Hey everyone, sorry about the super long update. I shall no longer take long to update. Here is the next chapter in A New Age. Oh, and by the way, if you find any errors in this chapter, mostly, apostrophes missing, this document manager got rid of all my quotation marks, elipsees, and apostrophes when I uploaded this, so if you find them, pay no heed, I probably put them there in the original work, as I had to edit each sentence one at a time...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

"If you will all follow me, we can begin..."

Everyone followed the man upstairs. It lead to a large rooftop that seemed larger than the house itself. The two figures were hooded and could not be seen.

The man spoke up again. "I thank you for coming. We have much to discuss..."

Xorias held his hands behind his back in a friendly manner, yet remained cautious, unsure of his intentions.

"With the Fire Nation rallying to its former self and them growing strong by the day... it is unclear how to stop them..."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"I am sure you know exactly what is has to do with you. You have defeated them twice and yet they seem unwavering in their strength..."

"Who are you?"

The man lowered his hood. His eyes suddenly changed colors.

"No... it can't be..." Xorias gasped.

"You are surprised?" the man asked almost mockingly.

"The... the Sharingan?!" Xorias shouted.

"My name... is Itachi Uchiha..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I-Itachi?!" Xorias rasped. He couldnt believe his eyes.

""You know him? Sokka asked, confused as to the exchange.

"What is your name? I must know..." Itachi asked almost to the point of begging.　

"Xorias Odamori Uchiha..."

"Then I was correct in my assumptions..." Itachi said to himself, though not as quietly as he would have liked.

"You!" Xorias confusion turned to blinding rage. Hearing Itachi's name threw him into a frenzy.

Itachi cocked his head to the side...

"It was you! You killed everyone in the Uchiha Clan!"

"Xorias, let me explain..." Itachi half-heartedly attempted to clear his name. But unfortunately for him, Xorias would hear none of it.

"You bastard! I swear on the Uchiha name, to kill you! You were conspiring with the Council of Lorii!"

Xorias summoned up a huge amount of chakra and formed Chidori in his right hand.

"Chidori, impressive..."

"Sharingan!"

The four wheels of his Sharingan began to spin wildly, before settling down at their normal places in his iris.

"So the legends of the fourth wheel are true after all..."

Xorias shouted loudly and lunged at Itachi. Chidori made contact. But it wasnt blood that went flying it was sand.

"We are not your enemy Xorias..."

A wall of sand had formed in front of Itachi.

Behind the wall stepped a red haired man with a giant gourd on his back...

"It, it cant be..." Xorias gasped aloud.

Standing in front of him, was Gaara...

"Lord Kazekage!" Xorias shouted in complete and utter astonishment.

If Gaara was idle in the presence of Itachi Uchiha, a member of the Akatsuki, then he should be able to be trusted.

Xorias began to settle down slightly.

"So how do you know each other, exactly?" Sokka asked, trying to get an answer for the second time.

"We are half-brothers... along with Sasuke..." Xorias replied without looking at his friend.

Flashback:

"My clan was destroyed by Tobi and Itachi, who betrayed us. He left Sasuke and myself alive to avenge the clan. We were separated after our clan's destruction."

End Flashback

Sokka was still confused. Seeking more answers he prodded further. "So who's the other guy?"

Xorias was about to shun him for not knowing who Gaara was, but bit back his response when he realized why. "This is Gaara..."

Xorias stressed his name, still unable to believe that it was him who was standing in front of him. Xorias continued. "He is the leader of my village's ally..."

"Wait a minute..." Sokka replied, having a potential epiphany.

Xorias cocked one eyebrow as he turned to Sokka. "What is it?"

"Your dream..." he said out loud.

"I know," Xorias relinquished.

Itachi cocked an eyebrow. "Dream?"

Xorias hesitated. He didnt want to reveal his dreams, his visions to his murderous half-brother. Xorias turned to Gaara for a silent support. Gaara seemed to be okay with having Xorias tell Itachi about his dream. Frankly, he was slightly intrigued himself. Gaara nodded and Xorias sighed as he began to explain.

"In my dream, there were four people. You, Gaara, myself, and Madara. I couldnt figure it out. I thought long and hard, but nothing came to me. And a month or so later, who knew that I would find out..."

"Continue, Xorias..." Itachi beckoned.

"Now that I have found the both of you... it is reasonable to assume..." Xorias was cut off. Itachi spoke up.

"That is what I was leading into before you attacked me..."

"Madara..." Xorias and Itachi said in perfect unison.

"But Itachi, what does this mean?" A girls voice rang out.

Sokka recognized the voice as Ty Lee. He shuffled his feet as he spoke up, his voice squeaked. "Wait, Ty Lee, how did you come to work for Itachi?"

She half-smiled as she explained. "Well, after my encounter with Xorias a few months ago. Itachi was watching the whole time. He came to me in the middle of the night, the day after the fight. He wanted me to help. Help him find out what was going on and who you were..."

"She rescued me from a Fire Nation prison... I owe her a great debt..." Gaara spoke out.

Itachi cleared his throat to get everyone back on track. "Now Xorias, I know that you dont like me, but you need to understand..."

Xorias raised his right hand. "No, no,"" he said sighing. If Gaara trusts you then I guess I trust you..."

"We need to find Madara. He knows everything. About this world and how we got here. It is absolutely crucial that we..." A kunai whizzed by Xorias and Itachi.

Itachi turned his head to Xorias, "Were you followed?"

"I didn't think so. I guess I wasn't careful enough..."

Two figures appeared on the rooftops. "Gaara, get them off the roof. Xorias and I will handle this..." Itachi ordered as he pulled shuriken from his pouch.

Gaara began to help the others off the roof with the use of his sand. Sokka was, of course, intrigued.

Itachi whispered to Xorias, "Don't use it..."

Xorias was thrown off guard realizing that he was referring to the Sharingan. "But..."

"Trust me..."

Xorias had no choice but to comply. There was something else going on. But for now he had to deal with the current problem.

One of the attackers moved his arms. Two shuriken appeared and were quickly headed for Xorias. The younger Uchiha responded by throwing two kunai of his own. There was a loud clang as the kunai and shuriken met and flew off.

The attacker lunged at Xorias, kunai drawn and held parallel to his wrist. Xorias responded by barely back flipping out of the way. The attacker didnt let up and kept on the offensive.

"Hes fast!" The words echoed in his thoughts as he avoided another blow.

The attacker threw another punch to which Xorias blocked. He rolled his hand and curved his enemies arm slightly so that he was unable to move. The attacker smirked and disappeared from existence. Xorias was thrown off guard as his attacker appeared on his right and kicked, sending Xorias flying off the roof. Luckily for the young Uchiha, the building was a little less than two stories. Not that it didn't sting.

The Uchiha grunted as he contacted with the hard ground, kicking up dust as landed.

"Xorias!" Itachi yelled in alarm as he barely avoided a punch from the other assassin.

He's not the one you should be worried about! he spat, an evil glint in his eyes.

Itachi sidestepped as the man lunged for him. He gracefully moved to the right to avoid another blow. Itachi, unlike his half-brother, was having little to no trouble fending off the attacks on his end. He was almost toying with the assassin.

Xorias was still on defense as he barely avoided another strike from his attackers kunai.

His attacker lunged again for Xorias. He responded by leaping back. But the attacker surprised the young Uchiha by extending his range and throwing his kunai while Xorias was still in the air. Normally, Xorias would've deflected it with ease, but he didn't have his kunai out.

He grunted again as the kunai drove right into his skin. Luckily only going in an inch or so because of the angle. Xorias skid across the hard earth as he landed.

The man began to laugh. "How unimpressive! I thought you would be more fun, but I guess I was wrong how pitiful. I at least though you might some sort of a fight..."

He threw a kunai again at Xorias. It contacted with flesh, causing the young shinobi to yelp. Again and again, the man threw weapons. All of them hitting their targets. The attacker appeared on the Uchihas left. He picked up Xorias and held him by the collar.

"Xorias!" Katara shouted, worried for her friend.

"Pathetic... I had orders to take you alive, but unfortunately you arent worth living..." he snorted in contempt.

I will end your pitiful life. Consider this a favor..." he threw Xorias against the wall behind him and pulled out a short sword. He shouted as he thrust the sword through Xorias.

There came a bloodcurdling scream from Xorias as the sword pierced flesh, pinning the Uchiha to the wall. The man withdrew the sword and cleaned it off with a small cloth that he pulled from his pouch.

Blood flowed freely from the wound and stained the stones behind him as Xorias slid down the wall to the ground. A pool of dark red blood began to form all around the Uchiha.

Katara covered her eyes as tears started to form.

"No!" She shouted, not believing what had just occurred. But then she gasped as she remembered something Xorias had said a few months earlier.

"You think I can be bested by mere assassins?"

"Could it be?" Katara whispered to herself, praying it was so.

The assassin put his blade away. You should thank me, he chuckled. "This is the man who defeated the Fire Nation army twice? Ha, it turns out, youre nothing but a failure and weakling..."

He laughed again, "It looks like my plan worked, to draw you closer to that vine popping out that building and use it to my advantage. Now to help my friend finish off Itachi..."

He turned around to see a hooded figure standing in front of him, arms crossed. There stood Xorias.

"Then I guess you need to rethink your strategy..."

He threw a punch at the shocked assassin, sending him flying in the wall behind him.

The man wiped the blood from his now cut lip. "But how..." he gasped as he realized that the bloody body next to him was a clone. It disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"It was on the roof, when you disappeared I used that time to perform a substitution..."

The man got up and pulled out his blade and lunged at Xorias. "This time, I will kill you for real!"

Xorias said nothing, but smirked as his attacker had been perturbed at how he was still alive. Though the man was slightly off his usual game, he was still just as fast as before. Xorias was forced to draw his own blades to defend.

As the man attacked more and more, Xorias merely observed, making no attempt to kill the man. He countered on the slight occasion to see how he would react. Xorias began to notice the assassins pattern of attack. He was proficient in close combat, but it wasnt his forte. Xorias on the other hand, even without the use of his Sharingan, was more than a match for the assassin at close quarters swordplay.

Xorias saw a weakness in the mans attacks. All he had to do was capitalize on it. The Uchiha blocked an attack from above his head. Xorias used his other sword to slice at his opponents chest. He back flipped away from the attack. Just as Xorias thought. He knew that Xorias had the advantage of not only being an expert with blades, but the Uchiha had numbers on his side. His only logical option was to flip back or so he thought. During the middle of his back flip, Xorias lunged forward, startling the older assassin. The Uchiha thrust the hilt of the blade into the lower spine of his opponents back, causing him to yelp in pain and fall to the ground.

He got up, only to be thrown in the air by a chakra-enforced kick. Xorias quickly lunged up at the assassin and appeared above his attacker. Xorias kicked off his attackers stomach to give him extra height to reach the top of the five story building above him. Xorias quickly formed the hand signs for Chidori as he leapt at the assassin who was unlucky enough to still be falling. The man gasped as he heard the sound of chirping birds.

Xorias shouted as Chidori made contact, blood spattering everywhere. A large cloud of dust formed on impact as the two men hit the ground hard. Katara eyed the smoke nervously. As the dust cleared, she saw Xorias holding his right arm where he had been cut earlier, unbeknownst to him. Xorias, still panting from the encounter, began healing his arm. It wasnt very deep, but it stung. He didnt want to have to think about it.

Itachi noticed his half-brothers victory over the assassin. "Looks like he won..."

The assassin was thrown off guard by the news. Itachi used this to lunge at his stunned attacker. The assassin grunted as he was hit in the gut by Itachi. Itachi gracefully ended the assassins life with one quick stab of his kunai.

Xorias disappeared and then instantly reappeared in the rooftop, still panting. "I hate you..."

Itachi was slightly caught off guard by his statement as he raised his eyebrow, preparing to reply. "Why is that?"

"You could have killed him that quickly and you toyed with him? What about me?" Xorias frowned as he wanted an explanation.

Itachi shrugged as he replied. "You seemed to handle yourself pretty well..."

To get a compliment from Itachi Uchiha theItachi Uchiha, was not only a rare occurrence, but an honor at that. But Xorias wasnt satisfied of course...　

"Yeah, after I was nearly killed!" Xorias retorted, scrunching his face up.　

"An Uchiha never goes down that easily and besides, I heard all the rumors about your abilities as a shinobi. I had no reason to worry for your safety. It was rumored that you held your own against Guy a couple years ago..." Itachi seemed to pause searching for the right words, "Before you were soundly defeated by Kakashi in seconds..." Itachi sneered half-heartedly.

"Hey!" Xorias jumped to his own defense, "He cheated!"

"Fair enough..." Itachi relinquished.

"Enough fighting you two..." Gaara said as he appeared on the rooftop.

"Yes, Lord Kazekage..." Xorias bowed his head slightly. Itachi said nothing.　

Gaara walked to Xorias. "Xorias, how much do your friends know?"　

"About what?"

"This whole situation..."

Xorias shrugged. "Only what I know why do you ask?"

Gaara remained as stoic as ever as he seemed to revealing a revelation. "Because, the less they know, the better."

Xorias seemed annoyed, yet remained calm. "Isn't it a little too late for that?"

The Kazekage seemed to falter slightly. True. Xorias was right. "I understand that. But think about it. I cant believe an ANBU black ops hasnt noticed it-"

Xorias interrupted him. "Yes, I have noticed it. The Fire Nation has attacked twice when we were going to hold our negotiations..."

"And you dont think it's a coincidence, at all?" he mused.

Xorias pursed his lips as his eyes drifted off Gaaras somewhat. "I don't believe in coincidences..."

"Then you understand the possibility of a spy..." Gaara lead Xorias on.

"Zuko is not a spy!" he retorted violently.

Gaara's look seemed to turn to that of triumph." I didn't say anything about Zuko. It looks as though you have considered it yourself..."

Xorias sighed in defeat, but changed subject as he turned to face his half-brother. "These assassins... were they yours?"

"No. They wouldn't have attacked us in the first place. These are Madara's assassins."

"Madara..." Xorias muttered to himself, lost in thought.

Gaara brought Xorias back from his thoughts. "We need to get moving... if these men were indeed Madara's assassins," he said pointing at one of the dead attackers, "then we are no longer safe here..."

Xorias turned to Katara. "Are there any safe havens nearby?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "How would I know? This is Earth Kingdom territory..."

Xorias turned to ask Toph, but she spoke up before he had a chance. "Hey, don't look at me. Until today, I didn't know this place existed..."

I think it would be prudent to continue what we had planned to do, Katara suggested more than a little lightly.

Xorias nodded in agreement.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Xorias walked in silence next to his half-brother. He wasn't sure what to think of him. Sure, he had, with help of course, killed almost everyone in the clan. Though, Itachi had explained to Xorias all the ins and outs of the situation. Secondly, the Council of Lorii, under the leadership of Larza, had killed his family, not Itachi.　

There was no reason to distrust Itachi. Xorias quickly remembered that he was Akatsuki however. But he reasoned with himself that Gaara trusted him. He made the decision to trust Itachi.

Sokka spoke up. "Interesting..."

"What is it?" Toph remarked, her curiosity piqued.

"These trees are burnt from here on..." he replied.

The group was on the edge of a cliff that oversaw the ocean. They had traveled a day or so and were close to Norne. The cliff wrapped around the hills.

Xorias and Itachi looked at each other. They knew it was Fire Nation. The Uchiha brothers barely noticed it, but the trees were slightly smoking. They had been here recently.

"Sokka, give me your scope..." the younger Uchiha asked.

He handed over his eye scope to Xorias who ran to the cliffs edge and used it to eye the cliffs up ahead. Sure enough...

"Fire Benders..." Xorias muttered under his breath.

"What?" Katara was astonished.

"Fire Nation here?" Toph said.

Xorias tossed the scope to Katara. She confirmed what Xorias said. "He's right. They're slow going. There's only about a hundred of them. What are they doing out here?"

Looks like they're setting up camp for the night they're probably a half an hour or so ahead...

"What do we do?" Aang piped up, making the group's general concern public.

Xorias placed his hand over his mouth, and considered the possibilities. Ty Lee took the scope from Katara and eyed the Fire Benders who were setting up camp for the night. She gasped.

This broke Xorias from his thoughts. Sokka ran over to Ty Lee. "What is it, Ty Lee?"

She nearly squeaked as she spoke. "It's Zuko's uncle, Iro!" Zuko leapt from his sitting position to snatch the scope from Ty Lee, only to confirm what she saw. He was being led through the camp in handcuffs.

He must have been captured. But how? Zuko pondered. He turned to Xorias, "'Xorias, we must get him out of there. If hes been caught, they must be on their way to the Palace to my father. They'll execute him!"

"Zuko's right. They are close. If they manage to escape with Iro..." Katara trailed off.

Xorias moved to talk with his half-brother. Gaara joined in a few seconds later. "Well, what do you think?" the younger Uchiha asked, wondering what to do.

"I would prefer to stay out of this matter personally. But unfortunately, these Fire Benders are blocking our route through to the Earth Kings tomb. I guess we have no choice," Gaara reasoned. He turned to Itachi, "What would you do?"

"The less contact we have with the enemy the better." I dont want Xorias to be tempted to use his Sharingan if a fight gets too tough. But, youre right. This seems to be our only option..."

Xorias broke the group up and moved over to tell the others. "We attack at dusk." Zuko's face turned to that of glee. The others seemed equally enthusiastic about the decision.

Xorias brought everyone to the make shift campsite. Without a fire, they had to rely on the remaining light on the horizon, which wasn't saying much, to help them see the drawings in the dirt.

"Here's the plan," Xorias began. Katara... you, Aang, Sokka, and Toph are the main force. You will attack the front of the camp. Zuko... you, Ty Lee and I will infiltrate the rear of the camp. Ty Lee will knock out any guards still lingering to protect Iro. Itachi... I need you to keep an eye out for any reinforcements or sneak attacks. Make sure there are no surprises. And Gaara, you will be the utility man. You will stay on the cliffs and assist where needed. Mainly, you need to make sure no one gets killed. Im sure you can figure it out from there. The point of this attack is to keep the attention off of Iro and on Katara's party."

Everyone nodded, understanding their roles. The rescue mission was about to begin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sokka padded silently along the side of the cliffs. The others, not that far behind him, agreed to let him lead the diversion attack. He waited for Xorias to signal that he was in position. Sokka saw Xorias flash something against the light of the moon. It was time.

Sokka took his boomerang out of its protective casing. He had sharpened it, to make it more effective in combat. He shortly spotted a Fire Nation patrol. Sokka signaled for the others to go into hiding. The Fire Nation patrol of only four men walked around the corner of the cliff. Sokka threw his boomerang, striking the first one in the neck, killing him and injuring the second. Toph quickly earth bended a shell of rock, trapping the remaining ones inside. She bended the earth on the ground inside the shell to force spikes to emerge from the ground piercing the skin of the Fire Nation soldiers. They shouted in pain, but the shell of earth muffled most of the noise.

They continued moving along the cliff side in silence. Sokka drew his blade quietly as they entered the camp. Sokka began shouting to charge into the camp of fire benders. The others followed suit, clearly alerting the fire benders. The Fire Nation soldiers grabbed weapons and attempted to organize themselves. Still confused by the sudden attack, their organizational skills were a little lacking at the moment.

As the time went on, more and more soldiers began to turn their attention to Katara's party as planned. Xorias decided to make his move. He signaled Ty Lee and Zuko to move. There were only a handful of guards left. Xorias pulled out a kunai knife and sliced the neck of the nearest Fire Nation soldier, killing him instantly. Xorias helped his body to the ground, so to not alert any guards. Zuko did the same. The group made it to the tent with no resistance. As they opened it, they noticed Iro in bindings. Zuko darted to his uncle and removed the rope from his mouth.

"Uncle, are you okay?" he asked.

His face turned to a look of distress. "She know's you're here. It's a trap..."

"She? Who's she?" Xorias demanded an answer.

Everyone suddenly turned their attention to the entrance of the tent at the sound of a female voice. "He means me." There at the entrance stood Princess Azula.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There you have it. The next chapter in A New Age. What did you think? Sorry for the cliffhanger. I just have to end it here. I will post the next chapter within a few weeks or so. Thanks!