Bolt out of the Blue

Disclaimer: Viacom owns Avatar: The Last Airbender and Kishimoto owns Naruto.

Me? I own a Toshiba laptop and perhaps the way I sent the Naruto characters to the A:tLA world

MP: Ok, so here is Chapter 9 which was short so I went back and wrote Chapter 9b to add to it with a Zuko side story.

By the way, if anyone is thinking of seeing Transformers 3, I'd advise bringing an over caffeinated beverage along because it is long and it drags in sections. I still have mixed feelings about it (especially considering the blond bimbo they replaced Mikaela with! That character might be named Carly but she does the G1 character of the same name a great injustice!) but it was a good film over all. I won't say it was great but it was good.

Responses, now that I've gotten off my soapbox:

L33t Horo: Well I added a short story to this chapter to lengthen it. Though the other chapters I have written thus far are much longer.

PaperPlanes: Ok so here are your pacman points but I only have 2 cause I suck at pacman (seriously, I've never ever gotten past level one. Now if you wanted, say Galaxians's/Space Invaders's points then I'm your girl). I decided with the Super Pervert's spy network that he would most definitely know about ROOT.

As far as the Akatsuki is concerned, good heavens no! If the Firelord tried to boss Itachi around it would end up like this:

Ozai: You will obey me!

Itachi: No. TSUKIYOMI! For the next 72 hours you will suffer like you've never suffered before. Kisame, quit killing his guards and let's get out of here

Kisame: (knee deep in carnage) Fine, it was getting boring anyway

or, like this:

Ozai threw lightning at his robe clad foe whose red eyes were practically glowing, and they dodged it. Then, with perfect form, the longhaired young man threw lightning right back at him striking the Firelord straight through his black heart, killing him on the spot.

"What a waste of time," Itachi said before he left with a swirl of his red-cloud covered robes. On his way out his picked up Kisame who was slaughtering handfuls of firebenders at a time with samehada.

That's not even taking into account what Kisame would do to him.

Since I'm trying not to end the war with one paragraph, they won't be meeting EVER. They're in the Fire Nation simply because that's where their portal spat them out. Likewise for the Konoha team and the Earth Kingdom.

Though that is an entertaining thought. Perhaps I should write something to the effect of "The Many Deaths of The Firelord"

MP: Ok, while I go drown that plot-bunny enjoy the chapter and it's little extra!


Quote:"The whole campaign was a tragic case of mistaken identity." George Stanley McGovern

Chapter 9 Legend of Earth Kingdom's Yellow Flash!

"How did you meet Gaara?" asked Aang after a few hours into the flight.

"Sandy was playing with his sand near my house and I could feel he was moving the earth too so I gave him a few pointers and introduced him to Earth Rumble and he's been coming ever since. The Boulder hates losing to him more than me because of Sandy's sand," Toph said, "He's the closest thing to a friend I have."

"How is he doing that flying thing?" asked Sokka.

"It has to do with the demon sealed inside of me," Gaara said startling Sokka.

"Naruto, how will that mini-Appa last?" asked Sokka changing the subject.

"Until it gets hit," said Naruto which had the others suddenly go pale.

"We need an alternative solution," said Sasuke.

"What about a balloon?" Sokka suggested, "And the best part is you don't even need a burner with emo boy there."

"How long will it take to make one?" asked Sakura after she whacked Sokka.

"With Naruto's clones, maybe a day," Sokka said, "Though we're going to need to stop at a village to get the supplies to build one."

They landed and soon the materials were gathered and the multiple Naruto's got to work following Sasuke and Sokka's instructions.

"So what are we going to do while they work?" asked Aang.

"I don't know what you're going to do, Twinkletoes, but I'm going to find a place to relax," Toph said. Aang shrugged and left with her. Gaara silently followed leaving Sasuke to supervise the clones with Sokka's assistance.

"Why don't we go into town and see if we can stock up on other supplies with what's left," Katara said before the Original Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata nodded following her.

"YELLOW FLASH!" yelled someone when Naruto walked into the village only to have them say, "No, it's just a kid with hair like his." Just as on Kyoshi whenever they people found out Aang wasn't there, when it turned out to not be the 'Yellow Flash' the town's excitement deflated.

"They have a Yellow Flash too?" Sakura said.

"It has to be a different guy," Naruto said.

"No, duh! Konoha's Yellow Flash was the Fourth and he's dead," Sakura said.

"What's the story about this 'Yellow Flash?'" Katara asked a villager.

"They say that he appeared about thirteen years ago, and began to fight for the Earth Kingdom, obliterating advancing Fire Nation troops with nothing but a series of yellow flashes. No one's ever seen his face but they've seen him from behind and he has spiky yellow hair like your friend does," said the one villager. Naruto heard the Nine-Tails growling.

'What now, Fuzzy?' he asked.

'Any time I hear that title I have the urge to kill him for sealing me into you,' the demon snarled.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Hinata asked bringing Naruto back to reality.

"Fuzzy's just grumbling because their Yellow Flash reminded him of our Yellow Flash," Naruto said.

"I wonder if he's also from your world," Katara mused a loud.

"If he was then he'd have to be our Fourth Hokage, but he died sealing the Nine-Tails," said Sakura.

"What if he got pulled into a vortex like we were?" Hinata said.

"What did Gaara say his caretaker's name was again?" asked Sakura.

"Minato," Naruto said which made all three ninja stop dead.

"What was the Fourth's name?" asked Katara curious about some information about the ellusive pasts of the ninjas.

"M-Minato N-Namikaze," said Hinata. The Nine-Tails let out a stream of swear words that were very colorful and had the demon been corporeal the air around him would have turned blue.

"We'll ask Gaara if his Minato's last name was Namikaze," said Naruto after a moment, "One of my clones dispelled, the balloon's going to be a little while longer: Sokka and Sasuke are arguing over design."

"Those two couldn't rely on each other if their lives depended on it," Katara sighed.

"Mayb-Nope, she's right," Naruto began to say, "And then Sasuke would just swear vengeance on Sokka and get him in the afterlife or something."

"JERK!" Sakura said smacking Naruto as Katara and Hinata giggled a little.

"Sakura, he's right, Sasuke is focused on revenge a lot," Hinata said trying to placate the pinket. All talk of finding out the full identity of the hermit pushed out of their heads.

They returned to camp that night to see the frame and the basket were finished leaving only the cloth portion still undone as the Naruto clones continued to sew under Sokka's watchful eye, several clones holding torches so the others could see. Sasuke was sleeping by the fire having used bending to weld the metal together. Several clones had been accidentally dispelled during this process. The basket was big enough to fit ten with bars to tie straps to and a place on the front to tie mooring lines. The next morning the Naruto clones had finished the cloth part but were sleepy so the original dismissed all of them to summon a new batch to get the fabric on the frame without tearing it. Half a day later and the balloon was ready to go. The balloon was multicolored because of the fact there hadn't been enough of just one color to make it.

"How'd we afford all that?" Sokka asked in amazement.

"Gaara's second place prize money from Earth Rumble," said Sasuke as he climbed in and shot a controlled burst of fire into the balloon to make it rise a little while still tied to the ground.

"It's missing something," Naruto said before he smirked and summoned a clone who ran off and returned with paint. A clone-ladder later and the Uzumaki swirl was on the sides of the balloon.

"What's that?" asked Sokka pointing to the swirl.

"It kinda looks like part of the Air Nomad's symbol," Katara remarked.

"It's the Dead Last's family crest," Sasuke muttered.

"I like it," Hinata said without a stutter.

"Hn," avenger-ese for 'Of course you would.'

"Why not just put the leaf on the side?" asked Sakura.

"Because Gaara's not from leaf and I don't know Sand's symbol," Naruto said with a shrug. Gaara pointed to the metal plate on his strap.

"Say, if you hate Hidden Sand so much, why not join us?" asked Naruto.

"Defect?" Gaara said puzzled.

"Yeah, though there's nothing wrong with you," said Naruto.

"He meant switching loyalty to Konoha, leaving his old village behind," Sasuke explained.

"Geeze Naruto, I can't believe how dense you are," Sakura said.

"At least he doesn't point out every mistake you make," Hinata said finding a backbone, "You're no better than the teachers from the academy who refused to answer his questions! It's no wonder he was dead last! No one was willing to help him and I was too shy to talk to him!"

"So I wasn't imagining things," Sasuke remarked. The Uchiha genius had noticed Naruto's treatment over the years but thought maybe he was misreading the situation.

"You guys noticed and never told anyone?" Naruto said borderline angry.

"Who would have listened to us?" Sasuke said, "We're a couple of kids. Yes, we're from powerful clans, but the adults seemed set to hate you for the Fox."

"Why is it such a secret that Naruto's the container anyway?" asked Sakura.

"Something about wanting me to grow up normal," Naruto said huffily.

"That was stupid," Sasuke said.

"All it did was make the adults hate Naruto more," Hinata said.

"And it didn't stop our parents from making us shun him," Sasuke said, "My parents used flimsy excuses such as he was a classless orphan not worthy of an Uchiha's time. If that had been the case then all Uchiha would have shunned any and all orphans and all ninjas who came from civilians families."

"Father also said something similar," Hinata said.

"My parents just said he was a bad influence, but you know, it never stopped the Third Hokage from being kind to him nor those ramen people," Sakura said.

"Your whole village dumped on him and he's willing to become their protector?" Toph asked as she and Aang returned from training.

"I have precious people in the village and though they hurt me, if I let them get hurt, I'd be just as bad as them," Naruto said passionately, "That's my way of being a ninja and I'm not going to break it." Gaara watched the whole exchanged silently.

"Konoha may not be standing whenever we return. Suna had allied with Hidden Sound to invade during the exams," Gaara said.

"WHAT!" Sakura and Naruto yelled. Sasuke and Hinata merely glared at the Sand ninja, their respective bloodlines activating from their sheer fury.

"The Fourth Kazekage had decided ally with Sound for financial reasons. I was to be Sand's trump card. My disappearance will have hampered their mission severely, as I was to be both a distraction and a destructive force from within," Gaara said, "I owe nothing to Suna." The redhead looked at his forehead protector and a stream of sand blasted the metal blank, "I would prefer to remain your comrade, though I would understand if you would prefer to dissociate with me." The formerly insane ex-Sand ninja bowed his head expecting to hear rejections from his new friends.

"Are you kidding?" Naruto yelled. This shocked Gaara out of his somber stance.

"If we were going to exclude people for things they might have done then we wouldn't be here right now," Katara said. Aang winced a little at that reminder.* See Batou of the water tribe in Book 1 of either my story or just an episode summary from the general avatar universe

"Yeah, and you're pretty good in a fight, we need you to help bust Firebender heads," Sokka said.

"And I think you're not as bad as you make yourself out to be," Aang said.

"Just get in the balloon," Sasuke said.

"Um Sasuke, Hinata? Your eyes…," Sakura said. The two seemed surprised by this development and deactivated them at once.

"You're one of us now!" Naruto said with a bright smile.

Fire nation, The Boiling Rock

-Four Months ago-

"How are you finding your new recruits?" asked the warden of a young woman wearing fine silk robes and a silk cap. Her red hair let to hang loose around her lovely face, upon which a cold smirk was worn.

"They are doing well for trash, but I will soon make them almost worthy of training," she said, "When can I expect my surviving teammates returned to me?"

"Never," said the warden.

"Why the F**k not?" the woman asked losing her composure.

"I'm afraid that the last survivor died last night from Turtleduck Pox," the warden explained.

"Damn. That means I need to find a way to get in touch with my master sooner. I am certain he will join in the Fire Lord's mission. Fire Lord Oozai and my master are of the same mind on many things," the young woman said.

"I don't doubt that Lady Tayuya, though how he managed to force you to clean your fowl mouth is a mystery," the warden said.

"It's F**king easy, actually. Shoot lightning at someone's f**king ass and see what happens," Tayuya explained.

"Sir! Reports from the Earth Kingdom! That blasted Flash is at it again!" a messenger said.

"Are any of your unit ready for a field test?" asked the Warden.

"I have one that just might be ready," Tayuya said before she turned to the room on her left.

"Hey F**kers! All members of the Third Inversion Unit better get their f**king asses in gear! You're finally getting to see some G-d damned action so don't keep me waiting, you f**king pieces of trash!" Tayuya yelled she turned to the messenger, "You, what are the damn details about this f**ker?" The messenger shakily handed her the scrolls as a general entered after him.

"General Zheng, it's about f**king time," Tayuya said as he ninja trainees appeared, "Debrief these trashes and then deploy them as you see fit. I'm going to train more of their f**king kind." With that the flute playing sole survivor of the Sound Four (Five) went to torture more of her 'recruits.'

And now for Chapter 9b: A Zuko Side story, which takes place just after 'Zuko Alone.'

Chapter 9b A Chance Encounter

"Sharing tea with an interesting stranger is one of life's true delights," Iroh, 'The Chase,' Book 2: Earth, Avatar: Last Airbender

After leaving the last village, Zuko kept his head down as he rode. He made it rather far before nightfall and before he could make camp ran into someone already doing so. They were dressed in a loose green tunic and cream colored pants with sandals on their feet. The man was tall and his face was hidden in the shadows of his hat which looked a lot like the hat Zuko himself wore.

"Are you going to just stand there or join me?" the man asked cheerfully indicating a pot cooking on the fire. Zuko was confused for a moment before he tied his ostrich horse on to a tree and sat across from the stranger.

"So, what are you called?" asked the man.

"Li," Zuko said.

"Well, Li, I'm Minato," said the man removing his hat to reveal a youngish face with wide blue eyes and a large cheesy grin. What had Zuko's attention, however, was the spiky bright blonde hair on the man's head and the headband he wore with the strange swirl/arrow shape,

'He looks like that airbender who travels with the Avatar,' Zuko thought as he too removed his hat.

"What brings you to this part of the Earth Kingdom?" Minato asked as he stirred his stew.

"Just passing through," replied his guest. Minato recognized who the boy was; after all, the exiled Prince Zuko nearly had as big a price on his head as Minato himself did. Though he would play along with the boy, as he knew it was hard to hide with a distinctive feature: in Minato's case, his blond hair.

"What does that symbol on your headband mean?" asked 'Li.'

"It's the symbol of my home village. Anyone wearing this symbol is also from my home," Minato said carefully. He'd seen the boy's reaction to his hair and his symbol which meant,

'Other Ninjas from Konoha are here!'

"I see," Zuko said more to himself that to Minato. A rustling sound was heard and both warriors were on their feet. Zuko had his Dao's out in a split second while Minato had out a tri-pronged kunai and a regular one. It was a drunken man who seemed to be carrying stacks of paper. Minato moved almost too quickly for the banished prince to see but the man was out like a light with one hit. Minato took the papers and began to look through them: Wanted Posters. Top of the pile, the Avatar, himself as the Flash (though because of his quickness it wasn't a very good likeness though the hair was spot on), next were Iroh and Zuko, following that was Zhong-Zhong, a few other less notable people's posters and then Minato froze staring at the inked painting.

'It can't be!' he thought staring at the ink image of what could have passed for a younger version of himself.

'Wait, no, there's Kushina's nose, and that grin is all her,' Minato thought as he nearly crinkled the poster.

"What is it?" Zuko asked as he walked over. He spotted both of his wanted posters (one as Zuko and the other as the Blue Spirit) and tossed them into the fire. He noticed the man was frozen over a wanted poster of the blonde companion of the Avatar.

"Naruto," the man said in disbelief.

"He's your son," Zuko observed from the look on the man's face.

"Yes, but I was separated from him when he was a baby. I never thought I'd ever get to see him," Minato said in shock. He took the poster, folded it up and tucked it in his tunic nearly to choke on his own saliva when he saw that the next one was that of a girl Hyuuga followed by what appeared to be one of the Uchihas. There was a pink haired girl he didn't recognize, though she wore the symbol of Konoha like the other three did.

Minato destroyed the rest of the posters and found his stew was now finished cooking. He divvied it out and they ate in silence.

"Thank you for the meal, but I must be going," Zuko said standing and bowing his head to Minato as he put his hat back on.

"You're welcome. Take care," Minato said. Zuko nodded and mounted his ostrichhorse before Minato pulled out the poster and stared at the image of his son. Balancing his family and his duties had been something he'd mastered in his short tenure as Hokage. Minato would have loved nothing more than to go tearing off after his son, but he knew that the Earth Kingdom needed him. He sat there the rest of the night before he came to a decision. But before he could do anything he heard rustling and turned to see the last thing he expected,

"What the hell?"


MP:Dang it, that bunny got away! (if you're confused go back up to just before the chapter actually starts) SO that means I'm sicking my virtual kitty cat on it. It's because of these dang plot bunnies I can't focus on writing chapter 12 of this story! Also, you see what I meant by pulling a Kishimoto on the Sound 4 now, don't ya? Though it's now down to the Sound 1...

Until Next Week!

WARNING: I proofread this chapter myself there are bound to be a few mistakes that I missed because my mind knows what should be there and fills in the blanks.