A/N: MISS ME GUYS?! THE REQUEST YEARS JUST KEEP ROLLING ON AND ON!
ALSO...
...LOTS OF BLOOD AND DEATH AND OTHER NASTY BITS IN THIS CHAPTER! ! Recommended tracks for this chapter's raw brawl are was follows: "This is a Fight to Change the World" from Sengoku Basara.
Hope you enjoy!
"Before we start..."
*cracks knuckles*
...does anyone want to get out?
~Captain America.
Cometh the Hour
Admiral Lee smiled, the picture of serenity.
A single hand rose, igniting a small burst of jade fire within. Emerald tendrils writhed and folded in on one another within his palm, hissing and spitting as the Avatar and Azula looked on.
Naruto blinked.
Green fire?
Huh.
That...that was certainly a new one.
"On my honor, and in the name of my deceased father, I challenge you to an Agni Kai." the admiral declared loudly for all to hear. "A firebending duel! No Avatar state, no other elements. What say you, avatar?! Do you accept my challenge?" There was a cool flame in his voice, a subtle, frozen anger that immediately set the blond on edge. This was no base bender. This was a master. Greater perhaps, even than Zhao. That he'd opted to challenge him here, out in the open, well, it was more than a little worrying.
"The terms?"
"If you win, my men shall withdraw from the North without further conflict. If I win...
...then we surrender." Icey realization dawned on Naruto. Lee just might be a better Firebender than him. Such a challenge was weighed in his favour. And yet...he couldn't refuse him. He'd been walled into a corner. To back down now would make him seem like a coward. Darn his honor. As much as he might despite the Earth Kingdom, even he had to admit that this man had some semblance of honor. He wasn't an ant tangled in cold strings of cruelty, rather, someone who would keep his world. And the cheeky bastard had just outmaneuvered him.
Sighing, he shucked his coat.
"I accept."
Lee bowed. "I am honored."
"Give it a few seconds. It won't last."
Azula balked, eyes bulging as Naruto cocked a fist back.
"What?!"
That was all she had time for before dark fire collided with emerald flames.
"ORAH!"
"SEYAH!"
Naruto kicked off the ground and struck down in the same instant that Lee lunged forward, jade swarming up to meet obsidian. The ensuing explosion ripped many of the ship's non-bender crew from their feet and cast them shrieking into the frigid waters below. Neither paid them any heed. Hands locked, the two Firebenders struggled against one another, embers of flame flickering to life around them as they struggled for dominance over one another. Stygian tendrils of dark flame rioted against verdant green flares, unable or unwilling to give ground. For a fleeting moment there was a stalemate, a wall of hot, roiling air writhed between them.
Then Lee snapped a savage kick into Naruto's ribs.
"Oomph!"
Launched across the deck by the unexpected blow, the blond found that he actually blacked out for a brief moment; for when he opened his eyes again he found himself staring into a familiar pair of golden orbs, angry and narrow with discontent. Huh. Just how hard had that bastard hit him, anyway? And why was he seeing three of her? Not that he minded of course, three of Azula were always better than one, any day. Now, if only he could get control of his legs again, he'd be all set...
"Not a very good showing, so far." the ex-princess frowned down at him.
"Yeah. Because I'm not handicapped myself in this fight. At all."
"Sarcasm does not become you-mmph!"
Azula gasped in surprise as Naruto's face lunged up to meet hers, turning her witty retort into a moan. And the rest of her body to jelly. Her knees buckled in surprise as his tongue entered her mouth, twirling with hers in a chaotic dance of lust and desire, pushing her down against the deck, one hand threading through the dark curtain of her ebony tresses. The other dipped into of her hips, pressing against the so-slender curve of her waist...and stopped. Then the bastard, that complete and utter bastard pulled away and stood, leaving her wanting more. In that fleeting moment, she wasn't sure whether she loved him or hate, hate, hate, hated his insufferable hide!
"I'm going to screw that smile right off your face when this is over." he smirked. "I hope you know that."
"Y-Y-Y-You can't just s-say things like that!"
Naruto grin was decidedly trollish. "I didn't say anything, 'Zula. Its a promise."
"By Agni, I swear I'm going to burn you!"
"Aw, its cute when you blush~!"
"Aaargh!"
Lee observed the entire exchange with an air of trepidation, feeling very much like a third wheel. Wanting to interrupt, yet not knowing how, he simply stood there, jaw agape. This was not what he had expected when he'd challenged the Avatar of The Gods to mortal combat. Something told him that if he'd interrupted their kiss, he was likely to find himself skewered on a spit. Even now he was leery of speaking up at all, for fear of rousing their wrath. Something in Lady Azula's eye there promised pain and suffering if he spoke out of turn, but...
Hesitantly, he dared to try.
"Am I interrupting...?"
"No, no, no." Naruto shook his head. "We're good. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't attack me."
"Avatar," The Admiral frowned, annoyed. "Are you...insulting my honor?"
"No, just implying you have more than your old man."
...I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should."
'Where have I heard that before?'
Shaking that thought aside, Naruto leaned forward, boots gritting against the ground. Then he was gone.
"Way ahead of you!"
Lee's gaze snapped aside as his adversary vanished in a crackle of unseen motions; just as a pair of power swollen knuckles to smash down into his head from above. Even as his skull struck the soil he was wrapped in motion, his heel crackling outward in an smoldering green blur to spear the oncoming shinobi, flinging him down into the broken deck, beside him. Grunting, both men shook themselves and rubbed at their now aching jaws, bits of scrap and metal rolling off their bodies from this brief collision. Lee scowled at him, and in that gaze, Naruto saw a familiar emotion.
Annoyance.
He almost laughed.
Well, so much for being levelheaded...
"Are you trying to destroy the ship, Avatar?!"
"Figure that out yourself, did you?"
Naruto stiffened in surprise as an open, flaming palm slammed into his chest, the sheer, unexpected momentum of the blow sending him spinning into a bulkhead with all the force of a cannon. He lay there for a moment, sprawled in a senseless heap. Stars-whole galaxies-jolted backward and forwards across his vision as he sat there, the world spinning before his vision. His gaze roamed upward as he climbed to his feet, quietly spitting a wad of blood over the bow.
"That's more like it! I can actually feel that!"
By way of response, Lee lashed out again.
A frustrated growl answered as the Admiral slammed into him with a roar, nearly driving him to a knee before he steadied himself, boots biting harshly down into the iron floor. Momentum slowed. Ground to a halt. He held that position for a long moment, unmoving, unruly bangs concealing his small, satisfied smile. Then he counter attacked. A piston-kick to the stomach cracked a rib, gave the blond some breathing room, and then it was over; allowing him to truly take the fight to his proud adversary for the first time since the fight had begun.
But first, time for an old favorite feint...
Crooking his palms together, the blond thrust his arms forward, grinning.
"Hadouken!"
Lee blinked.
"Hadowha-SHIT!"
He never finished that sentence as the Avatar's reappeared and brought the flaming dack of his fist crashing down at Lee's head. Scrambling, the Admiral parried with a horizontal sweep, but the sheer strength behind that blow set his arms to screaming. He leapt away but Naruto was already upon him again, not giving him the distance he so desperately desired. There was no semblance or art to his defense; it just wasn't even there at all. The man simply attacked attacked and attacked again. As if he didn't care whether he died or not, as if death was merely another phase of life for him; and it took Lee entirely out of himself.
It actually frightened him.
This man fought as though he hadn't a care in the world, and yet, he seemed serious about it all the same. How did that make any sense?
Grunting he managed to catching a blazing limb, grimacing as the dark fires burned into his armored palms.
"Are you even taking this seriously?"
"You remind me of my Lee." the blond remarked, teeth flashing in the full moonlight. "If Lee had any skill in ninjutsu, that is."
"Why, thank you...?"
"But y'see," he continued, gripping his arm, "Lee always had one crucial flaw."
"And what was that?"
"He didn't strategize."
The Avatar of the Gods scissored his legs and pushed off the ground with his palm the same instant; simultaneously driving a crushing kick into the admiral's side followed by a smoldering backhand that tossed the proud admiral away from him once more. Lee accepted both blows with quiet stoicism, eyes narrow as he climbed to his feet. A fresh burn was already making itself known on the right side of his neck, but he gave it no mind, instead fixing the baffling-to him-blond with a quiet stare.
"Is that all? Do you really believe you can defeat Fire Lord Ozai with this strength?"
Naruto cocked his head, considering.
"Ozai, huh...
The vision took him all at once, blinding him to the next blow.
"...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 straightened, 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 shoulders. 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!"
And then he was back in the present, laughing, spitting out a tooth.
"W-Why are you laughing?!" Lee exclaimed, drawing back. "This is nothing to joke about!"
Naruto only laughed all the louder, howling madly.
Whomever-whatever-had delivered him that vision just now, it hadn't broken him in the least. Quite the opposite, actually. Perhaps it was a product of the strange green fire he faced, or the spirits merely messing with his head as they were wont to do. Whatever the case, he was only emboldened by it. So what if was hurt? So what if he came close to defeat? All that mattered was the victory. His new outlook on life had revealed him much of the world, shown him what needed to be done with enemies. If you couldn't convert them, you killed them. There could be no middle ground. Since he currently had no intention of converting Lee-and even less so for Ozai-there was only one way this battle could end.
If anything, it lit a fresh fire within him.
"Are we having fun yet, Avatar?!"
'I've changed my mind. I think I'll keep this guy!'
Naruto laughed, realizing he was. For every blow they exchanged he felt he understood this honorable bender just a little more. Admiral Lee wasn't really a bad person; even if he was the enemy, he had a defined set of beliefs, and he refused to deviate from them. To him, dishonor was the same as death. Naruto could sympathize with that. He was also clearly a battle nut, someone who wouldn't take advantage of an ill-timed opening to end the fight, one who preferred to prolong his battles in favor of fairness. It was horribly foolish and naive of course, but the Avatar of the Gods found himself respecting it all the same.
"I've been having fun since we started, LEE~!"
"But as they say, all good things must come to an END!"
The air was suddenly alive with fire, thick cutlets of blazing color swooping down at his unsuspecting head. Caught off guard he suffered the full brunt of the blast, crashing down to the deck; barely bracing himself before his outstretched palms smashed into the already fractured floor.
"You're mine!"
Lee was suddenly upon him; his fists a blur of white and mottled green, leaving the hapless hybrid helpless to do anything but defend. Forcing him back, back, back until he could feel his boots brushing the edge of the ship's stern, feet seeking traction where there was none to be found. His opponent sneered and swung down once more, certain his victory was finally at hand. And perhaps it was. Even with all his skill in the art of Firebending backing him in addition to his own flagging reserves, Naruto knew he was going to take the next hit. Whether he liked it or not. The only question remained...
...could he return the favor?
Time slowed to a fraction of her former self, he watched the next blow unfold in a series of slow frame-by-frame movements. And in that movement, he saw weakness. An opening. There! Shifting part of his weight, This was going to hurt like hell, but he was certain he could stop his predecessor from hurling him out of bounds. And then it was over and fate flowed on.
"Now!" Lee snarled, fist snaking out and melting the hull beneath their feet, Naruto only jumping forward at the last moment and avoiding a quick death. Instead of barreling into his unprotected face and snapping his neck like the fragile twig it was, the admiral's scorching fist plunged into his stomach, sheathing itself to the elbow. Painful didn't even begin to describe it; that bone-jarring sensation of having a fist literally buried in your intestines and brushing up against your heart.
Against anyone else, it would'be been a fatal blow.
Not so long ago, this would've killed Naruto.
Without his regeneration, he would die.
That was then.
This was now.
Now, Naruto grinned.
'Now its my turn.'
Then he spoke.
"Great."
Only then did Lee truly realize just how incredibly CLOSE he'd allowed the battered blond to get. Even wounded as he was, the Avatar of the Gods still had enough strength to raise his gaze. Blue eyes burned black as the very fires for which he had been named. A hand shot down, down past the lance of fire sizzling through his stomach, past the burning hilt-to seize his wrist, holding fast. A sharp tug drew them closer together still, in a gross parody of an embrace. Lee felt his eyes bulged. The Avatar was close. Far too close.
"Blaze."
Close enough to see.
"Commandment.
Close enough to touch.
"Second."
Close enough to kill.
"Form."
Black embers burst out of the blond's upturned palm fist in a keening column of nebulous flame, turning the iron deck to fire at their feet. But this was no base flame, no mere fireball. It was a living manifestation of his will, his wrath, all his anger and hatred called forth from the depths of the blond's being harnessed, focused into a single attack. A massive sphere, born of darkness. Shadow and Flame. It loomed over Lee like a second sun, towering in all its grand glory, and for a for a moment, the world held its breathe.
Then Naruto brought his hand down.
"Entei." (Flame Emperor)
And the sun fell.
It smashed into Lee like a meteor from on high, crashing into him with mind-jarring force, seizing him in its gravity and crushing down. Hard. Darkness burned through the inferno of his flames, sheared into him, ripping through his flames as though they were mere embers before the shadow. Devoured them.
Swallowed them whole.
Lee swore quietly.
"Well, shit."
He tried to block the falling sun, tried to draw back, tried to do something to get away from the onrushing specter, but the attack was simply too wide to avoid, and it held him, as surely as it did its master. And the Sun was not yet done with him. It did not simply burn him; the pain went far deeper than that, indeed, it transcended the very concept of pain. As if his very soul had been cast into the void and torn to pieces, so too was he torn apart physically, the blazing atmosphere ripping through his coat and flesh, immune to his flailing, his frenzied attempts to free himself-
And then it was done.
All at once the Emperor of the Flame vanished entirely leaving his sorched body to crumple to the ground in a broken heap. Not a yard away, Naruto stood slowly on the opposite end of the ship, moving woodenly on aching legs, flames shimmering as the last of the technique sputtered, and died around them. A blink of those eerie eyes and the last of the raging flame vanished entirely, leaving the bruised blond to smile brokenly down at him.
Lee was chuffed to find that he'd survived at all.
Alright, he was still alive.
Still breathing.
Still standing.
He could-
"Heee~eeey."
I've blundered.
That was all he had time to think as Naruto's fist thundered into his face, bending bone and cracking cartillege.
A/N: WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?! 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 as a potential queen as well.
Anywho, I worked extremely hard on this one, so I hope to hear what you think! Pairing is now OFFICIALLY HAREM 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! Naruto's past comes back to bite him..
(Preview)
His hand descended mercilessly, plucking out the heart of his attacker.
"That's not a nice way to treat an old friend."
Naruto exhaled forcefully.
Turning in the light of the full moon, the Avatar of the Gods
At first, he almost didn't recognize her. She was far smaller than he remembered; older and stooped with age. Her once lustrous brown hair was now little more than a ragged white curtain, thin and fraying against her hunched back but her eyes, ah, her eyes were still as sharp and keen as he remembered. Perhaps a little too keen. They danced with a strange, sinister delight, one he knew all too well. Madness. A low growl snaked its way through clenched teeth.
"Hama."
He straightened slowly, one hand reaching up to the blade at his back.
"Aren't you happy to see me?"
...not under the circumstances."
"Pity. And here I went to all the trouble of preparing this for you."
Something in the way she said that made the ancient shinobi bristle.
"What have you done?" he whispered.
Her crazed grin grew.
"Just what you wanted." withered arms spread outward in a wide shrug. "They don't understand you like I do. They don't see how far you're willing to go to win, the shortsighted fools!" Laughing, she doubled over, wiping a droplet of blood from her face. "So I relieved you of the burden."
"You were a mistake."
"Was I?"
Hope you enjoyed! R&R! =D