A/N: I'm afraid I have some bad news for you all. Remember my health woes from a way back? Well, I thought they were in the clear. Turns out they aren't. At all. My latest appointment with my doctor...didn't end well. Apparently, in addition to my heart condition, I might be needing open-heart surgery. Several, in fact. And if I don't get it...well, the result won't be pleasant. Taking them aside, the last one really messed me up, so I realized that my luck with this latest surgery just might run out.
So I just wanted to say...its been really nice, writing on this site. Authoring each of these stories, feeling the words flow through me and onto the screen, reading wonderful reviews, listening to the occassional critic-and bettering myself with each story. And to that effect, I've discovered that surgery will now be needed soon. Very soon. Sometime this month, or after Christmas. Yuuup, not looking forward to it. At all! But for now I'm still ticking, and as such, I wanted to get the next installment of this story out. And so...
...onto the latest chapter! I humbly hope you enjoy it! Sorry if its short!
"Me? The Avatar? Oh no no no no...
~?
Crux
I knew at once that this boy was him. The Avatar. And how could I not? I saw it a glance; the endless power trapped within him. Just as I knew he was, most likely, the last of the Airbenders. Many things became clear to me that day; chief amongst them that this Avatar of the Elements only retained the knowledge of his former lives in his Avatar state. He was just a twelve-year old boy, trapped within an iceburg for nearly an entire century. He did not have all the answers, did not hold the knowledge I sought.
All these years, for naught. But I knew. This avatar, this boy...would do great things. To this day, I know not how. I simply knew.
Nothing escapes these eyes.
"Why are you staring at me?"
This from Aang, the boy who, unbeknownst to everyone else, was the Avatar. Naruto stubbornly stifled the urge to reveal that. Aang would so when he was ready. Or so he hoped. He was hesitant to pin his trust on an untested youth, but hadn't he been the same once? To assume Aang was a coward merely for safeguarding his secret would imply that Naruto too, was one and the same; unwilling to risk death, by exposing himself to the world with his godlike powers and prowess. But he did not hide his powers out of cowardice. It was wisdom that stayed his hand; wielding that much power-letting the world know what you were-only made you that much more of a target. Perhaps Aang was of a similair mind. Perhaps not. In a way, they were almost alike.
Regardless, it wasn't for Naruto to judge.
"Oh, nothing." Nevertheless, he allowed a small smile to creep up on his lips. "Its just my first time meeting the Avatar." His words were soft, spoken only for the two of them-and yet they still elicited the most startling reaction in the young airbender. For a brief moment, the young boy actually looked...afraid. Said fear was just as swiftly replaced by sorrow, the resigned sort that suggested he'd known this was coming all along. Most curious, the Avatar of the Gods mused to himself.
"How did you-
-know?" Naruto finished with the slightest of sighs. "It wasn't that difficult. I've studied this nation's history, if that flash of power before didn't give you away, then the markings certainly did. Honestly, I'd expected you to be a little taller, though. Older, too. But then again, I guess cryogenically freezing yourself for a hundred years is one helluva way to ease out the wrinkles, no?" He allowed his gaze to slip bast the baffled boy toward his young wards, observing Sokka and Katara with their tribe. "They'll probably figure it out sooner rather than later. So are you going to tell them, or should I?"
Aang faltered, momentarily uncertain of what to say. Just who was this strange youth, and why did he seem so familiar somehow? He hadn't said a word on the ride back to the tribe-courtesy of Appa-and now suddenly it was as if the blond could read his very thoughts. What was going on here?
"I...
"There's no rush." Ironically, Naruto felt his heart go out to the boy with these words. "You can tell them when you're ready." For all his feigned cheer and supposed legendary status, Aaang was little more than that. A child. But there was more to it, than being young and untested. Aang reminded him of well...himself. He'd been the same way at first, not wanting anything to do with these incredible powers bestowed upon him. In the beginning, he had tried-and failed-to live a normal life.
Looking back, it was rather obvious why he had failed. One simply did not absorb the Juubi into oneself and expect to lead an existence anything short of extraordinary. At first there had been worship-his comrades had respected him, women had practially fallen over another to have his children and so on; for a terribly long time, he had been reluctant to assume his new role. He didn't want anything to do with these supposed fangirls or their ilk, he only had eyes for a certain Hyuuga.
Hinata.
Her confession had never been far from his mind but there hadn't been any time to discuss it; what with Akatsuki lurking about and then the war and Madara, by the time everything ended and the Juubi was harmlessly-or so he'd thought-made one with his soul, nearly a year had passed. More than enough time for him to think on her words. And when things finally settled down, finally able to call her out on it. The rest...well, as they say, is history. Time had flown by so swiftly afterward; now more than ever he wished he could go back and revisit those first few years, cherish them, before he realized anything was wrong.
Before it became apparent that he wasn't changing. Wasn't aging. But he'd been so caught up in their relationship, and then the twins came along and still he'd pushed it off-dismissing it as nothing. Lie after lie became increasingly apparent. He was simply aging well. It was his genes. Yes, that had to be it. Looking back, he'd been far too naieve. Reluctant. That reluctance...had nearly been the end of him. Everyone saw him as a god in human form at the time, a guardian meant to watch over the Shinobi people for all time. Not as the Hokage, but something more. As an Avatar. Of the Gods. To this day, Naruto wasn't sure who had coined that eerie moniker, but for whatever reason it had stuck. So that was what he became, eventually trading his dream to become Hokage for this newfound role and status.
And for awhile, things were working out swimmingly. Sasuke had returned to the village-his promise with Sakura nowsatisfied-and he had a budding family in Hinata. As Hokage, Tsunade was able to help him keep the peace and awkward as he might be, he'd done a good job of keeping the other nations in line. So he wasn't aging. Big deal! A mere fly in the ointment! A simple henge kept anyone from realizing the truth and it wasn't as though he'd been lying to anyone. With his newfound powers he'd slowly begun to assume his new responsibilities.. Peace was flourishing. The people were happy. And then, as suddenly as the peace had begun...
Everything went to hell.
"You're not exactly, normal yourself."
Naruto blinked, unexpectedly drawn from his pained reverie by Aang's words. He was momentarily amused to find the boy peering up at him with...what was the word again? Compassion? Empathy? Whatever the case, Aang's attention was enough to momentarily banished the demons of his long and lengthy past.
"I'm sorry, did you say something?" When next Naruto spoke it was not the sorrowed shinobi of the Elemental Nations, but the stoic Avatar of the Gods. Granted, taking on the role-grownng into it over time-learning to respect the need for secrecy, adopting the title even now; it was all just a way of distancing himself from the pain he still felt in the depths of his heart. Whereas Aang's outlook on life was probably a great deal cheerier than his own, in any case. Perhaps he should mirror that same levity?
"I said," the last airbender continued, "You're not so different yourself."
"Oh?" That got Naruto's attention. This boy was more than he appeared. Intrigued, he turned his sapphiric gaze toward the monk-to-be once more. "And what makes you say that, Aang?" Quashing the pain he felt with in his heart, he forced a small smile back to his face and awaited the Avatar's answer. Oh, what he wouldn't give for Kurama's voice in his head right about now...
"Its your eyes." the boy seemed to squirm beneath his gaze. "They seem...old, somehow."
"You'd be right." Naruto found himself biting back laughter for the first time since his last death. "If I had to guess, I'd say they're five hundred, give or take a century or two."
"What?!"
"It's just a guess." the blond shrugged. "No need to freek out. Time sorta loses its meaning when you've lived as long as I have. Still, freezing yourself...an interesting trick. I think I'll have to try that myself, someday."
"Well, I wouldn't reccomend it..."
"So you're really an Airbender, eh?" Naruto asked abruptly.
Aang grinned, glad for the change in topic. "Sure am!"
"Can you show me?"
"I-ah...
Aang chose that precise moment to sneeze-the subsuquent expulsion of air sent him rocketing nearly ten feet into the air. That little spectacle earned the attention of the entire tribe -not to mention a certain someone-before he descended with grace, landing almost effortlessly upon Appa's back, ending his little air trick with a graceful bow. As if to echo his partner's effort, the sky bison lo oseda happy snort.
"Not bad, huh?"
"Impressive." Naruto admitted, clapping as the bendor clamored down from his mount. "You've got a lot of skill for someone so young."
"Hey, thanks."
"But can you do...this?!"
Now it was Aang's turn to balk; because scarce had Naruto spoken than the last airbender found himself witness to the inexplicable. Naruto-in the time it had taken to finish that sentence-had levitated his body up off the ground, and into the air. He was hovering. Without a glider. He simply hung there, suspended in midair. What's more, he didn't seem to be expending any visible effort at all. But it wasn't as though he were flying in actuality Aang thought, if he could, then why whould he-
"Wahahaha!"
Then as if to shatter that very thought, the former jnchuuriki shed his fur coat and erupted upward, his body little more than a streak of blue and black colors as he tore into the skies.
"What the heck?!" Sokka scrubbed at his eyes with both hands, as though the action could somehow wipe away what he was seeing. "Is Naruto actually...
...flying?!" Katara practically squealed in delight at the sight, her earlier reservation forgotten in the wake of this discovery. For indeed the blond was doing just that, navigating the air using his own chakra to hold/hoist him aloft, wrapping himself in it, and pushing down against the ground simultaneously. It was no means an easy feat; only one with a strong Wind affinity could do such a thing, and even then, Naruto himself had spent nearly an entire decade mastering the technique. It was not, as a certain man might've said, a move for beginners.
"Wow, so you're an airbender, too?"
"I am not a bender." Naruto denied, alighting soundlessly beside Katara. "My situation is...unique."
"Like how?"
"Like-
He would've said more, had not something brightened the skies over their heads. Blue eyes bulged.
"Incoming!"
That was all they heard before a massive ball of fire lit the horizon. Aang barely saw the Fire Nation vessel from whence it came before it engulfed their position. But where had this vessel come from? And how had they found them so swiftly? Too late; there was no longer any time for thought; the projectile ripped into the Water Tribe and sent everything flying. The villagers were only just able to escape the blast radius thanks to their relative distance of the the explosion. Katara wasn't so lucky. The detonation flung her and Sokka away, sending both brother and sister sprawling in the snow. In that instant, Naruto shouted something from up aboves their heads; exactly what, the young avatar knew not. Only that the flames abruptly vanished, disintegrating into harmless steam as he looked on.
-assholes!"
Naruto landed in a roaring snarl of fire, spitting curses not meant for the ears of young children. Some of those very words caused Katara to flush, but the sight of him stole any sentiment of laughter away. Black flames ripled off and around his body and it seemed as though his eyes were...bleeding? Impossible to tell. Whatever the case may be she had only an instant to recognize any of this before unconciousness took her-before the blond usehered Aang behind him, just in time for the ramp of the enemy vessel to lower.
"Stay behind me." Was the last thing she heard...
Seven firebenders marched down the ramp in a phalanx, and at their head, a younger man, clearly their leader.
"Where are you hiding him?" the prince demanded to know. Scowling, he grabbed hold of Katara's grandmother, shaking her cowl for emphasis. "He'd be about this age, master, of all elements? I know he's here!" None dared speak. Faced with this refusal, Zuko became incensed. "If you don't reveal him, I'll burn this entire village to the ground!"
Aang was just about to open his mouth, ready to reveal himself for the sake of these people, when-
"Amaterasu."
The blonde muttered that word and the firebenders burned, their plated armor erupting in thick tongues of dark fury as she looked on. Of the six guards that had accompaned the prince, only one managed to evade the worst of the blaze besides him, rolling aside and out of harms way. Naruto simply exhaled and that hapless fool ceased to exist, his body evaporating before a massive fireball all his own.
"Wha-a Firebender?!"
"Why does everyone think that?!" Naruto groaned, slapping a flaming palm to his forehead. "Its not like I-oh." he blinked, finally noticing the flames of his chakra creeping around him, the still smoldering bodies around the lof of them. "Whooops. Forgot about that. Chakra tends to get a little out of whack when I'm pissed off ya know? Ah, but I digress." A wave of the hand and the flames abated somewhat, forming a shimmering aura of black and crimson around his form. The noise that followed would be impossible to do justice to using simple onomatopoeic sound effects. It was not quite a VOOM; a simple VRAAAM doesn't suffice either; but these are about the closest approximations.
For Prince Zuko, the sound equated to one, singular emotion.
Fear.
"Aang." Naruto whispered. "How many people can Appa carry?"
"About ten." the avatar found himself replying.
"It'll have to do. Try to get out of here, I'll buy you some time-
"What're you whispering about?"
Like an iron trap, Naruto's gaze locked onto the prince's own. The sheer intenesity of his stare, the sudden ice in his expression, was enough to silence the entire tribe. Nothing moved. Nothing at all. And then he spoke, voice black as pitch, eyes cold as the coldest winter, a sharp contrast to the flames boiling around his body.
"These people are precious to me." The words were little more than a dry hiss-if a knife could talk, this was what it would sound like. "Any attack on them is an attack on myself; and I don't take very kindly to being set upon by the likes of Fire Nation thugs like yoursef." He pointed one long finger at the proud prince. "I suggest you get back on your boat and before you get yourself hurt, boy."
"Do you have any idea who you're speaking to?" Zuko's scarred eye twitched in anger and outrage.
"I could ask you the same thing." Naruto's grin grew another inch, exposing deadly canine teeth. "But since you seem to think I'm a Firebender, lets play a little game." he stepped forward, reached out towards the bulk of their vessel, and made a pulping motion with his right hand. "If I win, I get to peel your ship like a bannana and set you adrift for a few days. You win, and I'll give you the Avatar. Tell me, my dear prince, Are you at all familiar with the term...Agni Kai?"
"What...I...he...what?!" Zuko spluttered. "How dare you suggest such a thing, you traitor?!"
Naruto snockered. "Ara, it seems I've struck an old wound. Wouldn't have anything to do with that mark now, would-
Zuko let loose an emotionally toiled scream and lunged, fists ablaze!
"I'll kill you!"
"Go, Aang!" Naruto roared, a heartbeat before the prince pounced upon him. And then he no longer had any time to worry about anyone other than himself. Fighting at full strength was one thing but to actively restrain himself from using his full potential against such a lesser opponent soon proved far more difficult...or not.
Naruto laughed as Zuko's fist swung harmlessly over his head. Too wide. Not narrow enough. The blast of fire that came with the strike was batted aside so effortlessly it may as well not have existed at all. Was this what amounted to taijutsu these days? Pitiful! Absurd! He clapped his hands and flung them outward, that easy, effortless gust of wind chakra was all it took to keep the boy off balance and summarly off his back; he simply couldn't make any progress against the headwind.
"Ha!" he scolded. "What's wrong, Zuko? Your great grandfather was better than this!"
The prince snarled, utterly unaware of the bison rising behind him.
"Fight me like a man, Avatar!"
Naruto scoffed and spat a small fireball,
"Look," The blond drawled as he battled the boy backwards, "How many times do I have to tell you...I'M NOT THE AVATAR!"
His words ended in a resounding whoosh as he summoned forth a great geyser of water from deep within his stomach, spewing the violent wave forward. Extinguishing the firey blast and bowling the prince head over heels. But the young firebender simply would not go down. Scarce had he fallen than he was up again, flinging himself at the former jinchuuriki in furious fashion.
"Stop lying!" he snarled between blows, "Only the avatar could manipulate the elements like that!"
Naruto's deadpan was barely concealed.
"Oh for the love of...fine!"
"You want me to fight like a firebender?" Naruto shrugged, and it suddenly seemed that a great weight had been lifted from him; a tremendous effort he no longer had to sustain. "Then I'll fight like a firebender." With a laugh he thundered forward, nearly clotheslining the poor prince.
"What...did you do?!" Zuko hissed, panic edging into his voice as he skittered backwards. Naruto's gleeful expression certainly didn't help any!
"I decided to fight you seriously."
"Appa!" Aang's voice seemed to come from a great distance, "Yip, yip!"
Katara managed to open her eyes, but the world wouldn't stay still and stop shaking. The ringing in her ears wouldn't stop either. Sitting up was not as hard as she expected but a loud rustling broke through the ringing of her rars piles of snow subtle shifted, thrown off not by her meager arms, but by the blazing heat of the atmospihere itself; the most casual application of the combatants' strength. She could feel the rest of their tribe stirring nervously around her-small as it was, they all fight on Appa's back, the easier to be fielded to safety.
As she stepped slowly back into the land of consciousness, she gradually became aware of a rhythmic crashing noise, the footfalls of a sprinting giant. Her chi sense was the last to return, and with that to aid her, she was finally able to pinpoint the sources of the noise—only a few yards belows. Prince Zuko was still furiously attacking Naruto, relentlessly hammering down blows on the blonde's guard, which stubbornly held. That in and of itself, the fusion of her friend's refined martial arts skill, the product of decades of dedicated training, and his own monstrous natural power, gave him an unbelievably quick, fluid and adaptable defense—and when he moved onto the attack, each strike was carefully calculated for maximum effect, almost impossible to follow, and devastating when it landed.
It was like watching a river flow, not a single movement was wasted. And Zuko...was overwhelmed. The younger boy didn't stand a chance; when he tried to retreat, the blond cut him off, when he sought to strike and attack, Naruto simply absorbed all his blows and while the occasional fist would slip through, he didn't seem to much care for the burns. Always Naruto was there; pressing, pressing, pressing the offensive with a single minded ferocity bordering on downright primal instinct.
Abruptly as their bout began, it was over.
Zuko toppled backwards from a fireball to the chest, his armor shattering, stomach now badly burned. Naruto bounded after him, swiped him off his feet with a single hand, ready to deal the final blow. Zuko gazed back at him, golden eyes defiant, ready to accept whatever fate might be his.
"Finish it, Avatar!"
Before Katatara could think to say anything, lest she try to stop him the blond struck down. Hard. Not with his fist, but with his head; the final blow not dealing death, yet rendering the prince insensate all the same. He rose stifly after that, Naruto did, extractiong what looked like a small brush and ink from his coat pocket. He promptly set to work on Zuko's face seconds therafter, his fine brush strokes growing maddened and erratic as he hastened to complete his work before the proud prince stirred. Whatever he was writing, Katara couldn't see it, but it seemed to be sending Sokka into a fit of hysterical laughter...
Then, incredibly, Naruto spoke. Not to Zuko, but to the ship itself. Or perhaps he spoke to the portly figure sitting upon its bow?
"Iroh!" he shouted. "I'll let your nephew live, this time! Tell him he needs to be stronger to face me! Speaking of which, you may want to hang on." With that, he pointed hand toward the ship. Then...he did something inexplicable. In the blink of an eye, without any discernible motion on his part, he destroyed the vessel's engines, warped its hull, and bodily wrenched the ice-cutter onto land with a not-so-subtle application of Shinra Tensei.
Another leap sent the blond soaring into the air, and onto Appa's saddle. When asked if he was alright, the whiskered warrior merely grunted.
"I've had enough excitement for one day...
A/N: And there you have it! A slight change there in that Zuko found them without the flare from the abandoned boat, but a neccessary one to speed things along, I think. And for all his power, he still got his ass handed to him in hilarious fashion, thus setting us up for the many adventures you've all come to know and love! In any case, expect the Avatar universe to be filled with hilarity no absolute INSANITY now that Naruto's aboard!
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!
So...in the immortal words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly? And of course, enjoy the preview!
(Preview)
Azula smiled then; it was a soft, deadly, dangerous thing, that smile.
"Well well, well, what do we have here?" she chuckled. "You mean to say you're the Avatar that I've heard so much about? You certainly are handsome.
Despite himself and all his power, Naruto actually blanched.
"Ah, christ...
Hope you enjoyed! R&R! =D