A/N:

Hey there everyone! Thanks a bunch for your feedback! As always thank you to the lovely Llama, deni, and everyone else who has read and given me excellent feedback on this story so far! I appreciate you so much you have no idea!

(Honestly I'm so scatterbrained they're lucky this story is even legible! HA)

As always, enjoy!

3 Liz

Light from the Shadows Chapter 3

Sakura

After completing the library on Kyoshi, Sakura spent practically all her time there. She would go to morning practice with Kakashi and the rest of the warriors, then spend the rest of her day at the library before joining her friend for evening tea and going to bed.

It was in that time she spent reading at the library that Sakura realized she hadn't practiced her spirit world training for a while. Probably at least a few months. She put down the book she had been reading, locked the door, and sat down to meditate. It was late afternoon, and most of the village was already in their homes at this time of night. Good. Less chance of someone barging in and moving my body. Can't have that the Owl Spirit, Wan Shi Tong, was very particular about that.

'Sakura. During this part of your training, you have to be very careful about movement. Just the slightest movement from a regular bender and you have a chance of not being able to make it back to your body and this world. Do you understand?'

'Yes, Master.'

'Then let's continue...'

Her mind cleared slowly from the things holding her down. Worrying about the library. About what happens in her book. All the little things. They just floated away until her consciousness was a blank plane of white. Sakura imagined a door on the open white plain, then herself there. Her body was ethereal, a translucent blue instead of solid. She willed herself to open the door, and left her physical form.

Her body crossed over.

The landing was always the worst in the spirit realm. She'd either get the breath knocked out of her on a giant tree root, or land in a bunch of swamp water. This time was swamp water. Sakura got up and was surprised for what had to be the hundredth time that she wasn't wet. You're in the spirit realm Sakura, even if you did get wet here, it wouldn't do anything to your physical form. The strange thing that she still didn't understand was that while she was crossing her body appeared translucent and blue, but once she had crossed the division between the two worlds, she looked normal again.

Sakura walked around the realm. A weird feeling came over her. The air felt charged, like the calm before a storm, or just before lightning strikes. The world felt a little... different from the last time she had crossed.

In front of her, on the left was a monkey with large patches of white cheek hair sticking out. He was meditating. Sakura remembered the first time she had crossed over. The monkey had chewed her out for destroying his silent peace. Several of the other spirits had liked her. They mused over her interesting appearance, her pink hair that was a very rare happenstance in their world. Of course humans in general were very rare in their world. The spirits of geishas invited her to tea parties, which had to be the most gossip ridden occurrences Sakura had ever taken part of. Another of her friends there was the Painted Lady. She was quiet and didn't speak much, but incredibly kind and helpful.

Sakura loved the spirit world. It was something like a line between her and everything that had come before. Some of the spirits were not to be trifled with, in particular one that the Owl Spirit had warned her about was Koh, or the Face Stealer. Sakura had never come in contact with him and for that she was grateful.

All of the spirits she normally saw around this area weren't there. When she turned back around even the monkey with the white hair was gone. The spirit realm was strangely quiet. The crackly air made the hair on the back of Sakura's neck stand up on end and chills ran down her back. Something's coming. Though it doesn't feel bad. Just powerful.

Sakura decided her time in the spirit world needed to end and made her way back to where she came in. She envisioned crossing back over, knocking on the door and walking back into her own body. Her spirit slammed back into her physical form and Sakura took a deep breath. I wish I could tell someone about this. It's going to eat me up. What if whatever... thing... is coming is bad? What if it's the Fire Nation? I should tell Tsunade, but last time I woke her up after she had gone to bed she banned me from training for a week. She said it was an 'inconvenience'. Maybe Kakashi will know what to do.

Sakura got up and unlocked the library, then locked it again after she left. She walked down to Kakashi's house and knocked on the door.

"Come on in."

"Hey, Kakashi. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking. Yourself?"

"I'm a little anxious, but otherwise okay." Kakashi poured her a cup of tea and slid it across the table.

"What's the matter, Sakura? I'm always here for you. I consider myself your friend. You can tell me what's bothering you."

I don't want to tell him I can cross into the spirit world... but I need to tell him something about what felt...

"So... I'm going to be open and honest with you here. I feel like... I'm spiritually connected on some level to the world? And I get this feeling. It's a crackly anticipation in the air. It's like something big is coming. Do you know what I mean? I'm not crazy."

"There's not a storm brewing is there? Maybe you're just psychic." He was trying to joke with her and lighten the mood. She did smile just a bit, but Sakura was still worried.

"I don't think so."

"I'll keep my eyes peeled. Thanks for telling me, Sakura. I know what you mean. You aren't crazy. I can't say I've felt it myself, but I'm also not as spiritually connected as you probably are."

Sakura relaxed and drank her tea. It's always easy between us. There's no judgment, no harsh words... well none that are truly meant... It's peaceful. I love having Kakashi as a friend. What would I do without him? Hopefully I'll never have to find out. She stared into the bottom of her shallow cup and remained quiet.

"Thanks for being there, Kakashi."

"This is really bothering you, isn't it?" She nodded and took another gulp of tea. The warmth crawled down her throat and felt soothing after a long day, "If it makes you feel better I'll tell you something that bothers me." Sakura looked up at him questioningly.

"What bothers you? You're so aloof and detached. You even read porn in public! Surely nothing bothers you?"

"You're wrong about that. Take a walk with me tomorrow night and I'll tell you all about it."

"All right then, Kakashi. I'll see you tomorrow."

Sakura went home and thought on it. I wish my parents were here. They would be able to help me. I wish they had had a deep enough connection to the spirit world to be there. I miss them. She settled down on her bed and stared at her ceiling. Her eyes followed the whorls in the wood, tracing along the beams she had been staring at every night for the past two years. At some point she fell asleep.

…

The next evening came around and Sakura walked with Kakashi along the shore of the island. She was barefoot, carrying her sandals and claiming it was easier to walk in sand without them. Kakashi wore his boots. They had been walking for a while when Sakura started getting a bit antsy. Will you PLEASE JUST COME OUT AND SAY IT!?

She let herself get distracted and ran into his back.

"Sakura. I really don't know if I should tell you this. It's a really horrible thing. And I don't want our relationship to change." He turned around and looked at her, his eyes were filled with doubt and sadness.

"Kakashi I promise nothing could ever change our relationship."

"You say that," Kakashi walked past her and started making his way back to the village, "but I think this one thing is the game changer."

They had almost made it back to the village entrance before Kakashi spoke again.

"Sakura. Before I came to Kyoshi Island, my past was dark. I was always on the run, even in hiding. I was a refugee."

"A lot of us are refugees."

"Yes but I'm-" Kakashi didn't get to finish his sentence. They had reached the giant statue of Kyoshi. And normally she'd be just old statue, a reminder of a hero from hundreds of years ago, but tonight her eyes were glowing. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"What. The. Hell." Sakura had noticed it too.

"Oh my god. You know how I told you I feel spiritually connected with the world? Well I have a feeling that something big just happened. I felt a ripple in the world."

"A ripple? In the world? I have to say the only thing I see is a really really old statue with glowing eyes."

"I can't think of any other way to describe it. But I do know something big is happening."

"Fair enough."

They walked back into the village. Kakashi left her at his house and she continued on to her own. It was only once she was just about to fall asleep that she remembered that Kakashi was going to tell her something. Something that was really upsetting him. I'll have to ask him about it another time. Though I think he was just sharing to try and make me feel better. Maybe it's best if I leave it alone until he feels comfortable sharing on his own time.

…

Sakura continued visiting the spirit realm daily, each day the realm was exploding in excitement. Instead of that crackly, about-to-happen feeling she had on that first day, everything was chaos. All the spirits were out and about and roaming. Whispers were shared in the shadows, and since everything was pure chaos, shifts in the world started happening, gravity shifted, water ran backwards, the normally dirty brown skies were an interesting orange color. Sakura was confused and extremely curious about the world. But she had to be careful about spending too much time there. Her mentor had mentioned nasty side effects if she stayed in the realm too long.

One thing Sakura did manage to pick out of the whispers she heard filling the empty space in the shadows... Just one word, reoccurring in almost everything she heard. Avatar.

It was then Sakura knew just how big of a thing she had felt really was.

If the avatar had finally returned to save them from the Fire Nation? Sakura was brimming with questions, but there was no one who could give her answers. Well... except maybe Wan Shi Tong... but her teacher probably wouldn't know much more than she did. She could visit him by wandering around in the spirit world, but as it was chaos, it would be too dangerous to take the time to find him let alone have a decent conversation before she would have to return to her body. Sakura had wanted to leave a message there on her most recent visit but couldn't find anyone to leave it with. It was never truly wise to trust in a spirit. Especially the gossipy ones she tended to spend her time there with.

The Great Library had been something of myth and legend. Sakura had found a treasure trove of new knowledge there. To her it had been new at least. Many of the books were hundreds of years old. Sakura spent hours and hours pouring upon the ancient information. She was sure her teacher had found her curiosity amusing. The only thing lacking in the library when she last visited was more modern information. She had helped him update the library, add new works, information, and reports on the outside world, but that only helped so much when what he really needed was new books, scrolls, and artifacts. The Owl Spirit had relied upon visitors to supply much of his information, but being located in the middle of the desert had done nothing for his visitor traffic. Those who did find the library usually weren't carrying anything of value with them, or had malicious intent.

Sakura spent the day in her library, rereading every book, for any mention of the Avatar Kyoshi that had created the island. The only thing she ended up finding was the legend of her, and how she had defeated Chin the Conqueror.

During Kyoshi's life, the 46th Earth King's rule was unpopular among the populace of the Earth Kingdom. Using this to his advantage, a warlord named Chin launched a war to conquer the continent. He was successful until he reached the peninsula where Kyoshi lived, finding the Avatar waiting for him. Standing before his army, Chin demanded their immediate surrender, to which Kyoshi warned him that she would not sit idly by as he took her home.

When he refused to back down and assumed a challenging earthbending stance, she unfurled one of her fans and entered the Avatar State, separating the peninsula from the mainland by using a combination of earthbending, lavabending, and airbending. Thus Kyoshi Island was formed, and thereby protecting her homeland from subsequent threats.

An indignant Chin was left standing on the edge of a cliff, which began to crumble beneath his feet and as he refused to budge from his unstable position, this caused him to fall into the sea and drown.

His death ushered the world into a great era of peace.

After this excerpt were several illustrations of Kyoshi, wielding her fans, with her face painted in the red wing fashion of the Kyoshi Warriors (and of course it would be, she created them). One illustration played out the divide, showing Kyoshi blasting Chin, then her eyes glowing white as she split the island away from the homeland.

Her eyes in the illustration looked just like they had in the statue the week before. So what does that mean? Why did her eyes light up in the statue? It's not as if there are lanterns in there that randomly light up. Did something happen to the Avatar? Sakura was curious, and took to carrying around a notebook to write down her ideas on what was happening.

…

During morning practice the next day, the Kyoshi warriors were called upon by the governor. Apparently some people washed up on shore, and they looked foreign. Fire Nation. This was Sakura's automatic assumption and she was sure the others were worried about the same thing.

Suki led the party that approached the intruders, taking just five of the strongest warriors to the beach. If they were truly a threat, they could not afford to lose everyone. Sakura was among those who went to investigate. She walked just behind Suki and was prepared for anything. Upon their approach, Sakura noted that the intruders were young, probably no older than 15 at the oldest. They climbed up the trees surrounding the area and attacked the three from above. Sakura heard the oldest boy speaking,

"Let's not stick around to find out. Time to hit the road."

One of her fellow warriors grabbed the one who had been speaking under his arms, Suki pulled the girl's hood over her head. Sakura forced the party's lemur into a bag, and another grabbed the last party member by their shirt.

"Or we could stay a while…"

Two of the three had darker skin, an olive complexion with dark hair and wore deep blue clothing with fur trimming. It was unlike Sakura had ever seen in the Earth kingdom. Not many people wore furs, let alone of the same species of animal. The third was a young boy, bald, with arrow tattoos on his body. They were blue and Sakura was instantly curious. Surely those couldn't be. I thought they were...? Suki and a couple of the other warriors had tied the three to the Kyoshi monument and blindfolded them. Someone had retrieved the governor Oyagi. It was ultimately up to him to decide what to do with them.

"You three have some explaining to do." The governor started talking.

"And if you don't answer all of our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the unagi."

The olive skinned boy, the one that couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut to Sakura, piped up yet again,

"Show yourselves cowards!"

Suki pulled the blindfolds off and the three foreigners looked them over. The boy with olive skin looked upset, his blue eyes were boiling in rage.

"Who are you? Where are the men that ambushed us?" Better watch your step, Suki is not one to trifle with. Suki approached the man and killer intent flowed of the woman's fist, currently shaking in the boy's face.

"There were no men. We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?"

The boy actually had the audacity to laugh, "Wait a second, there's no way that a bunch of girls took us down." This boy either has guts, or was very very stupid.

"A bunch of girls huh? The unagi is gunna eat well tonight." Suki started backing off, resigned to feed them to the giant eel inhabiting their waters. Apparently the foreigner girl didn't take too kindly to that.

"No, don't hurt him! He didn't mean it. My brother is just an idiot sometimes."

Their third party member, the bald boy confessed, "It's my fault. I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi."

The governor was having none of it, even if they were just kids.

"How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi has stayed out of the war so far. And we intend to keep it that way!"

"This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!" How could he possibly..? Unless…

"Ha! How could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries."

"I know her because I'm the Avatar." Sakura fought the urge for her jaw to drop. No fucking way. I was right! I knew something big was going to happen! This is definitely it! But why did he come to Kyoshi? Is he really here just to surf on the elephant koi? Suki didn't believe him.

"That's impossible! The last Avatar was an Airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago."

"That's me!" The governor put a stop to their arguing.

"Throw the imposter to the unagi!" The governor turned to walk back to his home, thoroughly finished and decided in his position on the three. The boy broke his bindings and flew over the Kyoshi statue before floating down to the ground. The only possible way he could have done it was with airbending. The villagers that had gathered to watch the interrogation were oohing and aahing over the boy. One man was so excited he worked himself up to a frothing foam at his mouth before collapsing in excitement on the ground. The governor turned back.

"It's true… you are the Avatar!" The boy pulled a set of marbles from his shirt and put them between his hands.

"Now… check this out!"

They're all just children. What a horrible responsibility to put upon ones so young. If only there was a way to end the war without this child Avatar. If only.

…

In the morning Sakura woke up early for her Kyoshi warrior training. She only passed a few people on the street while walking. The village was surprising quiet this morning for all the excitement that was yesterday. Closer to the shore the Avatar's sky bison was enjoying the royal treatment from a couple of townsfolk. They were grooming and cleaning the giant animal. Sakura giggled as the bison rolled over onto his back and stuck his tongue out lazily.

Unfortunately her quiet morning was about to end. Underneath the inn where the Avatar was staying a small crowd of little girls had gathered. They were screaming and cheering at him. Great. The first thing that's new and exciting in the village and they're obsessed. Typical.

Practice was going on as normal that morning when the avatar's friend, the olive-skinned boy, walked in. He had his hands up and began speaking to them with an arrogance that Sakura wanted to pummel him for.

"Sorry ladies! Didn't mean to interrupt your dance lesson." He stretched his arms above his head and across his torso, "I'm just looking for somewhere to get a little workout." He bent over and stretched is legs. Suki took the bait.

"Well, you're in the right place." And she was not kidding. Sakura remembered her first day of training and how much of a workout it truly was. Plus those fans were not light! The boy continued to stretch. Sakura chuckled to herself, he doesn't notice Kakashi. Oh my god. This is priceless.

"Sorry about yesterday. I didn't know that you were friends with the Avatar." Suki, don't go apologizing now, you'll just feed his giant ego.

"It's all right. I mean, normally I'd hold a grudge, but seeing as you guys are a bunch of girls, I'll make an exception." The boy rolled his shoulders.

Suki replied sarcastically, her words could be just as venomous as her fighting techniques, "I should hope so. A big strong man like you? We wouldn't stand a chance." A tiny huff of air came from the back of the group. Presumably from Kakashi.

"True. But don't feel bad. After all, I'm the best warrior in my village."

"Wow! Best warrior, huh? In your whole village? Maybe you'd be kind enough to give us a little demonstration?" The boy was taken off guard and stuttered.

"Oh… well… I mean… I…" Suki turned to the group with a mocking grin on her face.

"Come on girls! Wouldn't you like him to show us some moves?"

Everyone laughed, including Sakura, and they nodded at Suki's question.

"Well, if that's what you want, I'd be happy to. All right, you stand over there," the boy took Suki's shoulders and pushed her back, but Suki didn't move. That's right, no man does anything to Suki without her permission. She will fuck you up boy. "Now, this may be tough, but try to block me." He threw a punch at her. Suki flicked her arm, stopping the punch at his shoulder with her fan. She was confident in her abilities. The boy rubbed his shoulder. You bet that hurts!

"Heh. Good. Of course, I was just going easy on you…"

"But of course."

"Let's see if you can handle this!" He lunged at her. Suki caught him under the leg and tossed him backward onto his ass.

"That does it!" You just can't get enough can you? Are you a masochist? He lunged again at Suki. She grabbed his arm, spun him around in circles, tied his arm to his foot with his own belt and threw him on the floor. Sakura was sure the boy was about to cry after such public humiliation. Oh well. That's what you get for being so arrogant.

"Anything else you want to teach us?" Suki stood over the boy, laughing.

…

Sakura had to admit, the three people that had arrived on her shores sure made the town a little livelier. One night Sakura invited the girl over for evening tea with Kakashi and herself.

"I'd love to!" The girl had replied, eager to do something fun that actually interested her.

That evening, Sakura had picked up Katara at the inn, in civilian clothes instead of the uniform this time.

"So you don't wear that uniform all the time?" Katara asked. Sakura looked at the water tribe girl next to her. She was wearing navy blue pants with an almost periwinkle split skirt/tunic on top of it. Her top's sleeves went to mid elbow and her undershirt went to her wrists. On her neck was a strip of dark blue silk with a glass pendant hanging from it.

"Nope. I only wear it during training and active duty, like patrol duty."

"I see. So we just happened to come during your training?"

"Surprisingly enough, yeah."

"Cool."

Sakura took them to Kakashi's house and knocked on the door.

"I hope you like jasmine green tea."

"I can't say I've ever had it."

"You're missing out! I hope you'll like it. It's my favorite." Sakura liked this girl. She seemed more mature than her older brother. Too bad she's most likely leaving soon.

Kakashi actually answered the door today.

"Ladies! Please do come in." He opened the door and gestured inside. Sakura ushered Katara inside and she followed. They sat at the two cushions set out for them across from his own. On the table were a plate of treats, a pot of tea, three cups and three plates. Kakashi sat down across from them.

"Hello. I don't believe we have had the pleasure of being introduced?" Oh thank GOD he asked.

"My name is Katara. I'm traveling with my brother Sokka and our friend Aang."

"Who just so happens to be the avatar."

"Yeah. Seems he's letting it go to his head a bit."

"Don't worry too much about those girls. They'll get bored eventually, if they haven't already. Young girls have a very short attention span."

"I just hope you're right. We can't stay for too long, we've got a lot to get done."

Sakura looked at Katara out of the corner of her eye. Sounds like this poor girl is going to be stuck rounding up those two for her entire journey. I feel for her. Sakura sipped her tea and took one of the pastries on the pate for herself.

Katara drank her tea and conversed with the two for a couple of hours. She turned out to be an interesting girl, a waterbender from the southern tribe. She and her brother had found Aang in an iceberg at the South Pole. How he managed to survive for so long, Sakura was not sure. Not to mention he couldn't look more than 12 years old. The three had only been traveling for a few weeks together, but Katara anticipated their journey would be a much longer affair than they thought.

The girl had excused herself at one point, saying it was late and she needed to get back before anyone was missing her.

"Do you want us to come with you?"

"No, I think I can find my way on my own. Thank you though." Sakura smiled and nodded at her. She and Kakashi stood and Katara bowed in leaving.

Kakashi sat back down and Sakura joined him.

"I like her. She seems like she's got it more together than that idiotic brother of hers. Who did he think he was, challenging Suki like that? Fucking stupid. Suki would knock me on my ass just as fast though."

"She'd do that to all of us. There's a reason she's the leader after all."

"True true. I do feel for her that she seems to be the only responsible one in the group. At least right now anyway."

"I feel the same way."

"Oh by the way. I think you are psychic."

"What!?"

"That 'thing' you felt last week? It was him coming wasn't it?"

"You're probably right. Don't think anything bigger than the avatar coming to our island is going to happen, am I right?"

Sakura finished her now-cold tea and bid Kakashi goodnight.

"See you for training in the morning, Sakura."

"Same to you, Kakashi!"

…

The next morning Sakura and Kakashi were in the middle of another day of training. Sokka had been kicking around outside for a while now, but they ignored him while they did their exercises. When Sokka walked inside, they stopped.

"Um… hey, Suki."

"Hoping for another dance lesson?"

"No… I… well, let me explain."

"Spit it out! What do you want?" The boy got on his knees.

"I would be honored if you would teach me." Well shit. Must taste lovely to swallow that ego, Sokka. Good for you.

"Even if I'm a girl?" His response was just above a whisper.

"I'm sorry if I insulted you earlier. I was wrong."

"We normally don't teach outsiders, let alone boys."

"Please make an exception. I won't let you down."

"All right. But you have to follow all of our traditions."

"Of course!"

"And I mean ALL of them." Suki made pointed eye contact with Kakashi at that statement. He still refused the make up on a daily basis.

Sakura was told to help him get dressed properly. She waited until he had the uniform on before entering the changing room.

"All right. I'm going to help you with the makeup, like Suki once did for me. The first step is to cover the face with white." Sakura brushed his entire face with the white make up, having to apply it especially thick to cover his olive skin tone. "Next are the crimson wings, to symbolize the blood of our enemies. We don't use real blood, at least… not any more..." She swiped the red paint across his eyelids and temples. Sakura finished with the charcoal liner and red lips. Sokka seemed a bit nervous. Of course anyone would be nervous if you told them you paint your eyes in blood. Or used to.

"All done." Sokka stood up and walked back out to the training room.

"Do I really have to wear this? It feels a little… girly."

Suki replied, "It's a warrior's uniform. You should be proud. The silk thread symbolizes the brave blood that flows through our veins. The gold insignia represents the honor of the warrior's heart."

"Bravery and honor." The boy pushed his chest out proudly. Easily comforted.

Aang passed the building, then stopped back in and grinned.

"Hey Sokka! Nice dress!" He ran off giggling.

Sokka's proud stance drooped, Sakura saw Suki smiling at Sokka's discomfort. I knew she was evil and clever, but damn girl.

By the end of the workout, Sokka had not made much progress. Sakura and the rest of the group left. Suki stayed behind with Sokka.

"You're not going to master it in one day…"

Sakura chuckled as she and Kakashi walked away from the dojo.

"Suki's really chewing a chunk off him isn't she?"

"I should say so! I don't think she was that bad when I joined…. Oh wait… I think she and I joined at about the same time…"

"Careful. You're aging yourself old man!"

"If I'm so old you should carry me home!"

"Fat chance!" Sakura ran down the street toward her house and Kakashi followed, just jogging to keep up. He caught up with her in the village square, where she had stopped still.

"What's the matter?"

"Look." There it was. A fire nation ship. The day they had all been dreading was upon them. Sakura ran back to the dojo with Kakashi. They threw on their uniforms, forgetting make up to save time, and grabbed their fans. Kakashi also strapped a katana to his back.

Oyagi poked his head in the dojo.

"Firebenders have landed on our shores! Girls come quickly!" Sakura heard Sokka start to argue, but he stopped mid-argument. Smart choice kid, now is not the time.

The warriors ran silently in the shadows, approaching the three Fire Nation Komodo-rhinos. You know… I thought when the Fire Nation came to Kyoshi they would bring a bigger force.

"Come out, Avatar! You can't hide from me forever!" The fire nation man looked to the other two men, "Find him."

Sakura and the other warriors attacked the 'army'. Suki headed directly for the commander, and Sakura went for the rhino on his left, the one closest to her. Sakura and Kakashi made quick work of the rhino and man they went for, not killing him, but knocking him out and tying him to a post. The other warriors had knocked out the third man and were wrangling the rhino. Suki had been knocked to the ground by the commander's rhino. Oh no! The fire nation man aimed a fire blast at her. In the very last moment, Sokka stepped in and deflected the blast with his fan. The man, now having the blast come back at him, fell off his rhino.

"I guess training's over." Sokka spouted. The man shot fire bolts out of his feet at the rest of the warriors. They all went down. One even hit Sakura in the shins. Lucky she put it out before it could really burn her. Kakashi was lucky enough to be out of range of the man's attacks.

Sakura and Kakashi went to help the other, less fortunate warriors, some who had been very badly hurt. She administered first aid as she could, with what little supplies were available. The warriors were taken back to the dojo. Sakura watched as the Avatar and the Fire Nation man fought. The Airbender seemed to be taking a defensive approach. It made sense as he was an air nomad and they were known to be pacifist monks by nature. It seemed he had some trouble keeping up with the fire blasts. Sakura swore she heard the Avatar speaking with the man. What could he possibly be trying to say? The Fire Nation doesn't listen. All they do is harm. If I ever meet a person from the Fire Nation with a caring heart, that'll be the day pigs fly. She and Kakashi were pulled along by Katara.

"We've got to hurry! Grab anything you feel you need to take with you and come with us!"

"Come with you!?" Sakura asked, taken aback. But rebuilding the village and helping the others…

"Yes! We could use people like you on our journey. Now hurry!"

"I don't know…" This time Kakashi was the one to say something. He hesitated for a moment before coming along with them anyway.

Sakura broke away from them and grabbed a bag of clothing and her books before leaving her home behind. The roof was on fire and Sakura wasn't really sure if there would be anything left to come back to. I'm so very glad I put that information in the backyard. So VERY grateful. Next door Mrs. Shamiro was trying to put out the small fires on her own place. She noticed Sakura and waved her over.

"Sakura! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mrs. Shamiro. I may not be back for a while. I have a store of items in my backyard. They should be protected at all costs, but you can't get to them except by Earthbending so they should be safe. Just wanted to let someone know in case I shouldn't…"

"Don't worry child I'll protect them! Now get going!"

She ran to Kakashi's house and found he had already packed just the same, some clothing, a little food and money, his books. Not like he had too much else, really. He slung his pack on his back, on top of the katana. Strapped to his waist were his fans.

"We have to go! Hurry!" Katara urged them towards Appa, the group's flying bison. They climbed up on the animal and strapped down their bags to the saddle.

Aang was looking back at the town, slowly being engulfed by flames. "Look what I brought to this place."

"It's not your fault." Katara tried to placate him. Sakura saw the fire nation man scanning the scenery for them, he was pissed, lighting everything in sight on fire. Oh no… my home, my island… She may have only lived there for two years, but she had become attached to the area and the people.

"Yes, it is. These people got their town destroyed trying to protect me." Sakura was tired of the self-deprecating nonsense.

"Hey. Sorry to be a Debby Downer, but as one of these people you seem to be upset about? It's really okay. Kyoshi Island will live on to fight another day, but if we don't leave now, that man is going to burn up the whole town. He is coming after you right? Well if we leave, he'll follow and leave Kyoshi Island alone."

Just as the group was turning to leave on Appa, Sokka ran up his tail and hopped into the saddle.

"Appa, yip yip!" Katara moved up to Aang and placed a hand on his shoulder. It was clear the young boy felt guilty after what happened. And he should! He just burned your whole town down! No need to remind me. I'm trying not to make him feel worse.

"Aang. I know it's hard, but you did the right thing. Zuko would have destroyed the whole place if we had stayed. They're going to be okay."

"They're really quite resilient people." Sakura tried to help. Aang dove off Appa's head into the bay.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Sakura yelled as he fell. The Unagi is in there you idiot! "Does he do this kind of idiotic thing all the time?!"

"Unfortunately, yes."

Aang used the Unagi to put out the fires on the village, before getting thrown off and onto Appa's back.

"Yeah yeah, I know it was dangerous."

"And stupid," Sakura added.

"Yes it was," Katara replied. But her face was kind as she hugged the boy, approving of his actions to help the village. I have to admit, I probably wouldn't have done the same thing. Who would have thought the Unagi would actually help the village one day?

"So that guy's name is Zuko?"

"Yeah. He's been following us since we left the south pole."

"So he's looking for the avatar, and destroying everything in his path. What a typical Fire Nation asshole."

"You could say that again."

"So where are we going from here?" Aang looked over his shoulder at her.

"The Earth Kingdom city of Omashu."

"Omashu!?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Uh... no reason. Just haven't been there... in a looonnnng time." Kakashi looked at Sakura out of the corner of his eye. She ignored him and looked over the back of the bison. The sun was setting in the distance and Kyoshi Island was slowly disappearing in the clouds. I miss it already.

...