A/N: Alright ladies and gentlmen, good news and bad news. Good news first. My surgeries are over. Bad news: Now I have to WORK to pay for everything. Still, I'm feeling a bit better now. Really. Kinda. Sorta. I'm hanging tough though, having just come out of the woods...only to work my ass off as a cook! Not fun! Not fun at alllll! UUUUUGH! I'm woking almost daily and I feel like crap, as to that effect. But nevertheless, despite this pesky little hiccup-I wanted to get word out any way I could, and since for some strange reason the site is being buggy, I wasnt able to work on this anywhere near as much as I would've liked. Still...so many reviews!

I love you guys so much! *Cries*

Now, this chapter might be a bit confusing consider I haven't updated in awhile. With good reason! My job has been beating the living hell out of my as of late! This was REALLY had to write with being tired from work; exhausting, actually. But I'm proud of it, and I hope you enjoy it as I finally get some rest...

Well...here ya go! =D Sorry if its short! But hey, at least I'm back! And again, I remind you that some changes have been made to this story pertaining to the age of some characters, remember! I also decided to follow the traditional episode format here, not plotwise of course, but in terms of scene order. Hope you enjoy it! We get a major glimpse at just how Naruto is changing from a sly old soul to a ruthless vigilante in this chapter!

"Foolish little man...I'm not trapped in here with you; you're trapped in here with me!"

~?

Gods and Monsters

Wow, its been awhile since I wrote in this thing!

Turns out the Bei Fong family owing me a couple favors paid off. In spades. Not only did Toph's parents pay to supply and equip me, but gave me their daughter as well. Kinda awkward, that. I didn't come here to take her from them, but in its own way its works for me The girl's an Earthbending prodigy. Blind as a bat, yet, she could probably kick my ass seven ways to sunday when it came down to sheer bending. The only problem is her attitude.

She's stubborn as hell! Just like June. Maybe that's why they're getting along so well.

Ah, but I digress.

Toph was more than willing to go; she's quite the little spitfire. A perfect teacher for Aang, when I get around to it. Since then we've been stirring up all kinds of trouble in the Earth Kingdom, readying them all for a war I'm not entirely sure they want. But its either this, or oblivion. And I will not have this country suffer the same fate as mine. I will not. I've put too much work into this, to let it stumble at the final hurdle. If that means I have to be seen as a monster by the rest of the world...then so be it.

Our destination-Ba Sing Se-is nearly upon us now, and on our journey to the great walled city, I've tried to muster up as must support as possible. So far, so good. It seems to be working. These people-they don't care which Avatar I am anymore. Every town we've passed has already taken up arms against the Fire Nation, yet they still go out of their way to help us. My prescence here seems to have given them a shot in the arm; of the one thing they've never truly had for the last hundred years.

Hope.

To them I'm a God-to others, a Monster.

I've heard rumblings from the Fire Nation; they know what we're up to out here. But its more than that. Rumor has it that they've sent a fleet to the North Pole. Commanded by Zhao's son, of all people. Hopefully Aang can hold out until I finish up here. Azula's fed me regular reports-aside from a few unscheduled stops, they've made remarkably good time. They know what they'll be facing up in the North; still I can only pray that the fates are kind to them. I need to get back there. Soon.

Truthfully, I hadn't expected it to be/take this long. Its been weeks. But I'm nearly there now. Nearly finished. Once I've convinced the Earth King of the threat and the need for action, we're going to be in for the fight of our lives. That's right, the climax is rapidly drawing near; soon it'll be curtain call. Until then, I can't afford to rest. I'll sleep when I'm dead.

By the Log, I've got a lot of work to do...

"You're insane. You know that, right? Completely insane."

"Perhaps." Naruto replied to June, grimacing slightly as he stared up at the giant stone barring their path. "But hey, I've done worse than this."

Ba Sing Se truly lived up to her reputation as the walled city; this massive expanse of stoney earth stretched for miles in either direction. For a nonbender, this would've presented quite the conundrum. But for a pair of Earthbenders? No problem. It would be child's play to just smash his way through, but no, this required a more subtle touch. For now.

"Toph?" He turned, regarding the newest member of their little group. "Mind lending me a hand with this?"

"Sure thing, blockhead." The teenager grumbled, stepping up beside him, arms already raised. Physically she'd changed little since leaving her home besides cuting her flowing tresses. Unless one counted the white and green tunic of which she seemed so fond. And then there was the matter of her attitude. Only a few weeks together and she was already like a sister or sorts to him but more than that; she was family. Just like June. It was strange really, he seemed to pick up misfits wherever he went.

"And...go!"

As one they moved, lifting the earth beneath their feet into a makeshift wedge. Another gestured sent that wedge shooting upward against the face of the wall. Their arms worked together in twine and tandem, hoisting them higher in slow and practiced movements. This close to the wall, he could see ever crack, every stone that had been laid. This city had been here at the birth of bending; and it would likely be here for many more a year still, long after the culture that gave birth to it died out. Of course, not all were appreciative of this man-made marvel.

Nyla whimpered restlessly behind them, the shirshu drooping to cover her snout with both paws.

"I'm guessing she doesn't like heights." Naruto called over the roare of the rising sled.

"What was your first guess?" June quipped.

"Then she'll love it when we start flying!"

"...what?"

Whatever answer he might have given was slain in relatively short order they crested the wall and reached the top of the great barrier. "Wow." The sight within was breathtaking in ever sense of the word-not just those beautiful fields and the pristine landscape but the cityscape beyond it; a sea of urban sprawl that somehow managed to appear both manmade and remain at one with the environment that the same time. From this old and timeworn vantage point, he could even see the lower, middle and upper ring standing. He hadn't had the chance to do anything about it during his last visit, thanks to the war.

Perhaps it was time he changed that.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

Toph shrugged. "Eh, you've seen nothing once, you've seen it a dozen times."

"You know, my offer still stands." she turned slightly as Naruto's voice resounded in her ears. "I can give you back your sight-if you'd just let me." Just hearing it aloud was enough to make her heart leap. She'd been blind since birth; that had been her world. A sightless, dark void. She "saw" with Earthbending, but even then it wasn't true sight. She had no idea what Naruto or June, or even Nyla looked like. When he'd offered to restore her sight a week ago she'd thought he'd been joking. But still he persisted. What if he really could restore her sight? And if so, did she really want him to?

"Toph?"

...I'm still thinking about it."

"Suit yourself." Naruto answered, anchoring their rock ledge to the wall

June sighed.

"M'lady." he took her hand and helped her across.

"Hey, I could've done that myself." she said with mild venom, retracting her palm as she stepped over the ledge to safety. The last thing she wanted was anyone taking pity on her. Even the Avatar. Nevertheless-a tiny part of her delighted in knowing that she had the man's eye. Neither of them had acted on it as of yet but stilll...the attraction was there. Funny...that the only man to ever elude her, was now the apple of her eye. And she had a fair bit of competition, if his words were to be believed. June was almost certain that the gods were laughing at her.

"I know," he replied, stepping aside to let Toph by, "But I wanted to help." June's smoldering gaze lingered on him for a moment before she brushed past.

"So now what?" Toph asked. "I take it you have a plan, dragging us all the way out here?"

The blond cracked a grin. "It doesn't matter if the burden is heavy; only that you carry it."

"Okay, now you've lost me."

"Toph...

The last shinobi laughed softly and perhaps just a little forlornly; the sound was like a slow moving thunderstorm. "It means, that sometimes you have to do what is neccessary to protect those under your care." June and Toph colored slightly at those words, "In this case the world itself is under my care. And I have neither the time nor the patience to deal with the endless politicking and back-door deals that surround this city. My sources tell me that a man known as Long Feng controls this city. He and the Dai Li, that is, the so-called cultural authority here, have this city in their grip. We're going to break that grip."

"Nice speech." June frowned, pausing as she stroked at Nyla's coat. "But just how do you intend to do that."

"By invading the palace, of course."

"Of course." the huntress facepalmed.

Toph, on the contrary, was all for it. She liked the idea of spitting in the face of authority; she'd been trapped under that same authority for the last sixteen years of her life. The chance to do that to a king...well, suffice it to say she was more than eager to get her hands dirty.

"Alright, great. So why don't you just glow it up and get us there?"

Naruto felt his left eye twitch at the mention of his Avatar State. "Because Toph, we're saving that kind of shock and awe tactic for the palace. If this place is anything like I remember before the war, then we might not get a warm welcome after all these years. They'll probably try to bog us down in the burecratic bullshit."

"Its called being handled." she mumbled.

"And they are going to fail horribly at it." came the answer. "Why you ask? Because...they're about to have problems of their own." His eyes began to shimmer. "I'm setting this city free."

June froze. "Wait a second. You're not going to...

"I am."

Both girls flinched as a terrible cracking sounded pervaded the air. It was his skin.

Blue eyes darkened.

In a single breath he exhaled and dropped Sage Mode. Serene saffron eyes flashed into violent violet, the rimmed orbs narrow and intense, shimmering with untold energy. Growling he took it further, his body stepping out of itself, skin shimmering an eerie onyx as he ascended into the towering terror that was his Avatar state. "Now, then..." Six arms folded across and before his chiseled chest, a small cloud of steam wafting up and out between his clenched teeth.

"Let us begin."

Raising his arms, The Avatar of the Gods stretched out his senses into the city and let go of himself. Momentarily, he ceased to be as a person. As an individual. His concsiousness left his body and flooded the minds of every man, woman and child in the lower ring. He saw what they saw. Felt what they felt. The hopelessness. Despair. Oppression. Fear. In his mind he pictured the walls, the three rings that divided the city and all the culture within. It lasted for less than a tenth of a second, but it was enough.

In a blink he'd left them, turning his all-seeing gaze onto the denizens of the middle ring. These folks were slightly better off that the peasants; they didn't live in their own filth, and their food was not rotten. And yet it was the same set of emotions he found within; a longing for a better life. Free of the stagnant culture that crushed them down and ground them underfoot. This was a city oppressed, one who knew the war raged a few yards outside their walls, yet pretended it didn't exist.

Again he left them, this time taking root in those of the upper ring. These folk were the entitled and the enprivileged-those who lived lives of luxury, servants-slaves-attending to their every whim. They had women and men to satisfy their every carnal desire, some little more than children. Murders had been committed here-crimes swept underfoot so someone could clamor higher up the ladder that was prestige and power. They were proud of their status and cared not what happened to those considered "beneath" them. All who dwelled in this ring-save perhaps the king himself-thought themselves untouchable in the safety of their walls. Disgusting creatures. Not worthy of redemption, these ones.

Drawing strength from these experiences, from everything he'd seen, Naruto reached down into the walls with only his mind...

Then he brought them down.

A deafening thum of a sound reached their ears as the three walls collapsed like a house of cards, falling inward on themselves as though crushed by the hand of an angry god. And, in a sense, they had been. With just a thought, he had separated the walls that so divided their cultures. There was a moment of silence between the unlikely trio as those words sank in, as they watched the three rings crumble away. Then, Toph grinned as she realized the implications.

"That was...you...

"Its not something I'd care to do again." Naruto answered, his ebon skin slowly fading back a healthy tan.

"I freaking love you!"

A laugh tore itself out of his throat.

"Now comes the fun part."

(Mere minutes later...)

This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening.

Long Fen was a tactical genius, a mastermind that would put the best strategists of the world to shame. He had schemed and connived and plotted to reach the position he was in now. To have the king reduced a mere figurehead status, while he commanded the true power of the city. But nothing could have prepared him for this. The walls were gone. Rioting in the streets. All his careful planning had been for naught.

One man had made that so.

Naruto cocked his head aside, a small smile plucking at his whiskered visage. It was, Long Feng thought, quite disconcerting. He'd been unnerved to find that the Avatar had made a unscheduled stop to Ba Sing Se as it was, but the broken bodies of the Dai Li surrounding him was enough to make his hair stand on end. He had made no demands. Offered no word, nor talk of parley. He'd simply flown into the city with those two women and stormed the palace on his own. And when the guards had tried to stop him...

This.

The Avatar of the Gods nudged one of the bodies aside, a scowl affixed to his face.

"I am dissapointed in you, little man." when he spoke he did so slowly, those blue eyes narrow and hard. "I was of the understanding that the entire world knew of this war. And yet I find you wallowing in ignorance-an illusion, a grand conspiracy perpetuated by the son of a merchant who lusted for power. What do you think of that, Toph?" He turned slowly, those eerie orbs regarding the younger of the two women at his side. Those white, milky eyes snapped toward him, filled with anger.

"I think he deserves a taste of his own medicine."

"Wait." Naruto raised a hand, stalling her. Was he showing mercy?

A cold sweat began to trickle down Feng's neck.

"My Lord Avatar," he began, voice breaking, "Please understand. In silencing talk of conflict, Ba Sing Se remains a peaceful, orderly utopia – the last one on Earth."

"I know a thing or two about uptopia." the blond replied quietly, feeling his lips curl in disdain. "It never lasts. No, I came here to get an army, and an army is what I'll get. Preferably without you. Now, I will speak with your king, and then I will be gone from here."

"But you...

Impossibly, his grin grew.

"I wasn't asking, little man."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that to happen." Long Feng frowned. "You see, I find it best to always be prepared-and have reinforcements."

"Crap." Toph swore.

And the Earth erupted around them.

Naruto's only response was to close his eyes as dozens of Dai Li agents dropped from the ceiling, rose from the floor, appeared from seemingly nowhere. An admirable effort. But paltry before the wrath of a god. "Then I do hope you've brought more than a dozen men. You see for all your wit, you've failed to realize something. I'm not trapped in this palace with you...you're trapped in here with me."

"Yes, yes, a fine speech." Long Feng scoffed. Dai Li, arrest the avatar and his friends! This instant."

Nothing happened. A frown pulled at his mustache.

"I said, arrest them!"

Still no response.

Scowling, he whirled on his men, baffled to find them standing ramrod straight, still staring ahead. "What's the matter with you?!"

Naruto laughed and steped forward. No one made a move to stop him.

"Its because they haven't made up their minds." He raised a hand lazily-tiny blue embers splaying from his fingertips. "They're waiting to see...how this is going to end. I can see your whole history in your eyes. You were born with nothing, so you had to struggle, and connivie, and claw your way to power." his entire body seemed to shimmer from within as he spoke, lit an eerie black, the pulses resonating with Long Feng's own hammering heartbeat.

"But true power, the divine right to rule, is something that you're born with. You don't earn it. I've come to see that. And you don't have it. Fact is-they don't know which one of us will be standing and which one will be bowing down once this is over. But I know. And you know."

Smiling, he curled those fingers into a fist. "Welll?"

Sweat beaded down Long Feng's face. He couldn't bring himself to speak. The sheer malice in those eyes, the pure power resonating within them...it stilled him. He could barely bring himself to breathe, let alone raise a hand against the shimmering spectre.

"I...you...I surrender." he dropped to a knee. "You've beaten me at my own game."

Naruto's mouth curved in a cruel sneer.

"Sorry. I'm not taking prisoners today."

With a snarl he stomped down and latched onto the earth, molding it to his will. Then he pushed deeper. Grabbed the magma beneath and brought it roaring to the surface. Long Feng barely saw it before the white-hot wave roared over him, his bones-his body-melting almost instantaneously. There was no pain. No scream. One moment he existed-the next he was buried beneath a sea of smoldering lava. Within the span of two beats not even his bones remained. The great mastermind behind the conspiracy that had controlled the city for so many years was suddenly no more.

As if he'd never been.

"Now then," Naruto turned to address the remaining Dai Li, their faces frozen in white stone, pale and drawn at the death of their commander. "Are you going to serve me...

...or do you want to join your leader?"

A/N: Aaand there you have it! The focus was on almost everyone this chapter, although June stole more of the spotlight than most. She's such a tragic character; I can't help but enjoy writing her character out sometimes. I just really get into it. She's evolving not only as a person but a Firebender, beginning to call on something other than her anger and hatred, as well as bonding with Aang and the rest of the Gang. Katara will come around to her eventually, but remember, she hates the Fire Nation for good reason. So it'll take time and a certain mission before that happens.

We see just how much things are changing-radically so. Aang's still headed to the North Pole, but with Zhao dead he has a new, and potentially more powerful foe all but gunning for him thanks to Naruto and some misinformation on his part.

Meanwhile, our favorite blonde is quite busy himself! Not only Toph, but JUNE popped up in this chapter! And ding dong Long Feng is long GOOOOOONE! Ah, I've been waiting to use that!

Naruto can be a saddistic bastard when he wants to be, but at least we finally see a serious side of him in this chapter, alongside his motivations, as well as his resolve to protect those dear to him. It also proves that age is truly nothing but a number to him when it comes to his friends/loved ones...

Next chapter we skip ahead a few episodes, and get right down to the nitty gritty! It'll be out soon, providing my health holds, so look forward to it ya know!

Anywho, I worked extremely hard on this one, so I hope to hear what you think! Pairing is up in the air! YOU DECIDE! And on a final note, thank you to everyone offering emotional support in regard to my health woes. Its greatly appreciated! An awful lot is going to change in this story soon! Look forward to an epic prank next chapter...provided my health holds out.

So...in accordance to the prophecy...

...Review, Would You, Dear Reader? And of course, enjoy the preview! I found this one particularly satisfying, and I hope you do as well! And another thing...MAI AND TY LEE WILL BE SHOWING UP SOON NEXT CHAPTER! But for now...enjoy!

(Preivew)

"...FOOL!"

Naruto bent double, gasping as lightning sloughed off his flesh. In the distance, he could hear someone screaming. Was it him? Was it Azula? Toph? Suki? He didn't know. With a monumental effort he straightend, limbs still spasming under the onslaught. Ozai roared and struck him again, another bolt of heavenly wrath shoothing from his fingers and into the creature of flesh before him. His body jolted anew again, eyes rolling back in his head as a thousand volts coursed through him. No. This wasn't enough. This couldn't kill him. Not after all he'd said and done. He'd crushed entire fleets with Aang at the North Pole. United the Earth Kingdom. Faced down legions of enemies and made mountains out of their bones.

And Azula was...was...

He'd fought so hard in this last year...was this how it ended?

No.

This wouldn't break him. This would not. Could not.

"NARUTO!" This time Azula's voice rang in his head. Crystal clear.

A snarl leapt from his lips. Eyes branching with stranch, twitching from the effort required of him, he turned the most baleful gaze of his life upon Ozai. Strength flowed through him; a million souls crying out for justice, for vengeance. For redemption. He hissed. Fear flashed in Ozai's eyes.

"We have every right."

The Avatar of the Gods raised a hand, wincing as a sun-burst of deathly lightning extinguished upon a palm. When he raised his gaze, his eyes were shimmering with darkness. With one of his six limbs he reached backwards, unsheathing the Cleaver of Heads from his back. The blade gleamed bleakly in his grasp, its shattered edge slowly remolding as the blood from his palm trickled down its shattered edge. Not bad, for a bender. That attack had actually taken more than a few of his organs. But it wasn't enough.

It would never be enough.

"Fire Lord Ozai," he rumbled, and his mouth moved with the voices of millions. "We are your judge. Jury. Executioner. We find you guilty of crimes against the world and the nations. You have disrupted the balance. And for your inexcusable crimes we deem your punishment to be...

"Death!"

Hope you enjoyed! R&R! =D