhelmed by sheer numbers," replied Naruto as he dismounted his dragon
"I must've taken down a dozens of Fire Nation ships, but they just keep coming," said Aang as he looked at them with defeated eyes, "I can't fight them all."
"But . . . you have to, you're the Avatar," said Yue with desperation
"I'm just one kid," was Aang's reply
Everyone stayed quiet, only for a new arrival to speak his mind;
"If this is the world's last hope, then the world is truly doomed if he gives up this easily."
Everyone turned to find the Crimson Avatar staring at Aang as he walked towards them with hard eyes, making said boy flinch in fright, but still maintained a front as he stood up against him;
"Who are you! What would you know of the weight I carry on my shoulders!" shouted Aang only to receive no reaction of the C. Avatar
"I know because I was in your shoes ten thousand years ago, except the difference between you and I; is that I didn't give up, no matter what the obstacle was in front of me," replied the C. Avatar, making the young Avatar shut his mouth. Steeping forward, Naruto got in front of the C. Avatar, gaining his attention;
"I take it was you that destroyed the first wall to create a stronger one," stated the blonde, causing Aang's eyes to widen, which was ignored as the C. Avatar just nodded his head;
"Yes I did, the previous wall was about to crumble, so I brought it down and build a dam, far denser and thicker to withstand the fireballs. It should hold enough to buy us time to regroup with Master Pakku to sort out a plan to prepare for when the Fire Nation does infiltrate the village," explained the Avatar, "The blonde bastard and I will go look for Master Pakku, while you three tend to the wounded and help out as much as you can," ordered the Avatar while the others nodded and went their separate ways to help, leaving Naruto and the C. Avatar by themselves;
"You know boss, if they find out the truth, they will probably hate you for hiding it from them, especially Katara after all she has gone through," said Naruto as he turned towards his master, who let out a sigh;
"I know, but that's a risk I'm willing to take, especially if Sasuke is out searching for me, which I know he has been doing since my resurface at the South Pole. Plus, I cannot guarantee their safety once I confront the Uchiha face to face," he said as he turned to where the Fire Nation ships were stationed, "The Uchiha will most likely look for any other sights I might've or may appear in order to predict my next move, and knowing his arrogance, he will most likely dismiss the reports of one wandering swordsman wearing Earth Kingdom clothing aiding the Avatar," he explained further, giving his clone a grin as he turned to him through his bandages, causing said clone to chuckle;
"So that's the reason you haven't been using your bending, you can blend in within the chaos and help out more than making yourself a target by using your bending and putting the others at risk," deducted the clone, which got a nod from the original Naruto
"That is correct," confirmed the blonde Avatar, becoming serious once again, he said,"Let's head out and prepare ourselves for daybreak."
The clone simply nodded his head and both of them disappeared without much of a trace.
- / . \ -
Deep in the hold of Zhao's ship, Zuko has removed his Fire Nation soldier uniform and prepares for his solo journey into the Water Tribe city with his sights to capture the Avatar in min. Iroh expresses his concern for Zuko, saying that he only nags Zuko because, since the loss of his own son, he sees Zuko like his own. Zuko acknowledges his uncle's statement and says he will meet Iroh again after he has the Avatar. After Zuko successfully maneuvers his kayak to the shores of the ice cap just next to the base of the Water Tribe outer wall and observes turtle seals diving into an opening in the ice. Knowing the creatures must come up for air somewhere; Zuko takes a deep breath and dives in.
Zuko manages to find where the Turtle Seals come up for air – an underground cave. He uses his breath of fire to ward off the effects of his icy swim, then after hearing the turtle seals bark too much, annoyingly, he yells at the creatures to be quiet. Zuko then works his way up an opening with water rushing through. Zuko ascends to an air pocket in the freezing water and catches his breath. He then spots another passage up under the water and heads through, but is met with an ice barrier. Using his Firebending, Zuko melts the ice and breaks through, resting briefly. He had successfully breached the Northern Water Tribe and begins his search of the Avatar.
- \ . / -
Back with the Water Tribe warrior barracks, Hahn arrogantly informs Sokka about the perks of marrying Yue, which only serves to anger Sokka. Not fully comprehending his insensitivity towards the princess, Hahn then insults Sokka by insinuating that he lacks the ability to understand their tribe's way of functioning. Sokka lunges at Hahn calling him pretty much an asshole. The fight continues until Chief Arnook breaks it up and tells Sokka he is off the mission.
Leaving Hahn to arrogantly claim that with his command they will bring down Admiral Zhao, while mispronouncing his name, frustrating Sokka even further as he yells out the correct pronunciation.
Later on, after Hahn had left to infiltrate the Admiral's ship, Sokka is still on the weapons room, sharpening his boomerang, expressing his discomfort at being taken out of the mission after Chief Arnook had approached, explaining himself that he had pulled him out of selfishness for a special task – guarding his daughter, Princess Yue. Sokka humbly agrees.
- / . \ -
While looking at the nearly full moon after they had attended the wounded as instructed, Yue tells Aang and Katara about the legend of the Moon teaching Water-bending to the people of the Water Tribes by observing the push and pull on the Ocean by the Moon. Suddenly, Aang realizes that maybe the spirits can help him on his quest to save the Water Tribe. Yue says she may know of a place where Aang can reach the spirits, and proceeds to lead him and Katara to the most spiritual place in the entire North Pole. Aang is ecstatic to see grass again, and Katara is amazed at how warm it is there. Aang begins to meditate at the base of the oasis pool containing two koi fish – one black, one white – swimming in a circle. However, as Aang tries to get into the Spirit World through meditation, Katara and Yue's conversation distracts him, but after he shouts out in annoyance, they kept their mouths shut. Aang then focuses on the koi fish and finally enters the Spirit World. Yue asks Katara if they should get some help, but Katara says she can protect Aang. At that moment Zuko appears, mocking Katara as she gets into a fighting stance and tells Yue to leave to go and get help, leaving Katara and Zuko to fight it out. Zuko realizes Katara's skill level has greatly advanced from earlier encounters, and he is eventually encased in ice – (A/N: similar way Katara had done to Pupil Sangok at the beginning of the episode)-, at the end of their bout. However, as the sun rises, Zuko manages to melt his way out of Katara's trap and overpower Katara, forcing her against a tree with a fire blast, knocking her out, giving him the chance to take Aang's body and escape from the oasis.
Just as daybreak arrives, the Fire Nation ships resumed their attack on the wall as they launched the fire balls once again at the wall, cracks appearing all over it, weakening it enough for them to break through the Water Tribe's outer wall as they rammed their shops, eushing in to attack.
Back on his command ship, Zhao watches with satisfaction as the soldiers began their invation within the wall;
"The water tribe and the Avatar may try and resist the inevitable, but today, this i swear, the Crimson Avatar and the their city will fall today," remarked the admiral with a vicious grin on his face
- \ . / -
Princess Yue was running as fast as she could, trying to find anyone to help her. Not noticing where she was going, she bumped into someone, causing the both of them fall on their ass;
"Watch where you're . . . Princess Yue?" said the person she had bumped into;
Rubbing her head, she looked to see who it was that she had crashed into, and saw that it was Katara's weird colored haired friend, Naruto;
"Naruto!" shouted Yue as she jumped to her feet and grabbed onto his hands, "We need your help!"
"Yue, calm down, what's wrong?" asked the Naruto clone as he tried to calm the princess, "A fire-bender with a large scar on his face is attacking Aang and Katara at the Spirit Oasis!"
"A fire-bender with a scar on his face . . . . "pondered on the blonde on his mind, till his eyes widen in realization, "Zuko!"
"Yue, go look for Sokka, he's looking for you," ordered Naruto, "I'll head towards the Oasis and assist Katara, now go!"
And quickly, Yue ran to look for Sokka while Naruto placed his fingers inside his mouth and made a loud whistle, calling for his dragon as he quickly came to his master's call;
"Head towards the Oasis Shen, Katara's in trouble," shouted Naruto as he mounted his dragon and grabbed a hold of the rails. Shen just let out a thunderous roar as he jumped into the air and took flight, heading towards the tower and flying over the wall that hid the hidden Oasis, spotting an unconscious girl by the tree right away;
"Katara!"
Naruto then instructs the dragon to land, and dismounts his dragon before Shen even touched the ground and ran towards the girl. Kneeling next to her, he scooped his arms underneath her and shook her gently;
"Please wake up, Katara! Katara!" whispered Naruto worriedly, only to let out a sigh of relief when he saw the girl beginning to stir as she gained consciousness
"Ugh . . . . my head . . ." murmured Katara as she rubbed her head while slowly sitting up, then her eyes widen, "Aang!"
"Katara, what happened?" asked the blonde softly
"Zuko took him, he took him from right under me," replied Katara, holding her head on her palm
"Let's go Katara, Zuko couldn't have gotten far," said Naruto as he got to his feet and mounted Shen, then he extended his hand towards the girl, who quickly got up and gladly took his hand, mounting the dragon behind Naruto and quickly they took off into the skies in search for their bald friend
Not far from the village, Zuko is carrying Aang through a blizzard across the ice cap with showing snow falling from an ominous cloud filled sky.
.
.
.
.
.
TBC . . .
