LFTS Chapter 8
Hi everyone! Thanks for reading!
:3
I really appreciate comments/reviews, questions, suggestions, whatever
Love and Roses,
Liz
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Kakashi
Aang had been worried ever since they left Roku's temple. If he wasn't flying Appa's reigns himself, he was constantly pacing up and down the bison's back, letting Sokka drive. It made Kakashi nervous, if anything were to happen like when that fireball blew up in front of Appa… Aang would fly off.
"Would you please sit down? You're going to fly off if you're not careful," Kakashi patted the saddle next to him, "tell me about it." Kakashi was reading a book, but that was just an aloof cover, he really was interested in what was bothering Aang.
Aang flopped down next to him. "It's what Avatar Roku said. I'm supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives."
Sokka looked over his shoulder, "Well, you've pretty much mastered airbending! And that only took… 112 years. I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer."
Kakashi shot a look at the boy, and he shut up. You're not helping! Sometimes that boy would be better off saying nothing at all. Jeez. If only I could just shove a gag in his mouth…
Aang was even more riled up, "I haven't even started waterbending and we're still weeks away from the North Pole! What am I gonna do!?"
He put his head in his hands. Kakashi patted his back a couple times. He wasn't great at this, but he had been a teacher for an amount of time in Fire Nation. You came to know what kids needed. Not that the Fire Nation wanted him to treat their kids like this… coddling them. Doesn't mean he didn't know what they needed, even if he didn't act upon it. Maybe Sasuke wouldn't have turned out like such a bad apple if I had done what I thought was right instead of what the Fire Lord thought was right. I wonder what he's up to nowadays? Now that his entire family is dead…
"Hey… it's gunna be okay. You and Katara could try getting a head start? She knows some waterbending right?"
Katara looked at him like she didn't want to be volunteered but nodded.
"Yeah! I can try and teach you some of the stuff I know. Even if it's not much."
His frown disappeared and was replaced by a grateful grin, "You'd do that?"
She nodded and smiled. They both moved to the edge of the saddle to look over, "We'll need to find a good source of water first…"
Sokka opened his mouth and more shit tumbled out, "Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in."
Sokka your eyes should have been brown, you are so full of stupid shit.
…
The water they found was definitely more than a puddle. There was a huge waterfall at the end of the valley, flowing into a large river with plenty of flat land for them to practice right on the shore. Kakashi could tell Aang and Katara were excited for this. Her eyes were gigantic and fixated on the waterfall. Sokka on the other hand was less excited, he kicked a rock into the river and mumbled.
"…nice puddle."
…
Appa swooped in to the basin of the waterfall and dove in. The wave crashed over Momo and the lemur came out looking like a drowned cat. Kakashi watched Appa rolling over in the water, relaxing after a long day. He wanted to join the giant beast but taking off his shirt meant exposing his Fire Nation tattoo and he just couldn't do that right now. At least not until I find out some sort of excuse to tell them as to why I have it. Maybe I could tell them it's a reminder of what they've done to me. But what have they done to me? They ended up being the demise of my parents, my two best friends. I haven't told them any of that yet. Maybe I should eventually. The water seems so niiiiceee... maybe I'll just wear my clothes and get in anyway?
Kakashi took off his vest and long sleeve shirt. He stripped down to a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and got in the water. Mmm... This is nice. Plus I think we were all starting to stink. Nothing like flying on a bison hundreds of miles every day and never being able to use a proper shower. … You should be used to such things Kakashi, you were a refugee on the run for a year... yes but I got spoiled on Kyoshi and had a bath every day. He breathed deeply and let himself float in the pool of water around Appa.
Aang looked like he wanted to join them, he stripped down to his underwear and was about to jump in when Katara stopped him. She had her hands on her hips and did not look pleased. Kakashi was too far away to hear what they said, but it was obviously something that made him sober up and get redressed. Aang has a seriously short attention span. Good luck Katara.
Sokka approached them, talked for a moment before sulking away, holding a leafy branch. He approached Appa, who was resting low in the water, blowing bubbles. The bison was such an innocent at heart. Kakashi watched Sokka climb up onto Appa's stomach and start flossing between one of his toes. Appa was greatly appreciating the treatment, grunting happily. Sokka flossed away.
"Yeh, don't get too happy, Appa. You gotta do me next."
Even though the bison couldn't speak, he did his best to laugh at him. Kakashi smiled at the interaction.
Kakashi wondered where Sakura was. He looked around him and saw her floating on a piece of grassy earth she had earthbended into a sort of lounger-flotation device. She was wearing just a bikini top and bottoms.
"Sakura this water is excellent."
"Isn't it though? Ugh, I could stay here forever."
He smiled. You are so right.
She closed her eyes and resumed her relaxing. Kakashi floated in the water and let himself relax. Every now and then he felt the flow of the water toward the two practicing on the shore but other than that it was bliss, letting his body just go with the flow of the water.
Just as he let himself completely relax the light shining through his eyelids disappeared. He opened one eye and saw a giant wave above them. His eyes widened and he tried to scramble out of the water. Sokka was in the same boat, still on top of Appa with a branch between two other toes. Sakura was lucky enough to be far enough down the river to be out of range of the large wave.
"Aang!"
The two got soaked and washed up on shore. Kakashi's hair hung low in front of his eyes. They glared visibly at the two practicing their waterbending. I know he needs to practice this to get waterbending mastered, but was that last wave truly necessary?
"Looks like I got the hang of that move! What else ya got?"
Katara looked at him sourly, and crossed her arms, "That's enough practicing for today."
Sokka stomped up to them, "Yeah! I'll say! You just practiced our supplies down the river!"
Kakashi flicked his eyes to their supplies floating away. No! My books! He ran down the river to catch up with the bags and Sakura ran along with him. Apparently she couldn't let their things be washed away either. They ran quick enough they managed to pass the group of items floating down the river. They both dove in and grabbed as many things as they could, strapped bags onto their shoulders and scooped more into their arms before it floated away. They managed to get everything and threw it onto the shore. The other three followed them down the river. They gathered their own belongings and spread them out on the shore to dry. Kakashi carefully opened his bag and pulled out his books. As luck would have it, they had been mostly safe, wrapped in a leather skin in the bottom of the bag. A few of the pages had gotten damp and the ink coloring the front was now a little bit runny, but they were otherwise in excellent condition.
He held them to his chest and praised the gods at work.
Sakura shook her head at him.
"Of course you would be most concerned about your books. Perv."
"Shh!" He put a finger to his mouth, "Not around the children! They're views of me haven't been entirely spoiled yet."
The three kids looked at him with blank expressions. He could have sworn he saw an eyebrow twitch from Katara.
"Seriously. That illusion has long since passed. In fact I'm fairly certain it was never there."
He chuckled nervously and itched the back of his neck. They went back at drying out their articles and Kakashi rewrapped his books. At least the worst they think of me is that I'm a pervert. Thank god they don't know the truth yet... you'll have to come out eventually Kakashi. The longer you wait, the worse it will be when they find out. The more your trust will be broken... but I'm not going to tell them now, it's not a good time. … Honestly when will be good time?... you're probably right...
Kakashi set his books down and unpacked the rest of his bag, setting out his clothing to dry. There wasn't too much there, just some simple traveling clothing, a sewing and leather repair kit, and his Kyoshi uniform. He had tried to have Sakura take the uniform but she refused as it was too large for her to wear anyway. All it's doing is collecting dust and taking up room in my bag now...
"Well all of our non-food items survived, but now we have no food. We should go to a town and find somewhere to get some, and maybe some new supplies for things that can't be dried out."
Sokka shot Aang a look, "Ugh. It was hard enough when you were just an airbender."
"I can try and dry those out if you want..."
"No thank you, you'll just blow it back into the river and get it all wet all over again."
Aang hung his head and started walking back up the river to Appa. He takes everything so hard. It's sad to see him depressed literally every time someone is a little mean to him. He's so fragile. Maybe a tougher skin wouldn't be such a bad idea.
…
Their group found a port city not too far away, and were now wandering the town's streets looking for deals to use the little amount of money they had left. Or so their group thought. Kakashi had actually put his own money into the groups stash little by little and was slowly portioning it out to make it last along their journey. He may be a stingy bastard and be buying the bare minimum at times, but at least they had never gone hungry for more than a day or two between markets.
"All right, Sakura and I will go around to the marketplace and find food for the group, you three go and find the supplies you need to replace what was lost. Here," Kakashi gave them a few coins, "I know it's not much, but it's all I can allow. Good luck." He gave them his little two finger wave and eye crease before he and Sakura walked away down another street. A little grumbling came from them, but at this point they had grown used to his scrooge-like ways.
They passed several stalls, each holding different kinds of merchandise.
"Trinkets, odds and ends, that sort of thing!" Nope, just need food.
"Some people call this junk. Me, I call it treasure." Still... just looking for food, but damn are those good prices...
"Remember! I'll give you the best deals or die trying!"
"I've food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, at the best prices in town." Finally, someone that can help us.
Kakashi and Sakura stopped at the stall, a woman named Ysolda was running it.
"How can I help you two lovely travelers? On a honeymoon? Looking for picnic fare? I've got all kinds of foods, from prepared sweet rolls, cheese wheels and mammoth snout, to raw ingredients to take on your journey. What can I do for you today?"
A slight heat grew in Kakashi's cheeks and he looked over the woman's raw wares, let's see, things that won't go bad too easily, vegetables and breads, maybe some cheese.
"We'll take... a few apples, a quarter of the cheese wheel over here, some of your dried meat, a salt bowl, onions, and potatoes."
Sakura looked at him questioningly and took his arm to whisper in his ear,
"Do we have enough money for this?"
"We've got enough, I promise."
"That'll be 3 silver coins. I'll even throw in a big bag of rice for you two." She winked and Sakura pulled her hands away from his arm. Kakashi paid for the food and Martha handed them a large bag filled with their foodstuffs. He took out an empty sack from his back and split some of the groceries into it, the onions, apples, and rice. Kakashi handed the sack to Sakura and she tied it to her own pack. He left the rest of the items in his own bag and turned around in front of Sakura to have her help him tie it down to his own bag.
As they walked along he thought about how much food the woman had given him. Kakashi had only paid a few silver coins on their food, and the woman had been more than generous with them. There are still kind people in the world. … if she had known you were Fire Nation I doubt she would have been as nice. … you're probably right, but I can't blame people for their prejudice of the Fire Nation. They are kind of trying to conquer the world and mostly succeeding.
The two found their group of friends and watched them from afar, the three went from stall to stall and didn't find anything to their liking. Or if they did, they usually didn't have enough money to buy it. Sakura glared at him each time they left a little more depressed but he ignored her, the children were given an allowance and if they couldn't do what they needed to, well then they weren't finding good enough deals. He always explained that it was a teaching opportunity. Stinginess 101.
The group finally made it to the pier of the merchant town and Kakashi was starting to feel a little bad, they still hadn't bought anything. Maybe I really did give them too little of an amount...
A barker stood in front of a ship and was yelling out to the people as they passed. He wore a bandana and had a large hoop earring in his ear. He was not a very attractive man, but his voice was loud enough for the job.
"Earth Nation! Fire Nation! Water Nation! So long as bargains are your inclination, you're welcome here! Don't be shy, come on by!" You couldn't come up with anything better? Even the stalls in town were more original!
The kids weren't inclined to stop at the ship, but the barker ran up to them even as they kept walking.
"Oh! You there! I can see by your clothing that you're world traveling types! Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?"
Aang was brought in and Kakashi shook his head. There is a reason I don't give them money. This is it.
"Sure! What are curios?"
Sakura smacked her face next to him, "Oh my gooood, Aang, curio's are rare, unusual or intriguing objects."
Kakashi slid a glance at her from the corner of his eye, "Well aren't you just a walking dictionary?"
"You know… I don't know! But we got em!"
She glared at him and they both directed their attention back to the group of kids in front of them. They were just walking into the ship, being directed by the barker from before. Sakura moved to join them, but Kakashi held her back.
"Wait. I have a weird feeling about this place, we better hold back just in case they need help getting out of a tight spot. People don't get 'exotic curios' just anywhere..."
She crouched back down next to him. They were hiding behind a small wall on the edge of the pier, holding a rope that ran along the top of the railing as they waited. The three were in there for several minutes, and Kakashi was getting a bit worried.
The barker came back out of the ship, and the kids were not with him. Keep your cool just for a little longer, Kakashi, maybe they're just taking a while to carouse the merchandise.
Not five minutes later the three left the ship, their hands empty. Katara shifted her weight nervously the entire time they were walking away. Her body language screamed nervousness.
The barker who had first solicited their business yelled after them, "Hey, you! Get back here!"
The three kids turned back, Aang walked back towards the man a couple of steps.
Chaos erupted. Pirates crawled out of every nook and cranny imaginable on the ship and were stalking toward the kids. They were positively dripping in weapons. They crowded around them, yelling various things.
"There they are!"
"Get 'em!"
"Nobody's goin' nowhere!"
...
The three ran off, the pirates hot in pursuit.
Sakura looked at him, "Now can we go after them?"
"Get back here!"
Kakashi looked at Sakura and cocked an eyebrow, "anxious are we? Why aren't you satisfied with seeing them get into their own trouble and letting them find their own way out of it?"
"Because they're our friends, damn it!"
"I know. All right, let's see if we can go find them. But only after we go see if there's anything in that pirate ship that we need."
Sakura glared at him.
"What? I swear it will just be a few minutes."
She huffed and pulled her pack up on her back and they walked toward the ship.
"I swear. We are supposed to be role models for them… What exactly are we hoping to find here?"
"Just one little thing."
"Oh? So you're actually looking for something. I thought we were just browsing."
"Meh."
They entered the ship and the remaining pirates seemed suspicious.
"We're closed."
"Can I just ask one question?"
"...What."
"Do you happen to have any pai sho pieces?"
The crew looked at him like he was an idiot.
"I think there might be something in the box on the right in the middle bookshelf, next to the other odd ends."
"Thanks." Kakashi smiled at the gentlemen and moved his way towards the bookshelf.
He opened the box and inside were several of the game pieces, most in shoddy condition, but one stood out to him among the rest. It featured a sole white lotus flower. He plucked it out along with another piece, and brought them to the 'checkout' counter.
"How much for these?"
"2 copper pieces."
Kakashi handed over the money and smiled to himself. What a steal. Those kids could have bought these pieces, with what I gave them. He pocketed the pieces along with his money and left the ship.
"Now we go to find our friends."
"Finally."
They ran off as fast as they could with their packs. Goodness knows what their friends had gotten up to in the meantime.
…
Kakashi and Sakura found a group of pirates, one of which was the barker from before, whispering as they went along,
"This way! Let's cut 'em off!"
Found them.
They followed the pirates as closely as possible without being noticed and soon enough they found the other kids.
They past the first group that been in pursuit, amongst a shattered mess of a cart, a frozen puddle, an entire mound of ruined cabbages and a very irate cabbage vendor. Just as they passed, the cabbage vendor yelled out in rage.
"My cabbages! This place is worse than Omashu!"
The pirates groaned pitifully and Kakashi's group of pirates he was tailing caught up with the kids around the next corner. They were being backed into an alley, but what the pirates didn't know was that in the end, they were the ones being surrounded.
"I hope that lemur of yours has nine lives!"
The pirate on the left of the barker pulled out a large scimitar and licked his lips, as if he were going to eat the lemur.
The Pirate Barker crept closer to the kids, and Kakashi finally met Aang's eyes.
"Now, who gets to taste the steel of my blade first?"
"No thanks!"
Kakashi and Sakura flattened themselves against the wall of to either side of the pirates. Aang airbent a huge gust of wind at the pirates, who were blinded with dust and disoriented by the attack. Aang rushed forward with his glider and yelled at Katara and Sokka to latch onto his legs. They had trouble gaining altitude at first, and their two companions below knew they would be unable to hitch a ride on Aang's glider. As they flew up, Katara and her brother helped them gain altitude by kicking off against the heads of several of the pirates below them.
Kakashi looked up at the young boy and wondered how he and Sakura were going to get out of this.
The pirates were getting back up. At least all but a few that were knocked out by a well-placed kick from Sokka. Was it really Sokka's kick? Or the stench of his feet that knocked them out?
"Sorry to split so soon, but we are in just such a hurry. Thanks for your business! We won't be back. Toodloo!" Kakashi gave him a two-finger wave and an eye crease before they ran away so fast it was as if there was a dust cloud trailing them.
The pirates only trailed them to the edge of town.
As they slowed, Sakura questioned, "So. Why the pai sho pieces?"
"Well… the white lotus is the important one, should I join a game of pai sho not all of the modern gamers include this piece in their games anymore. The other I bought to hide the fact that I was coming in solely for the white lotus."
"What's so important about it?"
"You'll find out eventually. Unfortunately it's a very important secret."
…
Once they returned to the campsite, Kakashi and Sakura were greeted by the three kids.
"How did you manage to get out of there alive?"
Kakashi wanted to spin them a giant tall-tale and started, "We stood our ground, us against the fifteen of them... with just me and Sakura. It was a hard fight..."
Sakura elbowed him in the ribs, giving him a hard glare for the lie.
"All right we really just ran away quicker than they could catch us. Nothing as exciting as that cabbage cart diversion. I really feel bad for that guy, he's lost two entire crops of cabbages now. What a horrible way to live!"
They all laughed, even if Kakashi truly felt that way for the cabbage man. Nothing to laugh at, that guy really makes his living selling cabbages and we just keep coming along and ruining them for him.
Aang started wandering around the area looking for firewood.
"You know, I used to kinda look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible."
Katara turned to him, her hands behind her back. "I know! That's why I took... this!" She brought out the scroll, brandishing a wide smile.
Aang gave Kakashi the sticks he had been gathering and he set them in a small pit he had dug for the campfire.
"No way."
"Isn't it great?" Kakashi made a teepee of sorts out of the sticks and found a small bundle of dried kindling he was going to use for the fire. Sakura brought him a few larger branches they would use to fuel it while they ate that night.
Sakura crouched down next to the unlit sticks across from him,
"How do you feel about her taking that scroll? Personally I'm just like no wonder they were trying to hack us up, we stole their 'property'."
"I mean, you do have to admit it was kinda like stealing something that was already stolen property."
"Yeah, but two wrongs doesn't make a right. I'm gunna go get a pan from your bag and start preparing dinner. What do you think, some cheese and rice soup? Make the groceries last a little while before we need more food?"
"Sure."
Sokka came over to help him with the fire, but he really just wanted to complain about his sister's actions. "..Doesn't matter. Putting all of our lives in danger just so you could learn some stupid, fancy splashes!"
Kakashi looked around at the other two near him. Having seen that neither were watching he sent a tiny flash of fire into the sticks and they lit up.
"All right we have a fire. Sakura? Do you have the deep pot?"
"Yep, right here." She handed him a large deep pan, water already in it. He finagled the pot onto a few larger sticks fashioned into a spit over the small fire. From the handles on the side of the pot he used a length of rope to hold it over the flames. Kakashi measured a good amount of rice from their bag and dumped it into the water along with a bit of the salt. He would save adding the cheese until later.
Aang and Katara were back at it, practicing again. Luckily this time there was no way they would be able to wash away their supplies. Sokka left the fire-starting to go back to Aang and Katara's 'practicing'.
…
Unfortunately for Aang, it seemed Katara wanted to be a little selfish. Kakashi didn't blame here, Aang had completely blown her abilities out of the water with his ease of learning the new skill.
"I just want to try this one move first and then it's all yours."
Aang was stuck holding open the scroll for her to look at as she went through the stances.
"The single water whip... looks doable."
She hit herself in the face and Sokka laughed. Kakashi himself wanted to chuckle, but knew he shouldn't tease someone who was trying to learn, it would only belittle them and ruin their confidence about the subject they were learning.
"What's so funny?"
Kakashi paused stirring his soup. He had to hear this part. Katara was likely to kill him at some point.
"I'm sorry, but you deserve that." Sokka looked over at Aang.
"You've been duped. She's only interested in teaching herself."
At least Katara had the decency to act like she felt guilty, "Aang will get his turn once I figure out the water whip!"
She tried again but the whip behaved spasmodically and zapped Momo, who screamed at the girl in protest. Kakashi turned away from their scene for a moment, taking the cheese and adding a small amount to the soup.
"Why can't I get this stupid move!"
Aang walked up to her and left the scroll on a tree trunk. He continued on to the river.
"You'll get it," Aang made the motions of the same move and it came to him easily on the first try.
"You just gotta shift your weight through the stances…" He gracefully manipulated the whip for a few seconds then dropped it back into the river.
"There. See, the key to bending is…"
Katara angrily shook her fists at the boy, "Will you PLEASE shut your air hole! Believe it or not, your infinite wisdom gets a little old sometimes. Why don't we just throw the scroll away since you're so naturally gifted!"
She looked around at the other people and seemed dumbfounded, "What?"
Next to him Sakura stepped away from the fire to face the girl, "Maybe you shouldn't be so selfish? The whole point of stopping here was for you to help Aang learn waterbending. He's not really learning diddlysquat with you yelling at him and having him hold the scroll while you get to learn it. A better way to do it would be to learn it together. Each of you look at the move, and both try it. Give each other pointers. That way you each learn it from two perspectives, the person watching you and through yourself."
Kakashi couldn't see Aang's face but he imagined the boy was crushed. Apparently he was correct as Katara came up and apologized to Aang. Sakura's words had actually gotten through to her.
"Aang, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. But, you know what, it won't happen again."
She rolled up the scroll and handed it back to Aang.
"Here. This is yours. I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore."
"It's okay, Katara." He took the scroll and Kakashi smiled. Great. Good to know these kids get over themselves easily. There is no room for any grudges on this journey.
"Dinner is ready, everybody! Cheesy rice soup!"
Sokka moved off his rock and towards their fire, "What about Momo? He's the real victim here."
Katara stroked the lemur's ears and he chittered at her. "I'm sorry, Momo."
Her brother saw that Katara was in a particularly forgiving mood and went one step further.
"And… what about me? There was that time you-"
Katara's mood flipped like a switch and she was angry again. "No more apologies!"
Sakura leaned into Kakashi's ear and whispered, "Man, and I thought I was bad, she switches moods at the drop of a hat! Tsunade would be proud."
"You are not wrong…"
Kakashi took his bowl out of his pack and spooned some of the soup into his bowl. Time to eat! First time we've eaten today and I'm positively starving.
…
That night after the rest of the kiddos went to sleep, Kakashi laid awake on top of his sleeping roll. The fire crackled next to him and the stars were glorious. Katara was also awake but Kakashi let her think was also unconscious. She got up and silently took the scroll from Aang's bag. As she backed away from the camp, Momo chittered at her from on top a tree stump.
"Sh! Momo, go back to sleep!"
She's probably just practicing. No big deal right?
When she didn't return, Kakashi started get worried. He woke up Sakura next to him and told her what was up. She got up and they both packed their stuff to follow where Katara had gone. Never leave a place unprepared… you never know if you will come back or not. They found Katara in a clearing past a tree line on the shore. She was tied to a young tree separated from the rest of the forest. Zuko was interrogating her.
"Tell me where he is and I won't hurt you or your friends."
"Go jump in the river!" Good. She's got spunk. Hopefully they don't try and resort to torture to get it out of her.
"Try to understand, I need to capture him to restore something I've lost. My honor. Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost."
He pulled Katara's necklace from a pocket and pulled in front of her neck, just far enough out she could see it. Shock was apparent on her face, that soon turned to anger as he backed away with it.
"My mother's necklace! How did you get that?"
"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering. Tell me where he is."
"No!"
Katara had guts, Kakashi had to give that to her. If it was his priceless possession, something that he could never possibly even dream of replacing, there might be second thoughts in his mind. Of course one would always hope that there wouldn't be any second thoughts in that sort of situation when it came to selling out your friends… but… Kakashi shook the thought from his head and focused on the situation.
"Enough of this necklace garbage. You promised the scroll!" The pirate captain from the ship barked out.
Zuko produced the scroll from another infinitely deep pocket and created a small fire in one palm underneath it.
"I wonder how much money this is worth?" The pirates gasp and some of them cried out, 'no!'
"A lot apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here."
Kakashi flattened himself under a bush and made room for Sakura underneath it with him. It would not do them any good to get caught here.
The pirate captains voice responded, "Fine."
…
It was a matter of less than 20 minutes before all the pirates had returned along with Sokka and Aang in tow in net bags.
Zuko saw they had achieved his goal and he along with the rest of his group lined up along the river bank.
"Nice work."
Kakashi and Sakura resumed their earlier positions and watched as the scene played out.
"Are we seriously going to wait to do anything like last time? I want to get in on it this time!"
"You'll get your chance, calm down Sakura. Plus what if you get captured? Who knows what pirates do to pretty girls…"
"I'll show you what they do to pretty girls… but really though we should wait, I guess, until there is some sort of cover."
"Aang, this is all my fault." Katara was apologizing to Aang, who was now tied up and in the pirates' clutches.
"No, Katara it isn't."
Next to Katara was a man Kakashi hadn't seen in a long time. General Iroh. He responded to the conversation,
"Yeah, it kind of is."
And Kakashi had to agree with him. If Katara hadn't been out in the middle of the night practicing her waterbending, they would never be in this mess. Wait. If Katara had never stolen the scroll they wouldn't be in this mess either. Jeez. And I won't go out until there is definitely some sort of cover, Sakura. General Iroh would recognize me in a heartbeat.
"Give me the boy."
"You give us the scroll."
"You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment!?" Sokka broke in. Dear lord, Sokka. I don't know what you're doing but this could go very badly for you right now. Please, please do not fuck it up.
Zuko tried to convince the man otherwise, "Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other."
The pirate captain looked at Aang but spoke to Sokka, "Your friend is the Avatar?"
Sokka magically appeared at the captain's side, "Sure is, and I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll."
The Fire Nation prince was getting fired up, "Shut your mouth, you water tribe peasant!" I kind of have to agree with him… the shutting up part, not the water tribe peasant part. That's not very nice.
Sokka didn't stop talking. "I'm just sayin', it's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life!"
The captain was sold, "Keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we will get for the kid."
The pirates walked away with the kids.
"You'll regret breaking a deal with me!"
Zuko and his guards unleashed a torrent of flames, which bathed the ground under the pirates and they jumped out of the way. Several of the pirates threw smoke bombs and this was the cover Kakashi and Sakura were looking for. Kakashi ran up to Katara and cut her bindings.
"Thank you Kakashi, I owe you one."
Kakashi nodded with a grunt and they joined the fray.
He noticed Sakura was running around the edge looking for a different in or a more advantageous angle of attack. Kakashi waded into the struggle, katana drawn and ready for a fight. He knew the kids were not armed but just in case, he didn't want to hit them.
"Sokka, Aang!"
Aang jumped out of the dust on the far end of the cloud, "Over here!"
Sokka's voice came from the other side.
All right, I'm safe to let loose in this area. He swung his katana with purpose, hoping it connected with weapon and body. He did meet a blade soon enough and his opponent and he fought for a while.
"Aang you there?"
This time it was Sokka asking.
"I'm over here! Follow the sound of my voice!"
"Where? I can't find you!"
"I'm right here!"
Aang blew smoke away from his immediate area, and Kakashi saw exactly where he was, as well as a ton of pirates and Fire Nation surrounding him.
Everyone froze for just a second to look at the boy, before Aang closed the smoke back around them.
"Uhh, never mind! I'll find you!"
Kakashi found Aang and hurled him out of the smoke, before sheathing his katana and following him. Sokka crawled out of the smoke a little ways to their left.
"Run!"
Kakashi booked it with them towards the pirates' ship, which Sakura and Katara were now trying to push off the shore.
"Sakura! How did it go with Zuko?"
She didn't turn to look but heard him.
"Well, I hope he doesn't get out of that soon, but I'm willing to bet that we'll see him soon."
"You guys! Help us get this boat back in the water so we can get out of here!" Katara pleaded with them.
Kakashi took a hold of the boat above where Sakura stood and the other three pushed along the sides. But their efforts were to no avail. The boat was stuck.
"We would need a team of rhinos to budge this ship," Kakashi mused to himself.
Aang turned to him with a grin, "A team of rhinos… or two waterbenders."
Katara and Aang managed to bend enough water up the shore to make the boat float.
"Everyone in!"
Sokka took the helm as they shove off from the shore, Kakashi thought about taking it, but he decided to let the boy figure it out.
"Sokka! Can't you make it go any faster?"
Aang questioned. Kakashi looked behind them and saw that Aang was correct, the pirates were gaining on them in Zuko's ship. He looked towards Sokka.
"Do you want me to take over?"
"Sure. I don't know how to make it go any faster, the thing wasn't made by the water tribe."
Sokka hopped down and Kakashi took the wheel. There wasn't much he could do either, and the pirates soon came to a parallel with them. The greasy men started jumping on the ship. Kakashi wanted to leave the wheel and help but all he could do was fight them off when they got to him. A couple of pirates approached Katara. Aang waterbended a huge wave onto the deck that washed one of the pirates overboard. Katara fought back and created a water w hip to smack the other one overboard. Proud of her, finally got that move down.
Aang was proud of her too, "Hey, you did the water whip!"
"I couldn't have done it without your help!"
Kakashi took a knife off of one of the fallen pirates and threw it at a beefy pirate trying to get to Sokka. It lodged itself deep into the man's arm and he was knocked off balance. The pirate reeled for a few steps and fell over the side of the ship. Sokka knocked the pirate salesman over the head with his boomerang, then threw him overboard as well.
Katara yelled out, pointing in front of them, "You guys, look!"
The sound of falling water could be heard as she spoke. Fucking great. Just down river was a waterfall.
"Oh, no!"
Aang pulled out his bison whistle and blew on it. Sokka walked up to him and tapped the side of his head.
"Have you lost your mind? This is no time for flute practice!"
Kakashi knew he needed to break them up. Maybe they can stop the ship with some waterbending?
"Hey! You guys! We can stop the boat!" They looked toward him, "Aang, Katara together! Push and pull the water in the opposite direction!"
The ship started to turn in the motion of the water and below them the river was turning into a sort of whirlpool at the top of the fall. They were coming to a stop.
"It's working! It's slowing down!"
Kakashi looked behind them. The Fire Navy ship was still coming. Well so much for that idea…
"We're doing it!" Katara was elated.
Sokka saw the same thing Kakashi did. "But we have another problem!" He pointed behind the ship, towards Zuko's hostage ship. The ship wasn't slowing down, just getting closer and closer. The ship ran into them and they were all thrown off. Luckily the bison whistle had actually worked and Appa flew in to catch them just in time. Sakura flopped over him in her landing.
"Sorry. Ugh." She pushed herself off of him and sat back to the right. Kakashi watched as the pirate ship was disintegrated on the rocks below.
"I am very glad you bought that whistle Aang. Though, shouldn't we circle back around to pick up your things? I know Sakura and I managed to grab our stuff, but you guys were kidnapped before you had a chance to."
"Yeah we should. I think that the campsite should be free of others now."
As they flew back over the waterfall, Kakashi saw Zuko and Iroh standing on the shore of the river. He and Iroh met eyes, and recognition flashed in the General's eyes. It was almost unperceivable, but Kakashi swore he saw the old man nod to him. Kakashi gave him a subtle nod back.
…
Once they got back to the campsite, the three kids packed up their things in record time. Kakashi and Sakura kept a lookout from Appa's saddle. They had everything packed up within minutes and the group was off again on Appa.
Katara sat next to Aang.
"Aang, I still owe you an apology." She wasn't looking at him, but kept her face down.
"You were just so good at waterbending without really trying. I got so competitive that I put us all in danger. I'm sorry."
"That's okay, Katara."
"Besides, who needs that stupid scroll anyway?"
"Are you sure that's how you feel?" Next to Kakashi, Sakura pulled the scroll out of her pack.
"The scroll!"
She reached for it, but Sakura didn't give it to her, she pulled her hand back.
"First, what did you learn?"
"That stealing is wrong…" Katara took the scroll from her, "Unless it's from pirates!"
Kakashi saw Sakura roll her eyes and sigh at the girl.
"Well I guess she'll learn eventually."
