Hey everyone!
Sorry for the delay in updating, been working on a lot of things lately!
You should see another update or two relatively soonish.
Just depends on when i get around to editing them.

As always thanks for reading and all of your kind feedback! 3

Light From the Shadows
Chapter 24

Sakura

The warm air had gone cold around her. One moment her only thoughts were of crab cakes and how she could really go for a bowl of roast duck, and the next her very vision of home had been destroyed. It didn't matter whether it had been years or days since her last visit, it was even more personal now. Her parents had been killed, by Fire Nation she presumed, but now to take the very streets she called her own? This was unacceptable.

Kakashi's hand on hers, squeezing in a reassuring hold, brought her vision out of seething red anger and back to the problem before them.
"We won't let them get away with this Sakura, I promise."

She didn't respond. The cityscape before them had been tainted, transformed into a metallic and smoke-blackened den of evil. They even broke the bridge leading up to the gates, now barred and covered with a massive Fire Nation flag.

"I-I just, can't believe it."

Aang turned back to them, sadness tainting his normally happy features, "I knew that the war had spread far… but Omashu… always seemed… untouchable."

"Up until now, it was," Sokka spoke, "Now, Ba-Sing-Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left."

Katara put her hand on Aang's shoulder, "This is horrible, but, we have to move on."

Sakura wanted to stay in Omashu, and opened her mouth to speak her desires, but was beaten to the punch by their airbender friend.

"No. I'm going in to find Bumi."

Sokka had plopped back to Appa's saddle, "Aang, stop. We don't even know if Bumi's still…"

"What are you trying to say, Sokka?" Kakashi asked, hand still gripping Sakura's own, "Bumi is too cunning for the Fire Nation to have killed him, I know he's in there. And if Aang wants to find him, I'll help him."

Katara wasn't finished, "That's not good enough, we don't know for sure. Listen, Aang, I know that Bumi was the one you wanted to teach you, but there are others who would do just as well." She looked pointedly at Sakura, her eyes were almost angry, as if to say 'If you had just taught him in the first place we wouldn't be in this mess.'

"No, we've discussed this—"

"This isn't about finding a teacher, Katara. It's about finding my friend."

…

Aang's words ended the argument and they settled on finding a new way into Omashu. The bridge was out of the question, and as much as flying over the walls would save them time, they knew the guards would shoot in an instant, blowing any semblance of a cover they could manage. It was then their Airbender friend brought up a second entrance.

Sakura pulled away from the edge of Appa's harness as they floated in the city's less-than sanitary moat.

"So… a secret passage? Why didn't we take this way last time?" Sokka asked as they stopped in front of a giant capped pipe. Oh no. Sakura did not like the looks, or the smells of that nasty entrance once Aang popped it open. Green tinted sewer sludge poured out over Sokka.

"Ugh!"

"Does that answer your question?" Kakashi asked, laughing in the background.

"Ew."

…

Their way up the pipe was rather disgusting, Aang led them, using his airbending to move the sludge from his path, followed by Katara who bent the fluid around herself, and then to Sakura and the rest of the party, who had no real way to prevent themselves from being covered in muck. It was the most disgusting thing she had ever been through in her entire life.

Soon the pipe began to have small turnoffs with ladders leading up to the surface. Aang passed the first few, deeming them too close to the outer walls, before settling on one that looked relatively clean and, hopefully, closer to the palace.

The boy went first, using his air to pop the cover of the pipe and check out the street they would be exiting on.

"All clear!" He called from outside. Katara followed him, as did the rest of their party.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought." The water tribe girl said with a smile.

Sakura huffed, her grimy hands barely able to grip the ladder, her skin sticky with who knew what. And there was something stuck to her ass.

Once they were all on the street, positively dripping, Sakura glared at her, "Speak for yourself."

Luckily, there was a barrel nearby full of water. Katara used it to wash at least most of the gunk off her companions, but now they were sopping wet. Aang swung his staff and the second problem ceased to exist, even if a bit harsh.

Just a moment later, random squeaks came from creatures stuck to their bodies, in definitely uncomfortable locations for Sakura. Yep, something just squeezed my ass. For a second she hoped it was Kakashi, but when she saw both his hands were occupied with his own purple friends, she gulped. Next to her, Sokka was freaking out, trying to pull the creatures off with no luck. Upon closer inspection, Sakura recognized them as purple pentapi, she relaxed a moment before taking one dangerously close to her breast and tickling it free.

"You're so loud, Sokka." She reached up and tickled one off his face.

"It's just a purple pentapus." Aang said as he got the other to release with a light pop. As the suckers had been attached to his skin, the boy now had several marks on his face from the tiny creatures. While she had been removing the purple animal from Sokka's face, Sakura heard another pop and the gripping on her ass ceased. Kakashi held up the rather large offender with a shy smile. She blushed as she pictured all the lewd things going through his head.

"Thanks."

"Hey!" A voice called to them from down the street. She looked up and noticed a patrol of Fire Nation guards turning their direction. Sokka and Katara had stepped in front of Aang to hide him.

"What are you all doing out past curfew?"

Sakura stepped forward, slinging an arm around her, "We're just heading home, so sorry to bother you, officers, we lost track of time!"

They walk down the street, Kakashi and Sakura in front followed by Aang and Katara with Sokka bringing up the rear.

"Wait! What's the matter with him?" One of the guards bent over to inspect Sokka's neck, poking at one of the sucker marks on his skin.

"We're just taking him home, as you see, he's got the pentapox."

"They don't look like you, are they really your kids?"o

"Th-they're adopted, we…" Sakura looked away, struggling for an excuse.
"We couldn't conceive." Kakashi provides, hugging her close to his side.

"Oh! I'm so so sorry, sister was the same way."

Some of the sewer water had left its green hue on Sokka's skin, giving him a sickly green pallor. The guard noticed his smell and took a step back, a bit of the slime on his finger. His companion whispered in his ear, "Wait, I think I've heard of pentapox-Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?"

Sakura put a hand to Kakashi's chest, "That's right, it's contagious, deadly stuff. We'd like as much time as possible with our son before he passes. So if you don't mind…"

"Yes, of course! Sorry to bother you ma'am." The fooled cronies ran off down the street, eager to be away from Sokka's ailment. "We'd better wash our hands, burn our clothes!"

They kept up the act to get through the city, fooling at least three more guard rounds before they reached their destination. As they walked down a lesser lit street with no patrols Kakashi spoke just loud enough for their group to hear.

"We need to find Bumi, and get to somewhere safe. Aang-where would they be keeping him?"

After a moment of silence the boy responded, "Somewhere he can't earthbend. Somewhere made of metal." It was the ultimate death trap to an earthbender and Sakura winced at the thought of the crazed king being tortured in a metal cage.

They had wandered quite close to the palace, and Sakura knew this area would be dangerous. Whoever had taken over would probably be residing in the palace and thus be the most heavily guarded. It would be a horrible idea to get any closer. She looked ahead for some sort of escape route and watched as a couple of civilian nobles accompanied by especially bulky fire nation soldiers walked up the street on the level below them.

A rumble above them caught Sakura's attention, someone had thrown boulders down a chute, obviously targeting the people below. She kicked the boulder back up the wall, but it must not have been silent enough, they were noticed immediately.

The older of the nobles pointed to her, "The resistance!"

Fuck. So much for our cover.

Her companion rained arrows upon them, breaking up their group as they tried to run. The guards climbed the steps to the level their group was on, blocking that exit, so they ran the other direction. Katara turned back and used her waterbending to whip the guards off the ledge. She put up a wall of ice between them and the attackers, just long enough for them to get away.

Or so they thought.

The floor under them fell upon, a trap door swallowing them whole.

…

They had fallen into a tunnel, green sludge dripped from the ceiling as they stood up, muttering over the unkind landing. An Earth Kingdom soldier was with them, and he was very displeased. He gestured over his shoulder to follow, so they did.

…

As it turned out, Sakura's home of Omashu was filled with secrets. The resistance had started their base of operations in an underground cavern beneath the city's very streets. There were soldiers and civilians alike, and people of all ages filling the expansive cavern. It appeared that the take-over of Omashu had been less than desirable, and many expressed unhappiness with the situation. She at first had been happy to find fellow people looking to help Omashu, as had Aang, but when they discovered that King Bumi, was not, in fact, any part of the resistance and had actually surrendered immediately to the Fire Nation, their plans were forced off track. Sakura was a bit peeved, but in the end understood why he would do such a thing.

As a king your duty is to your people, and while many may see his decision as another one of his crazy ideas, it was actually smart. Fighting would only lead to inevitable casualties, and in the end, they might have been taken over anyway. At least with a surrender, his people weren't slaughtered at the Fire Nation's hands. Perhaps he's waiting for the right time to strike back. Sakura was willing to risk everything for her home, but at the same time, she knew if they left, Aang could find a teacher and continue on his grand quest, the decision was not easy, and as she mulled it over, they continued to speak with the Resistance Leader.

"It doesn't matter now, King Bumi is imprisoned and fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom. And freedom? It's worth dying for."

Aang had been silent for a while, letting the man speak, but at this statement he stepped forward, "Actually there is another path you could take. I know, this is your home, but you could leave Omashu. You are directing all of this negative energy to fight the Fire Nation… but you're outnumbered. You can't win here. I believe it would be best to retreat, spend that energy building yourselves up to fight another day."

The leader was appalled at the suggestion, almost seething at the outrage; but it sounded good. Several of the soldiers surrounding them were nodding along and agreed with Aang, Sakura included. As much as she wanted to fight, she knew there was only so much she could do, especially alone. When he heard his troops felt the same, the resistance's leader gave up.

"Fine. But there are thousands of citizens that need to leave. How are we going to get them all out?"

…

The idea to spread the fake plague of "Pentapox" came from Sokka. Obviously. He and Aang teamed up, pitching different ideas to make the 'diseased' more believable. The rest of their group were in complete disbelief at the resistance's willingness to go along with some kid's plan. And at how quickly the city's population could gather in one location.

At least they're not throwing their lives away trying to fight, maybe they're just desperate.

Sakura wished her parents were among them, wished she could ask them what to do. They were so smart, though they probably still would have insisted she think about it from every angle until she found her own way. Whatever that meant. Her heart ached at the loss of her only family in the world, it had been years, and yet the wound was still sensitive at the edges.

"Sakura."

She looked up from her daze, and Kakashi was standing before her, holding a pentapus and extending its waggling tentacles toward her.

"We're getting started, might as well do what we can to help, even if this plan is silly."

She nodded and took the slimy creature, joining him among the masses of Earth citizens. They 'poxed' refugee after refugee, and Sakura had to admit, after a while and a bit of acting, the people really did look like an army of zombies. She certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of such a plague.

"Sakura?" The woman she was currently marking asked tentatively.

"Yep, that's me…"

"Is it really you!?" Her arms wrapped around Sakura's middle.

"I'm sorry?" She looked a little closer at the woman, she was close to her mother's age and had long blond hair with a daisy tucked in the side, her appearance just didn't ring any bells though.

"Ah! Of course, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have presumed. My name is Ms. Yamanaka. We lived next door to your family, before everything…"

A brief memory of playing with the woman's daughter as a child flitted in Sakura's mind, of them creating flowers out of the earth and play fighting against each other. She smiled at the happier time.

"You're Ino's mother. How could I forget? Where is she?"

The woman smiled proudly, "She joined the army, and was even part of King Bumi's guard here for a while, though it makes sense that you wouldn't have seen her, I'm sure she probably fled the city with her man, Genma whatever-his-name-was. I never really liked him, but they seemed to get along well enough. I hope we hear from them soon…"

Sakura tickled the pentapus to remove it from her arm before moving to her neck, "How have you been? It has been years…"

They talked long past Sakura was finished 'poxing' her, catching up on everything that happened in the city, as well as a more recent development that caught Sakura's instant attention…

"There was a traveler who passed through here a while back. Some professor from Ba-Sing-Se going out into the desert. People said he was crazy, but on his last visit, he mentioned 'Haruno' and I had to find out what he knew. We loved your parents, too, Sakura, and the loss of them hit us hard." She wrung her hands, and continued, "Anyway. We invited him back to our home and while a lot of his rants were on too advanced topics for us to follow, we did eventually get him to talk about his last journey into the desert. This was the important part. He said he found a small cave for shelter during the last sandstorm, just by chance, the sands had shifted enough to expose its entrance. Inside… well, inside he said he found a skeleton."

Any hope that had risen in Sakura's chest was dashed, "Skeleton? Was there just one? And how did he know it was one of them?"

"With it he found a journal, meticulously detailed, and when I heard him mention that I asked to see it. The leather was the same, it had your family's circle stamped on its cover along with her initials."

"Do you have it?"

"The journal? Yes, it's in our house, we could only take so much with us they said, to avoid suspicion…"

"Is your house still the same? Tucked under the chutes on the east side, right next to ours?"

"Yes, but if you're going to go back into the city, I urge you to visit the basement of our place… when they sold of your parents' home, we did everything we could to take their memories and store them. Just in case."

"Thank you, Ms. Yamanaka. May you be blessed with health and easy travels." They hugged and Sakura moved on to tell Kakashi her news.

One of her parents might be alive.

…

She explained her predicament to Kakashi as they poxed the rest of the refugees. It wasn't long before the entire group had been covered and they were about to be unleashed. Her companion agreed with her conclusion, but wondered what she wanted to get out of going to Ms. Yamanaka's home.

"I-I don't know what they managed to save, but maybe I'll find a clue."

…

Once they moved above ground, Sokka addressed crowd, "Okay everyone! Into sick formation! Remember, you have gotta sell it!" He and Katara moved to join the civilians, but Aang, as well as Kakashi and Sakura, stayed out of the sea of diseased people.

"What are you guys doing? Aren't you coming with us?" Katara asked as they were slowly swept away.

"No." Aang said, "I'm not leaving until I find Bumi." He airbent himself to a nearby rooftop and left the scene.

"We are going to see if we can find anything about my parents' disappearance. I'm sure you two understand. If we aren't back by the time they close the gate, please, don't wait up." Sakura told them as she dragged Kakashi away with her.

The two water tribe teens didn't stop them, but their faces weren't pleased either. The hurt was clearly visible in their expressions.

Sakura and Kakashi fled the civilian plague zone and were pleasantly surprised to find that most of the city had been cleared out of guards. Apparently they had caught word of the disease and were steering clear of it. This made their journey quick and simple; they arrived at their destination in less than an hour.

They entered the Yamanaka's home quickly, neither knowing just how much time they had before the available escape out the front gate was no longer an option. The home was still fully furnished and filled, it was as if her childhood neighbors had taken nothing with them. In a connected room was a massive collection of flower pots, all of the water spouts still turned to a drip. Of course the couple had done what they could to help the flowers.

Sakura made a mental note to come back and collect what they could use on their journey, but for now they had to get to the basement.

In the far back of the greenhouse room, underneath a long table, they found a hidden trap-door to the basement. They pulled hard trying to open it, but the hinges had been rusted shut from all the moisture in the room. Kakashi ended up having to kick it to let them in while Sakura pulled it up from the floor.

The basement was quite a bit larger than either of them anticipated, and completely full of random home goods. Off to the right were several boxes and trunks that had been gone through recently, Sakura suspected they had been rifled through when the call for evacuation had passed amongst the civilians, they were left quite half-hazardly and she hoped they would be able to find what they needed before the gates closed.

"All right, would you take that crate in the corner on top to start? I'll take the trunk next to it."

They set to work, quickly passing through her parent's old belongings mixed in to the Yamanaka's own storage. The trunk she had picked was all of her mother's scarves, and as much as she wanted to take all of them, she settled for a deep red and gold one that had always been her favorite as a child. She wrapped it around her neck and moved to the next container. It was filled with books, but none of them were the journal Sakura was looking for. They were all related to flowers and were most likely the neighbors'. Kakashi had gone through his first box and declared each item as they went through it. His first was filled with flower pressing books and specimen jars, the second with flower arrangement pots and blocks.

As she went through the third completely fruitless box, Sakura began to worry they wouldn't find anything about her parents. She felt the tears start to prick at the edges of her eyes and tried her hardest not to cry. The next box contained clothing, and lots of it. She tore through the garments, some dredging up old memories, others she had never seen before. Anger welled up inside her chest, how could they have been so callous with their belongings? They were people too! She threw a handful of random material out of the trunk into the tightly stacked room, her chest felt tight, hard to breathe. A heavy hand fell on her shoulder and she shrugged it off, the tears were falling now, and there would be no stopping them.

"Sakura. Hey... it's going to be alright. Talk to me." Kakashi pulled her hands out of the trunk and wrapped his arms around her, holding her against his chest as she cried.

"It feels...sniff... like they're just... right... sniff... there... sniff... But I can't reach them."

"That woman said the journal was still here, right?" She nodded against the now-damp fabric of his shirt, "Well, then all we have to do is find it. I promise I'll be here the whole time."

Sakura took several deep gulping breaths and pushed away from his embrace, "Thank you, Kakashi." She picked up the discarded clothing off the floor and threw it back in the oversized trunk. Thinking she had gone through the entire container, Sakura tucked the overhanging garments back in so she could shut the lid. Just as the lid clicked shut, she felt something shift in the lid. She reopened it and felt around inside, there was dust, some sort of hair pin that had long past its lifespan... and...a book.

She tugged it out and while everything else seemed to be covered in dust, this one article was not. She recognized the stamped circle and initials on the cover immediately. Perhaps the Yamanaka's had tucked it away underneath other crates to deter the Fire Nation from finding it in their absence. Her previous grief on the disarray in which they had left her parents' belongings dissipated slightly. Their actions made a little more sense, if she stopped to think about it. The Fire Nation wasn't going to go through every residence and tear through what was probably a storage room on botany methods.

They must have put more thought into it than Sakura had originally thought.

She flipped open the journal and everything about it screamed that it was her mother's. The sketches, the tiny notes detailing everything, her side rambles and lilting handwriting. The cover had been stamped with their family's crest and Sakura drew her fingers around the worn circle. She heard Kakashi stop next to her.

"Is that it?"

She nodded and flipped through it, looking for any sort of clues that could be of use. Toward the end of the entries sand sloughed out of the pages, reminding her where the journal had been found. Reading through them, she got a glimpse into her mother's last days.

In the desert today, we haven't seen anything new in at least a week and we wonder if the cross point cave is in the wrong location, the caravan should be arriving any time now. We hope to find [redacted], it sure would be nice to go home. Luckily Kizashi has been able to find some wood to light for fire. I fear we may have to break up the sand-sailer soon. The desert as always, has very interesting plants, I will be sure to bring back some samples for Ms. Yamanaka. She always did have the best luck growing flowers. It's very quiet out here, I miss home already. We hope to be back before Sakura's birthday.

Out in the desert today, Kizashi told me he thought he saw a building while out on his daily patrol. He reminded me of Wan Shi Tong's library, the legendary landmark said to be lost in the middle of the desert. We laughed and told each other that Sakura would love the story, even more if she could visit the place.

I... I barely made it back to the cave today. Out on patrol we... we finished the mission. I can't travel home and I told Kizashi to leave without me. I think the enemy had some sort of poison. He refused of course, but every day I can feel myself growing weaker.

Kizashi said he would try and go to that building and find some sort of antidote, but it's a long shot. I told him he needs to go home to Omashu, to Sakura. How does he know the library even exists?

It struck deep that the very library she had called home for so many years was the one thing that could have helped her mother. Wan did, after all, have an entire wing on medical research and a massive greenhouse in another. The thought that her mother's last moments were in pain weighed upon her heart, but it was an old wound. Her journal hadn't said anything more, about them or their desert journey. If her father had left to try and find the library, he hadn't found it. So where was he? Sakura flipped through the pages again, looking for any sort of clues. Some of the binding had become weak in the cover and a bit of thread was unraveling at the seam. She slid a fingernail under the edge and was surprised to find the bindings were no longer stitched all the way through. Sakura wiggled a finger into the created gap and as she moved the cover crinkled, a sound leather did not typically make. Just a little further…. There.

From inside the cover she pulled out a piece of paper, and let the rest of the journal slip back into its trunk.

It looked as if it had been a higher quality print, and in a slightly morbid thought, the same sort of paper I received their condolences letter on. As Sakura unfolded the creased material, she noted the Earth King's seal at the bottom of the page; she scanned the words scrawled across the sheet and her frown deepened; it seemed to be a mission given to her parents from King Bumi himself.

Friends,

It seems the city is in need of your services again. We have received word of a red mole about to burrow into these very walls we call home. As I expect you might already know, a red mole infestation would be a tragic event in our beautiful city. On another note, Cross Point is a great place to vacation this time of year don't you think? Alas I must be off, other duties call, but I shall expect mole season to be over by the end of the month. Do as you must to exterminate them. Pesky animals, these moles.

Thank you for your continued service

King Bumi

"What did you find?" Kakashi asked as he peeked over her shoulder. Sakura handed him the paper to look over more closely.

"It's a mission directive. Looks like my parents were operatives for the government."

"Wow." They were silent for a moment while he read the paper, "Now, I understand that half of this doesn't make sense, but coming from King Bumi... it's actually really smart. I think your parents were sent out after a Fire Nation spy hiding in a caravan!"

"I mean, it would make sense if it were some sort of code." She added quietly.

"Mm. So we know where they were and what they were doing. Did you find any other clues in the journal?"

"Just that the skeleton was my mother's."

Kakashi didn't say anything for a few minutes after that, passing the paper back to her. Sakura understood, the news of death was never pleasant, after all. When it became clear she wasn't going to say anything, he spoke back up, "How about on your father?"

"She said that he went to Wan's library to look for an antidote. I know full well he didn't find it. They'd still be alive." She tucked the paper into the journal's pages and clapped the leather book shut.

"Let's go see what we could use from upstairs, we need to be getting back to the others."

If she had a real choice in the matter, Sakura would have stayed in the basement going through everything for hours, but she knew they didn't have the luxury of extra time in this case, so they found a spare pack left in the basement and shoved leftover essentials from the main house inside: usable herbs and any sort of food or item deemed necessary. She left the red scarf of her mother's around her neck, tossed a small family crest pin in the bag, and grabbed a coveted book that had once occupied a shelf in her parent's study. The rest she left, hoping that at some point in the future she might find the opportunity to come back and actually retrieve the remainder of her parent's items.

As they left the Yamanaka's home, they realized how much time had actually passed. The sun was setting quite low in the sky and the commotion from the day's plague movement seemed to have ended. Panic settled in as Sakura crept low around the edges of buildings and through alleyways; if the refugees had already fled, would the gates be closed? And would the guards be re-stationed around the city? They couldn't afford to be caught in the open. She let the bitterness enter her heart, this was her home, and yet she had been given the role of intruder. It was sickening.

When turning the next corner, she noticed there were, in fact, a pair of guards at the end of that street. They immediately withdrew to a darkened alley between the previous two earthen homes.

"What do you want to do?" Sakura asked Kakashi.

"I... I guess we should see what we can find out about your father from King Bumi? Aang went to find him right?"

"Well of course! I meant at this present moment, with two Fire Nation guards approaching and half the city to cross still!" She shook her head at the silly misunderstanding.

"Would it be easier to move to the rooftops?" Kakashi suggested.

"Let's give it a try."

...

Moving across the top of buildings and from chute to chute proved to be a much easier and a quicker way to travel, even if it was more visible. However, when they reached the main gates, they had been closed and barred once more, any and all signs of the diseased long gone.

Shit.

"There is no way I'm going back through that sewer." Sakura stated as they watched the guards move along the top of the wall.

"You and me both."

In the end they noticed a small window of time when the guards on either side of the gate would pace back and forth across the battlements just a few minutes before a new guard came to replace them. Kakashi suggested they use the rampart meant for the guards to reach the upper wall, and while the current guard had his back turned, to make a break for it, crossing the wall and then finding a way down on the other side without being detected.

`It seemed like a fool proof enough plan, until they actually went to try it. Getting up to the rampart was easy enough, the bottom was close by and shrouded with shadow. They did not, however, anticipate anyone on the ground noticing them on their way up, or making chase.

So… of course it had to happen.

The guard had, lucky for them, forgotten to raise the alarm and was the only one alerted to their presence. They let him follow fairly closely until he was near enough for them to engage. Sakura waited until the man reached for them, then grabbed his arm, threw him around and kicked him off the stairs to the ground below. She promised herself he wasn't dead, but from that high up... she pushed forward and refused to think about it. The battlement was still clear of the guard, and they crossed without incident. On the other side of the wall came their second problem: getting down.

The wall had to have been at least fifty feet tall and that was a jump she was not looking forward to. They only had a few seconds to think before the guard would be following, so Sakura went with the first idea that hit her.

"I've got an idea, but you've gotta trust me, I don't have time to explain it." She whispered to Kakashi, her words severe and quiet. He just nodded.

"Follow me."

She lowered herself over the wall, fingertips just barely hanging from the top, and she let go. It was terrifying for one minute, and then she was close enough to bend the earth and give herself a soft slide the rest of the way down. Her initial impact was less than comfortable, but she would be all right. Before Kakashi could copy her she extended the earth slide up the wall to give him an easier time of it.

As he got up Sakura noticed that the guard atop the battlements was trying to follow, one leg slung over the side as he aimed a flame tipped arrow at them. She let the earthslide fall back to the ground and they fled the scene, doing their best to escape the range of the guard's arrow. ...

Upon their return to camp, they were clobbered by Sokka and Katara, asking if they had seen Aang yet. Sakura glanced to Kakashi before responding, "No, we haven't seen him. He's not back yet?"

They shook their heads, worry furrowing their brows.

"I'm sure that he'll back with Bumi in no time, just you two wait."

The resistance leader, still sporting half a dozen pox marks on his face, approached them.

"We have a small problem."

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"We just did a head count."

Katara turned to the man, her worry taking a new direction, "Did someone get left behind?"

"No. On the contrary," the man pointed behind him, "we have an extra."

The group watched as a terrified looking Momo hobbled toward them, a baby hanging onto him by his neck. Of course the child was laughing, enjoying himself, but this wasn't the cause of worry. The baby was not one of theirs; he was Fire Nation.

Sakura, despite knowing this, quickly rushed to the lemur's aide. She took the baby in her arms and reproached the group. "Do we know who he belongs to?" she asked, leaning the baby against her chest. He tugged on her hair lightly and she couldn't help a small smile at his tiny face.

"There's no way to be sure," the leader started, "but, I do know for certain that the 'governor' as he calls himself... his wife has a small child."

"Now that you mention it, the woman that noticed us on the wall was carrying a baby..." Kakashi added. The child turned to his voice and made grabby hands toward him.

"I think he wants you to hold him, Kakashi!" Sakura laughed.

He gave her a flat, unamused stare, but took the child anyway, "This is a total mess, isn't it, flamey baby?" Kakashi spoke mockingly to the child, but directed his patronizing speech toward the group.

...

Eventually Aang did make it back to their camp, and he had even found Flopsie, but there was no Bumi. As he approached, Sokka and Katara got up to greet him, leaving Sakura and Kakashi at their campfire with the child. She watched them greet the giant goat gorilla, followed shortly by a slight slump in all of their posture when Aang told them he didn't have his friend with him.

Sakura was a bit disappointed as well, she had many questions for the man. Though, at present, it seemed that she and Kakashi had been deemed the official babysitters of the Fire Nation baby; he refused to allow anyone else to hold him, and she couldn't blame the boy. The Earth peoples' animosity toward anything Fire Nation-related poured off of them. This was probably also the reason their campfire was several feet away from any of the others, making a sort of division between the refugees and their group. At some point, she wanted to find Ms. Yamanaka and talk to her, but the woman had disappeared as if she were never there.

The baby picked up Sokka's club and chewed on the end, he was at the stage where it seemed everything was considered food to him, even if it was actually a weapon. When the group returned the campfire, Sokka took his club back from him, "Hey, bad Fire Nation baby!"

This, of course, caused the child to wail, loud enough to wake anyone in the general vicinity.

"Ehhh... alright." He gave the club back to the infant and he began to play with it, giggling and smacking Sokka with it.

"Aww, your'e so cute! Mmm." Katara cooed over the child. Sakura wasn't sure whether it was his appearance or the fact he was hitting her brother.

The leader of the resistance plopped down across the fire from them. "Sure, he's cute now... but when he's older, he'll join the Fire Nation army. You won't think he's so cute then. He'll be a killer."

Sakura frowned at the negative attitude the man brought with him, Kakashi had picked up the child and tossed him into the air a few times before holding him in his lap. They made quite the cute picture, and to anyone outside present company, he looked like he could actually be the boy's father.

"Does that look like the face of a killer to you?" She asked, noting the tiny snot bubble starting to form under the kids nose.

A messenger hawk swooped down to the man, and he took the paper tied to its back.

"It's from the Fire Nation governor. He thinks we kidnapped his son. So... he wants to make a trade... his son...

"What for?" Kakashi asked as he played with the infant. "His son... for King Bumi."

...

It was clearly a favorable trade, and one everyone would easily make. They had put no effort into kidnapping the governor's son and they would receive Bumi in return? It all felt too... easy.

Sakura and Kakashi were charged with the child's protection during the trade, and it would be the other three to claim Bumi during the transaction.

As they approached the designated meeting place in the center of Omashu, a dreaded feeling fell upon their group.

Sokka was the first to comment upon the feeling, "You realize we're probably walking right into a trap?" Aang was the optimist, as always, and responded, "I don't think so. I'm sure the Governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi. It's a new day!"

"We realize this is probably a trap," Kakashi started, "And this is why we've come prepared. There are five of us, fully armed... and we have his child. Surely the odds couldn't be more in our favor?"

"I just hope everything goes smoothly." Sakura mused, dangling her fingers over the baby to entertain him. She had slung him to her chest in the scarf procured from her mother's belongings to keep her hands free, just in case things were to go south.

The meeting locale was unexpected, a district under new construction and completely deserted. Sakura felt there were eyes on their every move and kept her own peeled. She had broken out her fans, just in case. Instead of a man and the woman from the previous encounter as expected, three young women approached them out of the scaffolding, each looking more malicious than the last. She recognized one from their previous encounter, and the rest were new. Shit was going to hit the fan, and quick. "Kakashi, things are already straying off the plan, be ready for a massive shit show."

He nodded nearly imperceptibly and they continued walking forward with the group.

From their left, a massive construction crane flew toward them, a metal coffin at the end of a long chain in its grasp. Inside was the maniacal laughter and snorting that could only belong to King Bumi himself.

"Hi, everybody!"

The crane released him and he landed behind the three women across from them. "You brought my brother?" the first girl started.

Sakura stepped forward, the baby obvious in her grasp, "He's here. We're ready to trade."

One of the other women stepped forward, and placed a hand on the first girls arm, "I'm so sorry, but a thought just occured to me! Do you mind?"

Her companion turned, "Of course not, Princess Azula."

Oh shit.

This news changed everything, and the odds were no longer weighing in their favor. Sakura wasn't entirely sure who would win this fight if it came to fists. The princess took a couple steps toward them and placed her fingertips together as she spoke, "We're trading a two year old.. for a king." She looked to Bumi, "A powerful, earthbending king."

Bumi smiled and nodded, "Mhm!"

Azula put her finger to her chin in mock thought, "Now... that just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?"

The girl she had been speaking to looked to her brother for a moment before walking toward them and crossing her arms.

"You're right," she smiled to Sakura, "The deal's off."

She was all too chipper for someone making a trade for her own brother. With the wave of a hand, the crane was back and taking Bumi up and away, "See you all later!"

"Bumi!" Aang cried out as he rushed toward the Fire Nation women. They were prepared for his advance and Azula bent a direct plume of blue flames toward the boy. He jumped up onto the scaffolding to avoid her attack, then on to another as he advanced to Bumi's coffin. On the next jump he opened his glider mid-air, but in the process lost his hat, the only thing hiding his identity from the princess.

"The Avatar!" the princess cried out in surprise, but it only lasted a moment before a villainous grin split her face, "My lucky day."

Azula followed him, and Sakura took this as their opportunity to exit with the child.

"Kakashi, let's get out of here, we said if this came to fists we'd do everything we could to stay out of it..."

"Sakura, do you really think those three kids can take on the Fire Nation princess, and her cronies? I know they're good, but it's still a long shot."

In their hesitation, the other two women advanced.

Sokka pulled Appa's bison whistle out of his pocket and blew it. "Sokka, what are you doing?"

He turned to her, all of his normally goofy demeanor replaced with a quite serious attitude. "You two need to get the baby out of here!"

She nodded and they started their descent taking the first set of stairs down from the platform. Various knives flew at them from the baby's sister, and Sakura wondered if she had any compassion for the boy at all. Surely if she really wanted the boy to survive she wouldn't do her best to hit him!? As they reached the next deck down, she and Kakashi were cut off by the third girl, her hair tied up in a bubbled braid. She started to rush them, but from above a column of ice froze the girl in her tracks.

"Thank you, Katara!" Sakura called up to them as they continued to avoid the fight as much as possible. Moments later, Appa was there, ready to pick them up. The giant bison fwapped his tail across the two assailants, flinging them off the platform and rendering them useless. The four climbed on the sky bison and he took off to Kakashi's command of yip yip!

Katara sat at the reigns and guided them away from the battle. Their next step would be to retrieve Aang and Bumi, hopefully avoiding the fire princess' sporadic plumes of blue in the process.

As per usual, they were not hard to find; Azula left a multitude of smoldering chutes and ashen buildings in her wake. It seemed she and her brother both had quite the temper. Sokka pointed in the distance, "There's Aang!"

Sakura followed his line of sight and indeed saw Aang attempting to escape down a chute with Bumi in tow.

"We can catch him!" Katara yelled as she urged the sky bison forward.

As they approached the battle, Aang launched Bumi, still inside his coffin, into the air. They each attempted to grab him in a mad dash, but he flew right over Appa and landed back in a chute on the other side. Sakura shook her head as she heard him laughing and screaming on the way down. Instead of fighting the intruders on their fight, Azula followed Aang and Bumi, not surprising when she thought about what kind of bounty and glory the girl would earn turning in the Avatar to her father.

…

They followed closely behind the battle, watching and waiting for an opening, but there wasn't one, not until a pillar of earth popped out of nowhere to absorb a ring of blue fire Azula had thrown at the young airbender. Kakashi looked to Sakura with a questioning expression.

"What? It wasn't me."

The earth obstacle caused the princess to stop as her prey shot away down the remainder of the chute, their entourage in hot pursuit.

...

Sakura relaxed as the fighting came to an end and they met up with Aang and Bumi at the end of the chute. The boy was talking to him as they arrived and from his tone, he wasn't pleased.

"-Why did you surrender when Omashu was invaded? What's the matter with you, Bumi?"

"Listen to me, Aang. There are options in fighting, called jin; It's a choice of how you direct your energy."

"I know! There's positive jin when you're attacking, and negative jin when you're retreating."

"And neutral jin, when you do nothing!"

"There are three jins?"

Actually, there are... Sakura thought to herself.

"Well, technically there are eighty five. But, let's just focus on the third. Neutral jin is the key to earthbending. It involves listening and waiting for the right moment to strike."

Aang asked if that was why he surrendered.

"Yes. And.. it's why I can't leave now."

The response hurt Aang, disappointment seeped into his words, "I guess I need to find someone else to teach me earthbending."

He looked to Sakura for a moment before Bumi shook his head, "No. Your teacher will be someone who has mastered neutral jin through and through. You need to find someone who waits and listens before striking."

Momo, the ever absent lemur, chose that moment to hop onto Aang's shoulder, chittering as he ate a lychee nut.

"Momo's mastered a few jins himself!" The lemur screeched at him before returning to his munching, "Goodbye, Aang. I'll see you when the time is right."

The boy nodded before he took Appa's reigns from Katara and airbent himself up the massive beast's head. Sakura and Kakashi had already slipped down from the sky bison's back and retreived their gear. Aang looked to them expectantly.

"Aren't you two coming with us?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head, "No, Aang. There are still so many questions that I need to have answered before I can leave Omashu. This could be my only chance to find out what happened to my parents. Please understand that we will meet up with you as soon as we can."

He nodded, "I understand. I hope you find the answers you're looking for." the boy's shoulders slumped a bit. His yip yip to ask Appa to take off was less than enthusiastic, and Sakura watched them slowly fly over the city walls and leave Omashu.

"Well. What business do you have remaining in Omashu, Sakura?" The old king asked, still standing in his sealed metal coffin.

"We need to have a little chat, Bumi. I know you probably don't remember them, but I need to find out what happened to my parents. Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno."

His goofy smile fell and and the king's serious persona came to the forefront.

"Yes, I do think a conversation is in order. But first, it seems you still have something that doesn't belong to you." He nodded to the sleeping infant still strapped to her chest, "Follow me, the governor has taken up the old palace and I know just where they would keep the child."

...

Using interesting and off-the-wall methods of earthbending they managed to use the chute system to find their way to the palace. The one room with lights on turned out to be their destination. Sakura loosened the scarf and gave Kakashi the child to return. He offered to be the one to slip into the bedchamber, just in case someone caught him. He was only on the balcony ledge for a moment, letting the child toddle into his home before leaping away and rejoining Sakura and King Bumi.

Perhaps now the refugees would be able to actually leave, Aang could continue on his journey to find a bending master, and Sakura would be able to press an old king for answers to questions she had waited a decade for.