Zuko stood on the deck of Azula's warship, wondering how exactly his life had turned out this way. His uncle was somewhere in the hold below deck, likely under heavy guard, while he stood free on the deck of the ship. In the back of his mind, a little voice told him he should go to the hold, knock out the guards, free his uncle, and take over the ship together. A quick shake of his head dispelled the thought, and he looked up to the moon.
It was a dreary night, foggy and muddled just like his thoughts.
"Are you cold?" Zuko resisted the urge to jump as he heard the voice of his love interest behind him.
"I've got a lot on my mind,"Zuko replied, not really answering the question,"It's been so long. Over three years since I was home. I wonder what's changed… I wonder how I've changed."
Mai yawned, gaining a small smile on her face,"I just asked if you were cold, I didn't ask for your whole life story." Zuko looked away, but Mai draped her arms over his shoulders and across his chest from behind, turning his face to hers,"Stop worrying."
They shared a small kiss, and Mai walked away, leaving Zuko to his thoughts.
Lo and Li were old, very old. They wore their grey hair in massive buns on the tops of their head, and their stout aged bodies were covered entirely by their flowing robes. Despite their apparent age, however, they still spoke with power.
Sat upon the great bastion that was the main entrance to the Fire Nation capital by sea, they were high above thousands of Fire Nation troops and civilians, who waited on bated breath for their announcement.
"Your Princess Azula, clever and beautiful, disguised herself as the enemy and entered the Earth Kingdom's capital."
The other sister spoke,"In Ba Sing Se, she found her brother Zuko, and together they faced the Avatar."
"The Avatar fell, and the Earth Kingdom fell,"they spoke together for emphasis.
"Azula's agents quickly took over the entire city."
"They went to Ba Sing Se's great walls-"
Once again they spoke together,"And brought them down!"
"The armies of the Fire Nation surged through the wall, and swarmed over Ba Sing Se, securing our victory."
The unified their voices once more,"Now the heroes have returned home!"
"Your princess, Azula!" Azula stepped forward from the arch way behind them, a backdrop of fire giving her already regal stance even more majesty.
After a moment of deafening applause, one of the sisters spoke again,"And after three long years, your prince has returned…"
Zuko breathed out once more, composing himself as he stepped forward, preparing himself to face the judgement of the people,"Zuko!"
The applause was deafening, troops pounding their chest plates in approval. Zuko was somewhat shocked as he stood next to his sister, basking in the applause.
"You can have all you ever wanted."
Zuko looked over to Azula, who was smiling lightly as she basked in the praise.
He turned back out to the crowd,'All I ever wanted huh?'
Naruto looked around, wondering where he was and how exactly he had gotten here. He appeared to be in some sort of sewer, judging by the high stone ceiling and the water he was knee deep in. He couldn't see any of the walls, they were all too far away to be visible in the darkness.
Holding up a hand, Naruto willed a small fireball to form, just enough to give himself light to see in the darkness. Even with the fire increasing his field of vision, Naruto couldn't see anything of value, or any indication of where he was. Figuring it would be better to explore that just weight where he was, Naruto chose a random direction and started walking.
He kept walking for what felt like hours, until he noticed a glint of metal in the darkness ahead of him. Approaching slowly, he came upon what appeared to be a giant cage.
'What the fuck?' Naruto slowed his approach even further, taking caution. Whatever was behind that cage door had to be dangerous.
"Don't be afraid," a voice called out from the darkness.
'Behind?' Naruto turned around, and there in front of him was what appeared to be a younger him.'No, not me.'
The younger boy lacked Naruto's own ruby red eyes, his being the most pure sapphire blue he had ever seen. He bore the same whisker marks and chubby face Naruto had at that age, and his hair was the same color, but on top of having different eyes, this boy wore a strangely styled shirt with a orange swirl pattern on the front and canvas material shorts with sandals on his feet.
Naruto was confused, he had never seen such clothing in his life, and while this boy was the spitting image of him, they obviously weren't the same person.
"Who they hell are you?"
"Don't be afraid of the cage,"the boy continued, ignoring his question."It's just an old friend, and he wants to help you!"
Naruto was getting more and more wary of the situation by the moment,"Who want's to help me?"
"Kurama-chan, silly! He must be asleep right now though, lemme go wake him up!" The boy skipped past Naruto and through the bars.
"Wait, kid!" Naruto called out to him, and was about to give chase, when he heard a deep rumbling from behind the bars, followed by the sound of something big moving through water.
Naruto dropped into stance, ready to fight whatever was behind those bars,"Kid?"
"He's gone now," a deep gruff voice grumbled from behind the bars.
"Alright who the fuck are you and where the fuck am I?" Naruto yelled, irritation and confusion turning into anger.
"Forgotten who you are, neh brat? Let me remind you then!" Suddenly a massive snarling face slammed into the bars, red eyes glowing with intensity. It appeared to be a canine of some nature, with long almost rabbit-like ears.
"Wake up Naruto!"
Naruto woke up with a start, sitting straight up with his hands out, ready to bend a torrent of flame into the face of whoever was nearest to him. Looking around and recognizing his surroundings, he sighed.
Upon arriving back to the Fire Nation about three days ago, Naruto had been given an officer's apartment relatively close to the royal palace. It was a cozy apartment, not too small but not the kind of space made for entertaining guests either. Entering the room he had a small kitchen to the right, with a living space to the left and the doors to the bed and bathrooms as far to the back as possible. In the living space there was a couch and a small coffee table, and the kitchen held a dining table as well as space to prepare food, as well as the necessary equipment.*
The main wall on the far side of the room was essentially a giant window, with a series of curtains blocking it off to provide privacy if necessary. Opening the glass door would give you access to a small patio space that was nothing much but some space and a guard rail.
Naruto sighed as he rolled out of bed, naked as the day he was born, and grabbed a pair of pants from the end of the bed before entering the living room. Quickly splashing some water on his face from the washbasin in the bathroom, he stepped outside onto the patio, basking in the the cool morning air for just a moment.
'I suppose peace does have its moments,'Naruto thought as he gazed out over the Fire Nation capital. Thankfully his house was on an incline, so he could take in a wide sweeping view of everything.
Naruto looked to the horizon as the sun began to creep up from below it. Naruto turned his back on the rising sun, reentering his apartment to get ready for his day. He dressed himself in preparation for a day of errands and leisure.
He tossed on a pair of black pants, tucked them into standard issue boots for soldiers, then pulled on a black undershirt over which he put on a standard set of soldier body armor.
Naruto's first stop was the market. The Fire Nation capital's main market was usually a bustling example of war time economy commerce. Goods from all over the world were shipped back to the homeland, from the rarest of spiciest to the most sought after tombs. Naruto chose to go when it was still essentially before day however, seeking to buy the food he needed and be gone before the day was up.
"As I live and breathe! Naruto, by Agni is that you?"
Naruto turned towards the voice with a small smile. Sitting behind a nearby produce cart was an old woman, a hunch long since formed in her back. She had white hair, and her cheeks sagged from age. She wore normal civilian attire, a pale red tunic like shirt with strong red trim, with long sleeves that covered her arms, with matching red pants and a pair of pointed toe loafers.
"Old Lady Lumi! How ya been,"Naruto walked over, beginning to pursue who supply of fruits and vegetables.
The woman scowled, raising a hand and shaking her fist at Naruto,"Still a disrespectful brat I see. I don't see ya for years and that's how ya greet me! That's the problem with your generation, I ought-ta bop ya good!"
Naruto rolled his eyes. Lumi had been a vendor all the way back when he was living with Ko, and so when Ko would send him to the market for their foods and supplies (not seeing any value in going himself when the younger more energetic blonde could do it for him), Naruto would be a frequent customer to her stand, seeing as she was always the first cart open everyday.
"Yeah yeah yeah, maybe if you could get your wrinkly ass off that stool without throwing your back out you could try it,"taking that as a challenge, the somewhat nutty old lady tried to stand, only to wince when her spine betrayed her. She almost stumbled, but Naruto quickly caught her, returning her to her sitting position,"Woah there old timer, no need for all that."
The woman crossed her arms and pouted, grumbling. Naruto chuckled,"It's been good seeing you Lumi," reaching into his pocket, he grabbed a handful of coins and pressed them into the cart keepers waiting hands, having filled a bag with enough fruits and vegetables for the week. "Take care, alright."
"Yeah yeah, just get out of here before I get my cane on ya!"
Naruto chuckled and shook his head, continuing his path down the market road. Within twenty minutes, he had filled his bag with produce, spices, some different meats wrapped in parchment paper, and a few sweets. As he got ready to leave the market, he noticed a small cart pedaling different types of tea leaves.
For a moment, Naruto flashed back to his time working with Iroh and Zuko at the tea shop. Though he would never settle down and work a tea shop as a main source of income, for what it was worth it was… pleasant.
Walking over, Naruto sat his bag down next to the cart, nodding to the middle aged man who worked the little set up,"Got any jasmine?"
Naruto sighed as he walked around the capital. It was night time, and it had been exactly thirty nine hours thirty four minutes and fifteen seconds since he had done anything interesting, or of value.
'Where's Azula when you need her?' He assumed she was probably preparing for bed in the Royal Palace, not thinking about him at all.
Crossing his arms behind his head and closing his eyes, Naruto allowed his thoughts to go to the princess. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the woman. She was beautiful, that was for sure, and her energy and mindset were nothing short of intoxicating. And on top of all of that, she was powerful, extremely so.
'But am I actually interested in her?' Naruto was unsure. Yeah they had their moments, and it was fun to mess with her on occasions, but that didn't mean much long term. 'No use thinking about it, with the Avatar dead there's a good chance that I'll never see her again.'
Naruto sighed as he opened his eyes, taking his body off autopilot. Looking around, he realized that he recognized the neighborhood he had wandered into. Shrugging, he walked through the neighborhood, navigating the twists and turns until he found the house he was looking for. He stood outside it for a moment, walking up to the door.
'The Old Man never changed a thing huh?' Naruto thought he raised his hand to knock. Just before he could though, he hesitated.
He didn't really have any great need to be here, it was more boredom than sentimentality that had driven to come back to his old master's house. Ko had made it clear that there was nothing left for Naruto to learn from him, so why was he here?
"Does my old student intend to stand on my doorstep for eternity? Or is he going to knock and realize no ones home?"
Naruto jumped a bit as he heard his old teacher's voice coming from behind him. Turning slowly, he found himself face to face with Ko. The man hadn't changed much at all, a couple more wrinkles here and there but largely the same. He wore the normal attire for a man of his stature, a red shirt with gold trim and black pants with a black chest plate over it.
'Once a soldier always a soldier,' Naruto thought as he studied the man who had essentially raised him.
Naruto met the old man's gaze, who was regarding him with the same cold disinterest he always had,"Just out for a walk, figured I'd see if you were still alive."
Ko released a snort,"It'd be foolish of you to think anything killed me."
"Yeah yeah yeah,"Naruto trailed off. Ko moved to stand beside him, and they just stood on the porch basking in the moons light.
"Aren't you gonna invite me in Old Man?"
"What are you here for Naruto?"
Naruto thought about it for a second, before replying,"I really don't know. I've been given some down time, so I'm really just bored."
"Hm. You haven't taken this time to continue your training?"
Naruto shrugged,"I'm lost, don't really know how I'm supposed to continue to be honest. No one to teach me, you know how it goes."
Ko smirked, not rising to the obvious bait,"What if I told you that there is a place where you could learn from legends, all you have to do is prove your worth."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, intrigued,"What is there an academy around here for elites that's opened since I last was in the capital?"
"No, in fact these masters have likely been teaching for centuries."
Naruto narrowed his eyes, not quite believing him,"What are you getting at, Old Man."
"Tell me Naruto, what do you know of the Sun Warriors?"
Naruto glared at the sundial he currently stood on, and was tempted to unleash a torrent of curses. It had taken three days for him to find the ruins of the ancient city of the Sun Warrior's in the small war balloon he had managed to finagle the use of using what little clout he had. Luckily the guy in charge of logging who took balloons was actually a former member of SSIP, so all it took was a small bribe and wallah, transportation.
Naruto's problem was now that he had no way to access the main temple. He had managed to avoid (read: destroy) all of the traps on his way in, but upon actually getting to the door he found that it was designed to open only on the summer solstice, which was probably around a month away at the least.
'Fuck waiting, there's got to be a way to trick the system.'
Naruto walked back down the path he had come up, looking for something that would help him open the door. Reaching one of the spike traps he had managed to avoid, Naruto notice the skeletal remains of an old fire nation soldier, likely a non bender based on his attire. Hidden beneath one hand was a small knife, likely used to clear away the brush more than for actual combat. It was old and rusted, but still retained just enough luster to reflect the light of the sun.
Gathering his new find and nodding his respect almost sarcastically to the skeleton, Naruto made his way back to the golden circular door. Using the knife, Naruto angled the sunlight from the focusing crystal onto the circular red gem above the doorway.
As the sunlight hit th gem, it gained a slightly glow, and Naruto heard a deep rumbling as the massive golden doors opened.
Cautiously, Naruto stepped through them, looking around. It seemed to be some sort of atrium, with a series of statues depicting what appeared to be some sort of dance moving in a circle around the room.
Naruto walked up to the closest statue, reading the inscription below it,'The Dancing Dragon huh?'
Naruto looked at the pose the statue was making, and on a whim, mimicked it. He was shocked when the ground beneath his foot gave way. Stepping off of it, Naruto inspected the ground.
'It's almost seamless. It's likely designed so that you wouldn't be able to find it without doing the dance.'
With that in mind, Naruto gained a determined look on his face, going through the form, almost perfectly mimicking the statues all the way up to the apex… only for nothing to happen.
'I did it all right, what the hell?' Naruto scratched the back of his head as he tried to figure out what exactly had gone wrong.
Turning his head, he focused on the statues making up the other half of the circle. 'Maybe they have to be done at the same time?'
That would suck, mainly because he was days removed from anyone who could help him out in this situation. 'Maybe it'll still work if I just do the other side too?"
Naruto walked back over to the mirror set of statues and went re completed his actions. For a moment, nothing happened, and Naruto cursed, beginning to plot on what to do next, when suddenly a small pedestal rose from the ground in the middle of the atrium. On the platform sat an ornate golden egg.
Naruto looked at it with a small bit of irritation. He had come to learn to be a better bender, not to loot some ancient treasure from a long dead people. 'Fuck it, maybe I'll sell it or give it to the Old Man.'
Reaching forward with both hands, Naruto picked up the golden egg. It was definitely solid, that much was for sure. Holding it, Naruto could almost feel himself resonating with the egg, almost as if it contained a real living creature as opposed to multiple pounds of precious metal.
A strange feeling suddenly over came Naruto, something he hadn't felt in a very long time. 'I'm unsure on whether or not I should take this? Is this… self doubt?'
Naruto found himself shocked and a little afraid. He hadn't truly doubted himself or a decision he was making in years. During his time with Ko and his following time with SSIP, it had been pounded through his mind that uncertainty lead to hesitation, and hesitation lead to death.
'Maybe I should just leave the egg.' Naruto thought, preparing to place the egg back on the pedestal. As he replaced the egg, however, a thick green sludge came surging out from the pedestal, sending the egg and Naruto rocketing towards a grate in the sealing, Naruto hit the bars with a grunt, but instead of falling back to the floor, he found himself stuck hanging by his hands, which were attached to the egg, which was attached to the grate.
Cursing, Naruto braced his legs against the bars and pushed, attempting to unstick his hands from the grate. As he struggled, however, the room beneath him was becoming more and more filled with sludge. Soon, it rose high enough to forcibly press Naruto against the grate, the egg still in his hands forced to his chest, with little more than his face left uncovered.
'Well shit.' Naruto sat there for a moment, considering his options. He could try to heat his body using fire bending and free himself from the glue, but then he ran the risk of boiling himself alive. He could try to melt the metal of the grate, but considering his face was pressed against the metal and he didn't really feel like ending up with permanent scarring like Zuko, that was also out. He could also just yell for help, but considering it was believed that the Sun Warriors who had populated the once great civilization had died out centuries ago, there was a very slim chance that anyone would be coming to help him.
Hours later, Naruto had developed a twitch in his eye and scowl on his face. The sun had gone down a while ago, and the cold of night had long since set in. 'Damn it, I have to try something.'
Naruto closed his eyes and began to regulate his breathing, preparing to attempt to fire bend his way out of his currently situation, when suddenly he heard foot steps to his right. Attempting to turn his head in that direction, Naruto called out,"Who's there?"
"You know," the man who stepped into his field of vision was middle aged, wearing an open red vest like sure with gold trim and what appeared to be a ceremonial head piece made of some sort of fur and face paint on the top half of his face,"I was just about to ask you the same thing, thief."
Naruto was about to retort, when he became very aware of the fact that he still had the golden egg in his hands due to the way he had been glued to the ceiling. A sheepish look came over Naruto's face as he chuckled nervously,"Would you believe me if I said it's not how it looks."
The man crossed his arms,"Forgive me if I find it hard to believe you aren't here to steal my people's treasures while you are holding one of my people's treasures."
Naruto sighed,"Look, can you just get me out of here?"
A few moments later found Naruto sitting cross legged in front of the Sun Warrior Chief, as well as 25 Sun Warriors, as some sort of giant aardvark licked away at the glue that coated his body. While he was still sticky, he could move, but he was still wary of a fight against a group of people who managed to avoid detection to the point that it was commonly believed they were extinct.
The chief stepped forward, a scepter in his hand,"For trying to steal our sun stone, you must be severely punished."
Naruto resisted the urge to groan,"For the last time, I didn't come here for the stupid stone. I didn't even know there was a stone until it came out the floor! I just want to be a stronger fire bender."
"I say he's lying," a skinny man, likely the chiefs advisor, stepped up next to the chief,"he obviously came for the stone, it was literally in his hands when we pulled him out of the trap."
"Look," Naruto stood,"I don't give a damn about any treasure or relics or any of that crap. I just came here to learn so I can be a better fighter. So you have two options, you can either take me as your student,"Naruto dropped into his fighting stance, his eyes moving around the assembled mass to determine the biggest threat,"we can just fight until the Sun Warriors really are extinct."
The chief seemed to mull Naruto's reply/threat. He didn't feel threatened in the slightest. Even without knowledge of Naruto's skills, it was clear Naruto was at the disadvantage, especially considering that the amassed Sun Warriors weren't the entire population of the tribe. If things were really going south and Naruto turned out to be a menace, it wouldn't be long before a group of Sun warriors a hundred strong would come down upon him.
"If you wish to learn the ways of the sun," the chief replied,"you must learn from the masters Ran and Shao."
Naruto cocked his head to the side, rising a little out of his stance,"Who?"
"When you present yourself to them," the chief continued, ignoring Naruto's inquiry,"they will examine you. They'll read your heart, your soul, your ancestry. They'll know everything about you, your every crime, your every desire, even what you had for dinner last night. Should they find you worthy, they shall teach you. If they don't, you will be destroyed on the spot."
Naruto thought about it, but couldn't find it in himself to be worried. If anything, he was excited, and that showed through his wild grin,"I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Very well, follow me." The chief turned, and Naruto followed, with the rest of the Sun Warrior's following closely behind.
"You guys should fix that trap in the atrium, I don't think I was supposed to be able to do it alone."
"Noted."
"... you might also want to fix all the traps I destroyed to get to the atrium."
"... I hate you."
"Love you too!"
Early the next morning, Naruto stood with the chief in front of a large ornate braiser within a small open temple like structure on top of a pyramid of some nature.
"If you are going to see the masters, you must bring them a piece of the eternal flame,"the chief stepped forward, extracting a small portion of the flame in front of him and keeping it in his palm."This fire is the very first one, it was given to man by the dragons centuries ago, and we have maintained it ever since."
He presented it to Naruto, and Naruto took it in his left hand, making sure to supplement it with his own fire bending to keep it alive. The flame slowly began to take on the golden hue of his own bending, though it was certainly brighter and more pure in color than usual, causing gasps to arise from among the Sun Warriors behind him.
The chief himself let out a sound of confusion,"For thousands of years, Sun Warriors and outsiders alike have taken the sacred passage and carried the flame to the mountain top, but never has the flame changed color."
Naruto shrugged, raising his right hand and creating a small flame of purely his own flame, showing it to the chief,"My fire has always been irregular in color."
"You are not the first to come to us with a flame that is of different color, this is merely the first time that the portion of the original flame has become in tune with the flame of the bender,"the chief narrowed his eyes at Naruto,"who exactly are you?"
Naruto looked to the flame, and thought of all the things that had been happening lately, what with the crazy dreams and the life of flashbacks. Meeting the chief's eyes, Naruto shrugged,"I've been struggling with figuring that out myself recently."
The chief studied Naruto for a moment, before continuing with his explanation,"You must climb to the top of that mountain by sunset, while keeping the flame so that you might offer it as tribute to the master's. The flame will go out if you make it to small. Make it too large, however, and you will lose control."
Naruto nodded, a look of deep concentration coming to his face as he tried to get a feel for how much energy the flame required to sustain itself. Finding what he felt was a good balance, Naruto turned and began his journey.
Getting to the top of the mountain would have been a good training exercise if he didn't have to constantly worry about the flame in his hand going out should he move to fast. It took much longer than Naruto would have liked, and a whole lot more cursing, but he did manage to make his way to the mountain top.
Within the crest of the mountain there was a massive circular platform with a stylized design of a sun. On the far side, there was a set of stairs leading to a cat walk between two caves, where Naruto assumed the masters lived. 'You'd think they lived in some sort of temple or something with how everything else is set up around here.'
The Sun Warrior's had already set up shop upon Naruto's arrival, with drums and other instruments around the edge of the platform and a small group, smaller than the one that had greeted him at the temple, waiting on standby. 'Must be a big deal huh?'
The Sun Warrior chief stepped up to Naruto, flanked on either side by another Sun Warrior."You know, facing the master's is dangerous, especially so for those who come wearing Fire Nation colors."
Naruto just shrugged,"You said they'll judge me for everything right? Might as well come as who I am."
The chief nodded, stabbing his scepter into the ground. Taking a piece of Naruto's flame, causing it to lose its golden hue. Separating it into two, he handed it off to the warriors to his sides, who then carried it off to the benders waiting in a circle around the platform, who all created a ring of fire which they held.
"Chanters!"
The drums and other instruments began as the chanters began their chants. Off to the side, Sun Warriors began to bow in sync with the beat created by the drummers.
The chief stepped to the side, gesturing to Naruto to walk up the massive flight of steps.
Taking one deep breath, Naruto began his ascent. The walk felt long, and the sense of anticipation only made it longer. Making it to the catwalk, Naruto stood in the middle of it, facing the setting sun, basking in its warmth and the power it gifted him. Naruto looked to his sides, wondering which cave the masters would come out of and how the test would go.
"He who wishes to meet the masters Ran and Shao shall now present their fire."
Naruto couldn't decide which cave to focus on, and made an executive decision, splitting the fire between both hands and extending one hand to each cave.
The voice of the chief, though far away, still rung clear,"Sound the call!"
A loud horn sounded, and both of the caves shook as something stirred within them. Naruto was confused, and a feeling of apprehension was beginning to overcome him, but he stood his ground and maintained his flames.
A moment of uneasy science filled the mountain top. Just as Naruto was about to turn and ask what was going on, he noticed a pair of yellow beastial eyes coming from the cave to his left. His mind instantly flashed back to the red eyed monster from his dream, but instead of a furry visage coming from the dark depths, what surged forth was purely reptilian.
A giant dragon, rust red in color came flying out of the cave, unfurling its wings and circling around Naruto. A similar dragon, this one blue and color, joined him from Naruto's right, and it took everything Naruto had to maintain control of his flames as they whipped up tornado like winds. The way they spun around him was almost as though they were chasing each other's tails.
Naruto was in awe. It was said that Iroh had slain the last dragon, yet here they were, alive and well, apparently the legendary masters of the ancient Sun Warriors.
The dragons continued to rotate around Naruto, swirling and moving in tune with each other, never advancing into the space occupied by the other, never falling out of sync,'It's almost like they're dancing.'
Naruto's eyes widened at the realization. The dragons were indeed dancing, and if the name of the form he had to learn just to progress this far was any indication, they wanted him to dance too.
Naruto quickly entered the first stance, and began moving through the stances in beat with Ran and Shao, his focus on the sacred fire going up in smoke and causing the flames to dissipate due to his loss of focus.
Going through the motions, Naruto fell back into his entranced state, moving through the stances as though he had been working with them all his life. Finally, he struck the last pose, and though Naruto felt it would have probably been more visibly impressive had he actually had a partner, he was confident he had done what the dragons had wanted.
That confidence waned a bit as the dragons stopped their circling, momentarily hovering on either side of Naruto. Naruto stood up, returning to his standing position. A lesser man would have cowered, or at least tried to look away, but Naruto made sure to look into both of the dragon's eyes.
"Show no fear."
"Show me your will of fire."
The voice of Ko over the voice of an older man. Naruto could swear that he had heard the voice before, but it was beyond him at the moment. 'Just more deja vu I guess.'
The dragons dropped from their positions hovering and perched on either side of the platform. They reared their heads back, and Naruto cursed within his mind,'Ah shit.'
Ran and Shao released a roaring flame, and Naruto covered his face, expecting to be burned alive, but the fire never touched him. Uncovering his face, Naruto found himself in the middle of a spiraling pillar of multi colored fire. Staring into it, Naruto could only be in awe of it's beauty.
'Is this true power?'
And just as the experience began, it ended. The dragons relinquished their control of the spiraling pillar, and with a flourish, returned to their respective caves.
Naruto held his hands in front of him, and upon igniting them, found himself in awe. His own personal fire had taken on the deeper gold that had been created by combining his own fire with the sacred flame. Naruto inhaled deeply and slowly, causing the fire on his hands to slowly die out. Turning his head up to the heavens, Naruto roared, releasing a massive golden pillar to the sky, it's brightness causing the some of the watching Sun Warriors to wince.
Naruto cut off his display with a smirk,'Oh yeah, I can get used to this.'
Naruto walked down the steps, a look of accomplishment on his face. He reached the chief, and nodded his head to the man,"Thank you."
The chief nodded back,"They deemed you worthy, and showed you the truth of your fire bending."
Naruto cocked his head to the side, confused,"My truth?"
"To everyone, there's a different meaning to fire bending. For some, fire is warmth, light. For other's, fire is destruction. For all, fire is life."
Naruto thought about his use of fire throughout his life. It had been mostly used to deal pain and death, but at the end of the day, fire bending had saved his life. Ko had picked him up off the streets because of his bending ability. SSIP had been bearable because of his near prodigious talent. Even meeting Azula and traveling the Earth Kingdom had only been possible because of fire bending. In a way, fire had given him life.
"I see you understand now?" Naruto looked to the chief with wide eyes, nodding slowly.
The chief smiled a small genuine smile,"Good, good. Unfortunately,"his face changed, becoming serious,"you know our secrets, and you must die in order to keep them safe."
Naruto's eyes narrowed as he dropped into stance,"Well if that's the case why don't you try it you old-"
The chief chuckled, and the Sun Warriors around them laughed uproariously,"I'm kidding I'm kidding, you're free to return to wherever you came from." The chief's face became serious again,"But seriously though, don't tell anyone, got it?"
Naruto slowly stood out of stance, his eyes still narrowed,"Alright then."
"Good, you are free to leave. However, now that you have been deemed worthy by the masters, you are also free to stay and learn from us."
That got Naruto to let go of his suspicion, and a wide grin formed on his face,"Let's go wild!"
Naruto spent about two weeks with the Sun Warriors, learning some of there customs but spending most of his days training to his hearts content. Where as training in SSIP and under Ko focused on forcing the body to learn a certain form of combat, the Sun Warriors spent most of their time adapting the forms they learned from the dragons to fit the body of the bender. Naruto quickly gained the respect of some of the more traditionalist outsider-hating warriors purely on his worth ethic and willingness to adapt to criticism.
On his last day with the Sun Warriors, Naruto was saying goodbyes, shaking the hands of his various training partners, and waving to everyone else. Naruto's attire had changed slightly, mainly because it was becoming a pain in the ass to clean his clothing on a daily basis. He now wore a black poncho like over shirt over a pair of black pants which he tucked into his boots.
Finally, Naruto reached the chief,"Thanks, for everything. I still can barely believe that there are still dragons alive. Iroh, an ex general of the Fire Nation, claimed to have killed the last one. Guess it was a hoax."
"Iroh was the last outsider before you to face the masters. Considering the masters currently are the last known dragons in existence, he likely created the story to protect them from persecution."
Naruto nodded,"Makes sense." Stepping away, Naruto gave a mock salute,"See ya never you cranky old man."
The chief snorted, having gotten used to Naruto's brand of humor,"Just get out of here before I decide to have you killed."
Naruto smiled at the empty threat, turning and beginning his journey back to his balloon with a lazy wave over his shoulder.
The journey back to the Fire Nation mainland took only a day, considering he knew exactly where he was going. Returning the balloon and heading back to his apartment, Naruto sighed, pulling his poncho over the top of his head and sitting his bag off to the side. He would probably need to get a new set of armor considering how much damage his current set had taken, but that, along with debriefing with Ko, would be a matter for tomorrow.
'If Iroh was the last person to meet with the dragons, how did Ko know where to find them?'
Naruto could only assume that Ko had discovered the Sun Warriors before Iroh, perhaps on a military expedition. Naruto shrugged, it didn't really matter at this point. All that mattered was that he was much more powerful thanks to his once-master's recommendation. Naruto stripped the rest of his clothing off, and quickly filled the basin in his bathroom with cool water. Sitting in it, Naruto sighed, using his fire bending to heat the water to a near boil. 'This is the life right here.'
Naruto was allowed about five minutes of soaking in the warm water before loud banging on his door interrupted his relaxation.
'No one knows I'm back, if I just stay quiet they'll go away.'
Naruto sighed as he sunk into the water, before the banging resumed,'Son of a fucking-'"Alright alright I'm coming."
Naruto stood out of the water, wrapping a towel around his waist. He opened the door, irritation consuming him and read to give whoever it was a piece of his mind,"Who the fuck do you-"
Naruto's words died in his mouth as he saw Azula standing there in her normal attire, giving him a flat look."Oh, Azula… you caught me at a bad time."
Azula let her eyes travel down Naruto's wet form, taking in his glistening chest and slick abdominal muscles, leading to a towel that hung low but still covered just enough to be decent. Against her will, an errant thought ran across her mind,'Unfortunately.'
"I can see that, but you've been away for a few weeks,"the princess raised an eyebrow."Mind telling me where you went?"
Naruto smirked,"Confidential."
"I'm the daughter of the Fire Lord, nothing's confidential."
"Not telling ya princess,"Naruto's grin gained an almost lewd under tone,"You can try and force it out of me if you want."
"Are you suggesting I have you tortured and tossed in prison?"
"Mah mah, no need for all that princess,"Naruto chuckled."Just went and got some training done, learned some new things."
"Interesting." Azula responded."Whatever, tell me, how would you like to go on a vacation."
Naruto raised an eyebrow,"Not following you. Isn't that what the Dai Li used as their que to get brainwashed civics to obey?"
"No you dum dum, an actual vacation,"Azula sighed, rolling her eyes."My father is sending me and Zuko away so that he can meet privately with some of his advisors. Zuko is taking Mai, and Ty Lee agreed to come, so I came to invite you as well."
Naruto thought for a moment,"Do I actually have a choice as to whether or not I go?"
Azula smirked,"Not in the slightest, but I figured I'd offer you the illusion of choice."
"In that case I'm in,"Naruto replied with a smile.
"Good, we leave at dawn in two days." Azula looked Naruto up and down once more,"I'll leave you to your evening."
Naruto smirked at Azula, seeing an opportunity to tease his employer."Want to join me princess, plenty of room in the bath for two,"he offered with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.
His reply was a smack across the face.
As Azula walked away, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle,'This is gonna be fun.'
Alright alright, I started working on this one as soon as the last one went out. I wanted to do a little more character development for Naruto, and considering theres about a 2 to 3 week gap between when they get back from Ba Sing Se and when they go on vacation in cannon, I figured this was a good place to do it. I'll be expanding on the flashbacks in the coming chapters, so stay tuned for that.
The situation with the blue spirit mask isn't quite over yet either, so stay tuned!
JOIN THE FUCKING DISCORD
Link in bio, love you guys! We have 2 members in the discord rn, but I'm hoping that the community will grow.
Also, I have a new story coming out in the next few months. If you know my other account, then you know I've had two or three failed YJ Naruto Xovers and atleast one non crossover Naruto story that I never finished. One of those will be making a return soon, so stay tuned, and the other should be starting early next year so keep a look out.
Still in the market for a beta/editor, so let's get it boppin folks!
Kishi out.