CHAPTER 2: WHERE AM I?
(Disclaimer: Avatar The Last Airbender belongs to Nickelodeon and Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I only own my OC's)
(PLEASE READ: THIS IS NOT A SEQUEL TO "SHUJINKO: THE FOURTH MEMBER", BUT A DIFFERENT STORY WITH SHUJINKO AS THE MAIN CHARACTER. THIS STORY WILL NOT HAVE ANY EFFECT WHATSOEVER IN "SHUJINKO SHIPPUDEN". I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A SEQUEL TO SHUJINKO'S ORIGINAL STORY)
Summary: One night, a stranger breaks into Shujinko's house and tries to steal one of the most mystical objects in the history of the Ozuma clan: The Eye of Kazemaru. When Shujinko tries to stop him, the two of them activate an ancient and forgotten power of the gem by accident, which sends them to another dimension where a certain bald-headed monk has to master the four elements in order to defeat the evil Fire Lord. What kind of impact will Shujinko's presence have in the Avatar universe? Who is this stranger and what does he wants? Get ready for one wild space-time adventure
Shujinko's brow furrowed as the sunlight reached his face.
'Is it morning already?' he wondered, his eyes still shut. He felt well rested, but there was still this weird sensation that was nagging him, as if he was just regaining consciousness after a month-long nap. 'I guess I should get up and get some breakfast. Man, I really overslept this time. I don't even remember going to bed. Oh well, all good things must come to an end,' Shujinko started blinking to adjust his blurry eyesight. 'I wonder if there's anything good left in the fri…'
Once his eyesight was clear, Shujinko realized he wasn't in his bedroom… or in his house, for that matter. Taking in his surroundings, he found himself lying on grass, surrounded by pine trees at the outskirts of a forest. He rubbed his eyes and lightly slapped his cheek to see whether if he was dreaming or not, but much to his befuddlement, he was still in the same place.
As a precautionary measure, he performed the Snake and Tiger hand signs in an attempt to dispel whatever illusionary technique he was trapped inside, but nothing changed. The smell of wood and wet grass was there, the trees were made of solid matter, and the sound of birds chirping was heard loud and clear. This could only mean one of two things: Either he was trapped inside a really high-caliber Genjutsu or he had lost his memory and couldn't remember how the hell did he get here.
'What happened to me?' Shujinko asked himself. 'I can't remember anything about last night. I know I went to bed after having dinner and saying goodbye to Nanami, but then, something woke me up… What was it?'
His backpack was lying right next to him, which completely erased the possibility of someone capturing him and taking him to a forest. Not only was his body completely free of binding ropes, but also not even an Academy student would be as stupid as to forget to take away a captured ninja's belongings. His backpack and the items stored inside were intact. There was a sealing scroll that contained a few weapons, some ration bars, a blank scroll, a first-aid kit, an empty water bottle, and a few personal possessions that he usually carried with him.
When he lifted his backpack from the ground, he saw the Eye of Kazemaru hiding beneath it. The golden jewel reflected the sunlight, and for a brief moment, the brown-haired boy experienced a headache. He closed his eyes and grunted as an incoming memory struck him. His mind saw darkness, then light, the darkness again. It made no sense whatsoever and didn't help him figure out how he ended up where he was, but for some reason, he knew that the flashback was accurate and that it had everything to do with his current situation.
"This is ridiculous," Shujinko declared as he placed the Eye of Kazemaru inside his backpack. He stood up, dusted himself off, and started walking his way out of the forest.
Unfortunately, he couldn't climb up pine trees or jump from one of them to another, so walking was his only means of transportation. It didn't really matter since he soon got out of the forest anyway. He saw fields and fields of long grass and dirt roads here and there, and his eyes caught sight of several houses and small wooden buildings not too far away from where he was. 'A town, that's good. I can ask people where am I and how do I get to the Hidden Leaf Village from here,'
|Gi Yuin Village|
"Aaah, that's just what I needed," Aang sighed in pleasure as he rubbed his stomach. Him, Sokka, and Katara were walking out of a small tavern after trying out some of the dishes that the place had to offer. Much to Aang's delight, the menu included egg custard tart, his favorite food. Sokka and Katara were just happy to eat normal food after their culinary experiences in the swamp, which mainly consisted of grotesque insects and what not. "I'm glad we stopped by here. This place has amazing food,"
"I'm not sure. Don't you think it was a little too expensive?" Sokka asked. "We still had enough money after buying the supplies we needed, but now we're almost out of coin and I'm not entirely satisfied with the food we ordered. Those crab puffs barely had any meat in them. What a rip-off!"
"This is the only place where Aang could go, Sokka. You already know he can't eat meat," Katara pointed out.
"I know, I know, I'm just saying that the next time we grab a bite, Aang should play the Avatar card and ask for a special discount. No restaurant owner is gonna say no to that, right?"
Aang looked uncomfortable. "I don't like that idea. It's not like I can go around asking people for free stuff just because I'm the Avatar. It wouldn't be right,"
"Oh, come on. We're traveling around the world eating what we can and sleeping where we can because we're constantly being chased by the Fire Nation. I bet people would be honored to help us out by giving us some food, it would be their way of contributing to the cause. If anything, being the Avatar must come with some perks," After seeing the looks he was getting from his sister, Sokka raised his hands in a surrounding manner. "Okay, forget everything I just said. I guess we'll just have to start eating the rocks we find along the way from now on,"
"Excuse me," The three of them turned around to see a boy around their age walking towards them. His attire caught their attention, especially the strange metallic headband he wore. Usually, it was fairly easy to determine people's background and place of birth by looking at their clothes and physical features such as their skin color, but the boy in front of them didn't seem to come from any place they knew of. They assumed he was a traveler from far away lands just like them. "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I accidentally got lost and ended up here. Could you please tell me where I am?" he asked politely.
Seeing how courteous the boy was, Aang ignored his unusual clothing and gave him an amicable smile. "Sure. This is Gi Yuin Village. It's our first time here as well,"
The boy blinked in confusion, as if he wasn't expecting to receive the answer that he got from Aang. He seemed surprised for some reason. "Gi Yuin Village? I see… Do you know how to get to the Hidden Leaf Village from here? Any route will do,"
Aang, Sokka, and Katara shared a confused look between themselves before the oldest of the group spoke up. "Sorry, but we're not from around here. We don't know how to get to that place. In fact, I've never even heard of it before. I'm guessing it must be pretty far away from here,"
This time, the young traveler paled. "Excuse me, what do you mean you've never heard of the Hidden Leaf Village? Where are you from?"
"Woah there, this is getting a little personal, don't you think?" Sokka replied as he crossed his arms. "Don't take this the wrong way, but where do we come from is really none of your business,"
"Sokka, don't be so rude," Katara said before giving the boy an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about my brother, he's a bit grumpy when it comes to strangers. We're from the Southern Water Tribe, so as you can imagine, we're not really familiar with the towns and villages around here. You should ask the local villagers, they probably know a lot more than we do,"
"… Right, I'll go do that. Thanks for everything," the boy said with a hollow voice. He looked like he had just been slapped across his face by someone he wasn't allowed to slap back. After a short bow, he walked past them with his shoulders sagged in a clear sign of distress.
"Poor guy, I hope he founds his way home. He really looked like he was lost," Katara said once they were out of hearing range. If only she knew how right she was.
Sokka, being the skeptical guy that he was, frowned as he continued to stare at the figure of the traveler from a distance. "I can't put my finger on it, but there's something off about him. His clothes are funny and he mentioned this strange village. What was it called? Hidden Leaf or something? Last time I checked the map, that place was nowhere near where we are. I'm pretty sure it's not even on the map at all,"
"Relax, Sokka. Maybe that place is so small that the map doesn't show it," Aang said. "Besides, my clothes are also funny. That doesn't mean I'm up to no good, does it?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. It's not like sketchy-looking guys have never caused us any trouble. Am I right, Momo?" Sokka asked, only to realize that the lemur was nowhere to be seen. He looked around the near vicinity in search for their pointy-eared companion, but the only thing he saw were a couple of bystanders minding their own business. "Hey, where's Momo?"
Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.
If waking up in the middle of nowhere wasn't bad enough, this certainly was. Shujinko had absolutely no idea where he was. He didn't recall ever hearing about the Gi Yuin Village, and he knew pretty much every town and settlement close to the Hidden Leaf Village. Unfortunately, Shujinko didn't carry a map with him, which would've proven to be extremely useful in this situation, if only to figure out how far he was from home.
When he saw the three youngsters from a distance, Shujinko knew immediately that they were travelers from far away. The siblings had darker skin than anyone Shujinko had ever met before, not to mention the fact that they both had blue eyes. The combination of dark skin and blue eyes was quite striking for the Ozuma. He had once heard that it was normal for people from the Land of Lightning to have dark skin, but actually seeing it was another thing. Even their blue clothes were kind of strange, although nothing ludicrous.
The other boy, the youngest of them, was also quite peculiar. His yellow and orange robes were eye-catching and made him stood out from the crowd. He was also bald, which was rather uncommon for someone so young, but definitely, the most bizarre physical feature of the boy were his blue tattoos, especially the huge arrow on his forehead. The only possibility that came to Shujinko's mind was that the boy was some sort of monk, as he seemed to have this very calm and pacifist aura around him.
Shujinko decided that asking them for directions was worth a shot even if they were foreigners. After all, they may come from far away lands, but he was the one who was lost.
The bald boy said they were in Gi Yuin Village, which honestly didn't do him much of a favor. It wasn't a point of reference he could use for geographical guidance since he had never heard of it before. But then, when he asked how to get to the Hidden Leaf Village, none of them seemed to know what he was talking about. That completely dumbfounded him. The Hidden Leaf Village was arguably the most important village in all of the Land of Fire given how it was the military center of the country. It was the place where ninjas were born. You had to be exceptionally ignorant to not know what shinobi village belonged to one of the largest and most powerful countries in the entire continent.
Then the girl of the group started talking about how she and her brother came from the Southern Water Tribe as if it was common knowledge. The only thing he could associate the term "Southern Water Tribe" was to some group of people who presumably lived in the Land of Waves, and even that was a poorly supported theory. He was no expert on race demographics, but none of the people he saw during his mission to protect Tazuna resembled the girl or her brother at all. Again, judging by the color of their skin, the siblings seemed to be from the Land of Lighting, which directly contradicted his theory about them belonging to the Land of Waves.
"How in the name of Kami did I end up here?" Shujinko muttered. The only semi-plausible explanation he could come up with was that he had been captured and drugged by someone so that he would have no memories of how he was abducted, but the fact that he was walking freely and still had all his possessions with him pretty much reduced the chances of that being the case down to zero. His only clue so far was a flashback of darkness followed by an intense light, which hardly made any sense to him at all. It felt like a dream more than anything else.
As he mulled over the illogical circumstances he found himself in, his train of thought was interrupted by the sight of a strange creature chasing after… another strange creature, only this one was much smaller. Intrigued by this, Shujinko followed the two animals until he found them in a blind alley.
The first creature was a mountain cat… with antlers? Shujinko had seen plenty of animals before, but none of them were as bizarre as this one was. It was like a cross between an antler and a cat big enough to carry children on its back. Never in his life had Shujinko considered the possibility of a mountain cat and an antler mating together and giving birth to such a thing. It was literally a freak of nature. The second creature wasn't as ridiculous, but it was still extravagant. It was like a tiny monkey with huge and pointy ears. Its fur was white and black like a panda bear.
In any case, it was clear that the monkey was in deep trouble. He was cornered by the cat with antlers and had no room to escape. The little guy seemed to be terrified, and rightfully so. The cat with antlers was yowling menacingly and slowly approaching him. Since he was in no mood for watching a cute and helpless animal get mauled to death, Shujinko grabbed a stone. "Hey you!" he yelled loud and clear before hurling the stone at the big cat, which let out a short shriek of pain before turning around to face him, showing its fangs. "Let that little monkey thing alone,"
The beast charged at full speed. Shujinko stood his ground and waited for the right moment to react. When the giant mountain cat took a dive forward with its arms extended, the Ozuma grabbed both its antlers and used the cat's momentum to his own advantage by throwing him aside. The creature's body landed on the rough ground, leaving clouds of dust behind.
"I'm warning you, stupid overgrown cat with antlers. Go away before you make me hurt you," Shujinko said out loud. He didn't want to kill or cause heavy injuries upon the wild animal, just enough pain to convince the beast to leave before it got worse. Animals understood through instincts, not reason.
Once again, the antlered mountain cat charged. While fast and agile, the creature's speed couldn't compete against a Chunin like Shujinko, who was more than used to dealing with fast enemies. He picked up a blunt and sturdy stick from the ground, jumped over the incoming beast and wacked its ribs with practiced ease, making sure not to crack any of them by accident.
The antlered mountain cat let out a howl before trotting away. Shujinko certainly smacked the mutant hard enough to make it reconsider its options. The beast, although not particularly intelligent, knew better than to keep fighting a lost fight and begrudgingly fled the scene, much to Shujinko's relief. He dropped the stick and turned around to face the alley. Much to his amusement, the weird monkey was hiding inside a wooden box with its tail sticking out through one of the holes. "It's okay, little guy. The big mean cat is gone. You can come out if you want,"
The creature lifted the box with its tiny paws to take a peek, seemingly understanding the words of the golden-eyed boy. When the monkey saw that the menacing predator was no longer there, it gingerly approached Shujinko, carefully sniffing the air.
"Woah there, easy," Shujinko said when the monkey suddenly climbed up his leg until it was sitting on his right shoulder. Then, as a way to express its gratitude, the pointy-eared creature licked Shujinko's cheek, which brought a small smile to the Chunin. "You have to be more careful, little guy. Next time, try not to pick fights with giant cats with antlers, alright?"
"Momo, there you are! Where have you been all of this time?" Shujinko looked over his other shoulder. The girl with dark skin and blue eyes was making her way to them, coming to a halt five feet away from where Shujinko was standing. "Hey, you're the guy from before, the one who was asking for directions a while ago,"
"That's me, and I'm guessing this little guy right here is Momo," Shujinko replied as he extended his arm, allowing the now-identified Momo to stand on it. "Is he your pet?"
"Sort of. He's more like a companion to us," the girl said before catching Momo in her arms. She then gave the Chunin a grateful smile. "Thanks for finding Momo. I was afraid he was going to get lost somewhere,"
"Don't mention it. My name is Shujinko, by the way. Shujinko Ozuma,"
"Katara. It's nice to meet you,"
Shujinko was pleased with Katara's manners, although her name was a bit strange. It certainly wasn't a common one around the Hidden Leaf Village. 'Come to think of it, Katara's brother also had a weird name. I suppose the Southern Water Tribe… whatever that is, gives its people names like Katara and Sokka. Perhaps it's part of their culture or something,' "Well, now that we know each others' names, can you please tell me what Momo is, exactly? I've never seen that specie of monkeys in my life,"
Katara seemed a little surprised, but answered his question nonetheless. "Momo isn't a monkey, it's a lemur. The truth is, there aren't a whole lot of them left. For all we know, Momo may be the last of its kind. The Fire Nation wiped them out when they attacked the Air Nomads a hundred years ago,"
"Fire Nation?" Shujinko repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you mean the Land of Fire? I suppose they're technically the same, but I've never heard someone referring to my country as the Fire Nation. And what are these Air Nomads that you speak of?"
"You… You come from the Fire Nation?"
The Ozuma was slightly taken aback by the growing look of horror that was growing on Katara's face. She certainly seemed spooked, but Shujinko couldn't figure out why. Had he said something wrong? "Again, it's called Land of Fire, not Fire Nation. And yes, I was born here. Why are you acting so surprised?"
"B-Born here? But… If you're from the Fire Nation, that means…"
Shujinko let out a sigh. Did this girl not know anything about geography at all? How could she not know they were in the Land of Fire? And why was she insisting on calling it the Fire Nation anyway? Not even Naruto was this dimwitted during his days in the Academy, and that was saying something. The golden-eyed boy was beginning to wonder who was really the lost one out of the two of them. "Look, I'll explain this nice and easy. I'm a ninja born and raised in the Hidden Leaf Village. The Hidden Leaf Village is located in the Land of Fire. In case you don't know, ninjas are soldiers trained in the arts of combat and stealth. You must be from really, and I mean really far away to not know of our existence…"
But Katara was no longer paying attention to his words. The moment her brain associated the terms "Land of Fire" and "soldier", she drew her own conclusions. If that wasn't enough, the boy in front of her had golden eyes, a very common trait amongst Fire Nation soldiers, and he was also carrying what seemed to be a knife holster of sorts. Realization dawned upon Katara, and once she understood what was going on, she opened her leather pouch where she kept her water stored.
"… Hello? Are you listening to me, Kata-" Shujinko couldn't finish his sentence as he was suddenly struck by a whip of water controlled by Katara. The attack was so unwarranted that not even Shujinko was able to react to it. The whip slapped him across his face so hard that it nearly caused him to fall on his back, but he managed to regain his stance before that could happen. "What the hell is wrong with you!?" the Ozuma demanded as he rubbed his cheek. "Why did you do that for!?"
"You must be insane if you believe I'm gonna fall for your tricks," Katara retorted, keeping her water whip ready for another attack. "You're a Fire Nation soldier. You're here to capture the Avatar!"
"Avatar? I have no idea what you're talking about, and I'm not interested in capturing anyone! You're not making any sense at all!"
Katara wasn't willing to hear any explanations, much less from a Fire Nation spy. She moved her arms in a circular motion and aimed another lash at Shujinko. This time, the Chunin was capable of evading the liquid tendril by performing a backward summersault to gain some distance from his opponent. Katara seemed impressed by his acrobatic skills, but remained silent as she split her water whip in two, using her hands to control each tendril.
'How is she doing this? It doesn't seem like she's performing Ninjutsu, she's just magically controlling the shape and length of that water. Is that a Kekkei Genkai or is she just that good at Water Release? No, it has to be something else. She's not weaving any hand signs at all,' Shujinko thought. Kakashi once taught him that skilled users of Ninjutsu were capable of performing specific techniques using fewer hand signs than the required amount. But being able to use water the way this girl did without weaving any hand signs whatsoever was borderline impossible.
Then, Katara did something that made Shujinko gape. She divided the water she was controlling into several blobs before turning them into spikes of ice. He had only seen that ability once in his life, and the person who had that ability was Haku, whom he fought against about a year ago. That boy had a Kekkei Genkai that allowed him to use Ice Release, a rare style of Ninjutsu. Was it possible that this girl was a distant relative of Haku?
'But even Haku had to use hand signs in order to perform Ice Release. Katara isn't using any,' Shujinko remembered. Indeed, despite being awfully talented, Haku still had to weave hand signs just like any other shinobi. He could even do hand sings using one hand, a remarkable feat for someone so young, but it didn't change the fact that he needed to use them regardless of how skilled he was.
Without a second to waste, Katara threw her ice pikes at Shujinko, who pulled out two kunais and started to smash the incoming projectiles. Months ago, he would've considered using the Karura Tensei to enhance his reflexes as well as his eyesight in this situation, but the Shujinko of today chose not to. Part of his training under Kakashi included learning not to use a hidden boost or ability straight away. Hawk Sage Mode was a powerful tool, but it was never a good idea to rely on any tool permanently. Instead, it was better to naturally develop the skills that the Karura Tensei granted him and use his Kekkei Genkai only when it was necessary. Kakashi himself avoided using his Sharingan unless he had to.
Besides, while the ice pikes were dangerous, they weren't being thrown with enough potency or accuracy to make them lethal. Shujinko didn't have much difficulty shredding them to bits and pieces using his kunais. Once Katara had run out of pikes to throw, the Ozuma was already running towards her. Realizing that there was no water left inside her pouch, Katara brought a huge mass of water from a well nearby and directed it at Shujinko in the form of a jet. The forceful impact sent the Chunin crashing against the wall and breaking through it.
BAAM
Katara carefully approached the wall Shujinko had crashed into, keeping a water whip ready in case he tried to do something. Much to her shock, Shujinko was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was… a log of wood? "What in the…"
SWOOSH
Before she could even make sense of what was going on, Katara found herself facing the ground with one of her arms against her back after having her legs swept from behind. She felt something weighing down on her, and she realized she was being subdued, but everything happened way too fast for her to react. Katara attempted to bend some water using her free hand, but the sight of a strange knife getting stuck into the ground inches away from her eyes made her froze.
"Don't move unless you want to get hurt," Shujinko warned her. While her adversary was the owner of a rather interesting power, she didn't seem to have a lot of experience fighting against ninjas if a Replacement Jutsu caught her off guard that badly. At least she wasn't trying to fight back now. "You're going to tell me exactly where do you come from and why you attacked me, is that clear?"
"I have nothing to say to you. I won't let you hurt Aang or the people of this village!" Katara replied hotly.
"Aang? Who is Aang? And why would I want to hurt this Aang you're talking about or the people of this village for that matter? You're either insane or mistaking me for someone else,"
"Mistaking you for someone else? You just admitted you're a spy from the Fire Nation! How stupid do you think I am?"
"I never said that you were stupid, but you're definitely giving me the impression that you're crazy," Shujinko replied. "And by the way, how many times do I have to tell you? It's called the Land of Fire. Literally nobody calls it the 'Fire Nation'. It's like you're talking about a different place. And besides, what's with all this resentment? What has the Land of Fire ever done to you?"
Katara turned her head around as much as she could so that her angry gaze met Shujinko's. "Oh, you mean besides starting the Hundred Year War and causing pain and misery wherever you go? Or how about when you attacked the Northern Water Tribe just a month ago? That's all you Fire Nation soldiers do, attack and hurt innocent people! And the worst thing of all is that you won't even admit it to yourself!"
…
Shujinko pulled out the kunai that was stuck into the ground and placed it inside its holster. Then, much to Katara's surprise, he got off of her and gently helped her stand up. Katara was about to start using Waterbending against him, but the befuddled look on Shujinko's face made her stop, especially after what he said to her. "... What are you talking about? What Northern Water Tribe? What hundred-year war? I think I would know if my country was invading other lands,"
The tone of his voice, coupled with the puzzled stare she was receiving from those exotic golden eyes, was enough for Katara to calm down and listen to what he was saying. Besides, had he really wanted to hurt her, Shujinko could've easily done that while he was restraining her, yet instead he chose not to. However, what Shujinko had just told her made no sense whatsoever. "Wait, you don't know about the war that's been going on? How is that even possible? Where have you been all of this time?" Katara asked incredulously.
Shujinko crossed his arms, his brow furrowed. "Here, in the Land of Fire. Besides, I'm a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf Village, arguably the most important place in all of the country. I'm pretty sure I would've heard whispers or rumors about this so-called war a long time ago,"
The waterbender blinked in confusion. "Here? But we're in the Earth Kingdom, not the Land of Fire or however you want to call it. Are you sure this Hidden Leaf Village exists? Because I've never heard of it, and I can bet neither Aang nor Sokka have. They sound like imaginary places,"
"Excuse me, but the only imaginary places I'm hearing are the ones coming out of your mouth," Shujinko snapped, but on the inside, he was beginning to tremble out of anxiety and uncertainness. This whole conversation was giving him a bad feeling. "Earth Kingdom? Fire Nation? How can I not know about them if they've existed for so long? Why are you lying to me?"
"I'm not lying! You're the one who's not making any sense!"
Before things could get any more heated, Sokka and the bald kid, whom Shujinko supposed was Aang, came running to them in a hurry. "Katara, there you are! We have to leave this place immediately!" Sokka shouted, completely ignoring the boy next to his sister.
"What happened, Sokka?" Katara asked with concern.
"We spotted a squad of Fire Nation soldiers arriving here. They're interrogating the locals about us, and if we don't escape now, we're gonna get ourselves and the rest of the townspeople in trouble,"
"Sokka's right. I can't let the people who live here to get hurt on my behalf," Aang said. "These Fire Nation soldiers are after us. We have to let them know we escaped, otherwise they might threaten the villagers and ask them if they have seen us,"
"Whoever these Fire Nation soldiers are, they're clearly not ninjas," Shujinko replied abruptly. The three youngsters turned to him, none of them seeming to understand what the shinobi had just stated. The Ozuma ignored their confused gazes and gave Aang a sharp look. "Where are they now?"
The Avatar felt slightly uncomfortable under Shujinko's demanding stare but answered nonetheless. "They must be near the market place by now, but why do you want to know that?"
Shujinko didn't bother to reply. Instead, he lowered his knees and performed a swift jump that took him to the roof of a wooden building. His movements were so fast that it almost looked as if he had disappeared out of thin air for a second. Aang, Sokka, and Katara watched in shocked silence how the boy jumped from one roof to another with no difficulty whatsoever.
"Woah, how is he doing that?" Sokka asked no one in particular as he watched the strange-looking boy defy the laws of physics.
Aang himself was mute. He didn't know any other human being other than himself capable of doing similar acrobatics. Experimented airbenders were able to manipulate the element of air to their advantage when it came to moving from one place to another, something he had done on multiple occasions. However, this boy was performing no Airbending whatsoever, or at the very least it didn't look like it. As crazy as it sounded, the guy was simply jumping over houses as if he had the natural strength and speed to do so.
As she witnessed someone performing the impossible, Katara recalled the short fight she had against Shujinko. Somehow, against all logic and reason, the brown-haired boy replaced himself with a log of wood during the heat of the battle in order to avoid getting struck by the water she was bending. Katara still couldn't wrap her head around that, but she pretty much saw it with her own eyes. And now, as if that previous stunt wasn't crazy enough, Shujinko was casually jumping over the streets from one roof to another like it was no big deal.
What was equally mindboggling was that, for some reason she couldn't quite grasp, Shujinko didn't seem to have any knowledge about the Hundred Year War whatsoever. He claimed to have come from the Fire Nation, or the 'Land of Fire' as he called it. Katara assumed those two places were the same, only with a different name. After all, there couldn't be much of an etymological difference between the terms Fire Nation and Land of Fire. But then, Shujinko said he was born here in the Earth Kingdom and referred to it as the Land of Fire, which made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
And yet, something was telling Katara that Shujinko was being truthful. He spoke with conviction and he truly seemed to be lost and in need of help. At the very least she wanted to hear an explanation for his weird behavior and his intriguing abilities. The only thing she could tell for certain was that Shujinko was far from being an ordinary boy.
"Never mind that guy, we have to find Appa and go now!" Sokka shouted all of a sudden.
"Wait, but what about him?" Aang asked referring to Shujinko. "He's not from around here, are you sure we should leave him behind?"
"Don't you see it, Aang? He's probably on his way to rat us out! For all we know, he could be a Fire Nation spy!"
"He's not," Katara said firmly. "We have to go after him,"
Sokka gave his sister a desperate look. "Not now, Katara! This is serious! How can you tell he's not a spy?"
"Women intuition. Come on, let's go before it's too late,"
"Listen up, peasants. We have urgent news coming from the Fire Nation," the lieutenant of the Fire Nation squad, a man named Kaizu, said as he stood on an empty cart in the middle of the market place, where a large group of people had gathered. "We've been informed that the Avatar might be in one of these stinking villages that you call home. If any of you cockroaches see a boy who matches the description of the wanted posters, you're obligated to share whatever information you have with us. If we find out that any of you have been giving him food or shelter, this town will suffer the consequences of betraying the glorious Fire Nation,"
The villagers started to murmur at each other, asking if they had seen a bald boy with blue tattoos around. Shujinko was right. These nutcases who wore red armor couldn't possibly be ninjas. Not only had they yet to detect his presence amongst the crowd, but they also drew too much attention to themselves and acted far too superior for their own good. That being said, they didn't seem like common thugs or mercenaries either. They were more like… well, soldiers, except that Shujinko had never seen that kind of armor before.
Lieutenant Kaizu then smirked, slightly arching his Fu Manchu mustache. "Now, in order to incentivize the capture of the Avatar, the Fire Lord has deemed appropriate to reward those who contribute to our enterprise. 20 golden pieces will be given to whoever gives us solid information that will lead us to the Avatar's whereabouts, 150 golden pieces to whoever brings us the Avatar alive. With that amount of money, any of you could leave this degrading pigsty of a village and start a new life with new hopes. The choice is yours,"
After hearing Lieutenant Kaizu's announcement, Shujinko's mind began to formulate a theory. These soldiers were probably being paid by the owner of the land to capture this Avatar person. The owner of the land had the title of "Fire Lord", awfully eccentric and pompous in Shujinko's opinion, and it sounded almost the same as Feudal Lord. If he were to guess, whoever this Avatar was, he had committed a crime or an offense grave enough for the Fire Lord to send his soldiers after him.
It made the Ozuma wonder why this Fire Lord sent his own soldiers after the Avatar instead of hiring ninjas, who specialized in this sort of affairs. Granted, using his soldiers was probably cheaper than making a contract with a shinobi village, but if these men had to literally announce to every town that they were looking for a certain someone, then they couldn't be very efficient at tracking people down or gathering information. Besides, Shujinko didn't know how much value these golden pieces have or how their worth translated into ryos, but 150 golden pieces sounded like a lot of money, probably enough to hire the services of a qualified shinobi.
Shujinko managed to get his hands on one of the wanted posters that were being distributed by the soldiers. Much to his surprise, the Avatar was none other than Aang, the bald monk with the blue arrowhead. The poster depicted a fairly accurate image of the young boy, along with a short description of his appearance and his clothing.
The information in the wanted poster didn't include a reason as for why Aang was being persecuted. The fact that Aang didn't seem to be older than him was far too strange for Shujinko to ignore. He expected the Avatar to be a grown man, not a boy who was barely starting puberty. What could Aang have done to have a price on his head?
'Maybe he's not a criminal,' Shujinko thought. 'Maybe he comes from an important family that opposes the Fire Lord, and the Fire Lord wants to capture Aang to use him as a bargaining chip. The whole monk attire might just be a costume that he uses to avoid raising suspicion wherever he goes. I can't tell for sure. There's so much that still needs to be explained,'
"Hey, you there!" Shujinko lifted his eyes from the poster and looked over his shoulder. One of the soldiers was approaching him, and he didn't look very pleased with Shujinko's presence. "Your clothes are not from around here. Where do you come from and what is your name?"
The Ozuma folded the paper in half twice before placing it inside one of his pockets. "If you want to know someone's name, it's a fairly common courtesy to give yours first," he replied.
The soldier spat on the ground, clearly annoyed by the answer he received. "Don't get smart with me, kid. Answer my question right now or else,"
This imbecile clearly didn't know whom he was talking to. It was particularly moronic for a common soldier to threaten a shinobi, even if they were Genins fresh out of the Academy. Civilians and people who weren't ninjas, in general, saw them as magical and deadly individuals that lurked in the shadows. They were like living ghost who were able to appear wherever they wanted and disappear in a blink of an eye.
However, what people associated ninjas the most with was their ability to kill. There were hundreds if not thousands of imaginable ways for a shinobi to end the life of a common man. The metallic headband worn by them already demanded respect out of those who had never even held a kunai before in their lives, and while shinobis were usually strictly forbidden from killing those whose existence didn't endanger theirs or the success of their mission, most regular people wouldn't dare test their patience nor their temper. This was specially the case when dealing with missing-nins, shinobis who had forsaken their villages and who followed their own moral code.
In any case, Shujinko didn't want to start an unnecessary fight against a dunce of a foot soldier, as he would gain nothing from it other than troublesome attention. "The best fights are the ones that you can avoid," Kakashi once told him. "My name is Shujinko Ozuma. I'm a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf Village," Shujinko said. He added that last bit with hopes of getting his message across and get the man to leave him alone.
It didn't work. The soldier frowned heavily at him, stepping forward until he was at arms-length with the Chunin. "Shinobi? I've never heard that word before, and I know for a fact that this village that you speak of doesn't exist here in the Earth Kingdom. Are you trying to make fun of me, you little scumbag?"
That was it. This was the second person that didn't know about the existence of the Hidden Leaf Village. When Katara and her brother Sokka claimed they had never heard about the Hidden Leaf Village, Shujinko was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt given the fact that they were foreigners, but this was coming from a soldier. To think that a soldier, someone instructed in the ways of war, was unaware of the most military-focused village in all of the land was just preposterous.
And he also mentioned something about being in the "Earth Kingdom"… That made no sense. Not only was that geographically incorrect, but it was also historically inaccurate. Kingdoms used to be a form of government that no longer existed in the current day and age. Probably the most iconic piece of history reminiscent of kingdoms was Shogi, the board game created by the original purpose of entertaining kings and teaching generals about strategy. It was a useful tool even for shinobis, Shujinko being an aficionado himself. In any case, kingdoms no longer existed anywhere in the shinobi continent and anyone who claimed otherwise was a madman.
But then, an unnerving thought crossed Shujinko's mind, a possibility he hadn't considered before.
All of this time, he had been trying to figure out the circumstances that brought him to this strange place under the assumption that he had left the village less than 24 hours ago, as his most recent memory was him going to bed at night. He woke up in a forest and found himself unable to recall the events that led him to where he was. If he couldn't do that, then it was completely possible that more than 24 hours had passed since he left the village. What if a week had gone by without him knowing? What if he had lost his memory of the last month?
He was so lost in his train of thought that he forgot about the soldier in front of him, who was now grabbing him by the collar of his vest. "Ignoring your superiors, are you? I'm gonna teach you a lesson for being so disrespectful,"
Much to the soldier's surprise, Shujinko glared at him intensely. "Get your hand off me before I beat the snot out of you," he replied. The Ozuma was fed up with the uncertainty of his situation, as well as the soldier's arrogance and disdainful attitude.
"Why you…" the soldier, shocked by the boy's display of audacity, pulled his arm back and proceeded to slap Shujinko with the back of his hand…
… Or at least he tried. Shujinko effortlessly stopped his hand before it got close to his face. In an almost imperceptive move, the Chunin punched the soldier square in the face with a strength that did not belong to a normal fourteen-year-old boy. The man wobbled backwards and tripped over his own feet, landing on the mud and covering his armor in filth.
Everyone in the near vicinity stood in silence as they experienced a mix of emotions. They were shocked that someone so young would dare attack a Fire Nation troop, grateful to the boy for standing up to the ones that had been abused and berated Gi Yuin Village for so long, and terrified for the inevitable result of Shujinko's action. Insulting a Fire Nation soldier was already a punishable crime in an of itself, and attacking one of them was one of the biggest offenses against the law, at least in any place the Fire Nation had deployed soldiers to in order to impose authority.
Filled with blinding rage, the soldier stood up and performed a straight punch, releasing a fireball at Shujinko. His shinobi instincts kicked in, and Shujinko jumped over the flaming projectile with a summersault, landing on the edge of a house's roof. Almost as soon as he landed, the Ozuma jumped from his spot in a diagonal fashion, turning around in midair and kicking the soldier's forehead. The force behind the kick and the speed with which was delivered was enough to knock the soldier's lights out, sending him flying a couple of feet away.
Aang, Sokka, and Katara managed to reach the marketplace just in time to see this happen. While still impressed, Katara had already seen Shujinko in action before and had at least a vague idea of his abilities, which was why she wasn't as dumbfounded as Aang and Sokka were. Those two were gawking like koi fishes, amazed by how easily the lost foreigner had taken out a Fire Nation soldier without the need to use bending.
"Men, capture that boy!" Lieutenant Kaizu barked. Soon, fourteen other soldiers barged into the scene, some of them wielding spears while the rest of the soldiers adopted peculiar fighting stances Shujinko had never seen before.
The first soldier that attacked was brandishing a spear. Shujinko dodged the first two thrusts by taking two steps backs and swerving his body so that the blade wouldn't touch him. The soldier then performed a spin before swinging his weapon horizontally. Shujinko immediately ducked down, allowing the sharp steel to pass over his head before retaliating with a powerful uppercut to the jaw.
Another soldier decided to send a compressed fireball at Shujinko while his partner was still stunned by the uppercut he received. Shujinko saw the circular motions of the second soldier and predicted his attack. He quickly grabbed the soldier's spear and forced him to turn around before kicking him in the gut, snatching the weapon from his hands in the process.
By the time the soldier realized what was going on, a fireball was already on its way to where he was and the golden-eyed boy was nowhere near close to him. Using his own bending, the soldier tried to counter the incoming fireball by creating a fireball of his own, but he was too slow to react. The two fireballs exploded upon impact and the soldier was sent back, crashing against a pile of wooden boxes.
Shujinko approached the soldier who had just released a fireball at him, dodging his flames by diving in a zigzag fashion. Panicking by how close Shujinko was, the soldier released a ring of fire around himself, but the shinobi simply jumped over the expanding ring of fire and landed a strike on the soldier's temple, taking advantage of the fact that his adversary wasn't wearing a helmet.
"We have to help him!" Aang said as he grabbed his staff and jumped into the action. Katara, who was willing to help Shujinko defeat the Fire Nation soldiers even after her previous confrontation with the golden-eyed boy, followed him. Watching him fight against the troops made Katara question the image she had of Shujinko. She no longer believed Shujinko to be a Fire Nation spy; he was just a peculiar guy with abilities that were out of the ordinary from a probably even weirder place.
"Do we have to?" Sokka asked as he saw Aang and Katara approach the Ozuma. "Shouldn't we take this opportunity to… Oh fine, let's help him," he said in a surrendering tone of voice once he realized neither of them was listening to him.
Shujinko frowned heavily at the incoming group who had joined the fight. "What are you doing?" he asked them as they formed a defensive line alongside him.
"Don't worry, we're not gonna hurt you. You don't have to face all of them on your own," Aang replied. "These people are looking for me, so the least I can do is give you a hand,"
The idea of fighting side by side with a group of strangers didn't sit well with the brown-haired boy. He was especially wary of Katara, who had assaulted him without a reason or motive that he could deem as understandable. Still, he could use some help taking out these chums without having to kill any of them, not only because he always tried to avoid killing people unless it was absolutely necessary, but also because murdering one of the soldiers of the Fire Lord, whoever that guy was, could create huge problems for him and his village in the future. After all, he ignored the circumstances and the context of the situation he found himself in, and it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Very well, then. I hope you guys know how to handle yourselves," Shujinko finally said.
Once the unexpected alliance had been acquiescently conformed, the group split into two. Aang teamed up with Katara and Sokka remained with Shujinko. As they fought, the Chunin noticed that despite not weaving any hand signs whatsoever, Aang, Katara, and the Fire Nation soldiers were capable of using some weird version of elemental Ninjutsu. It was hard to describe, but it was as if these guys were connected to their respective elements in a way Shujinko had never seen before.
There were other differences between Ninjutsu and the elemental manipulation he was seeing here. Most Fire Release techniques relied on the user spitting out fire in various shapes and sizes. These soldiers, however, released flames from their hands and even their feet, something so difficult to do that was considered to be nearly impossible, even by shinobis' standards. Nevertheless, these soldiers couldn't be actual ninjas judging by the way they carried themselves and the way they acted. Besides, they were too slow and straightforward in their attacks, which was why Shujinko was able to read their movements and attack them using Taijutsu alone.
The Ozuma was currently fending off two soldiers at the same time while Sokka held his club and his machete, looking left and right for someone to fight. His opportunity presented itself in the form of Lieutenant Kaizu, who was standing on the sloped rooftop of a house between two other soldiers of his squad. "Men, attack!" Lieutenant Kaizu ordered.
Without thinking twice about it, Sokka grabbed his boomerang and threw it. Lieutenant Kaizu and his soldiers were ready to jump out of the way, but the throwing weapon didn't even come close to hitting them, as if the boy from the Water Tribe had intended to throw the boomerang at an invisible target more than ten feet away from where they were standing.
The three firebenders stared at each other in slight confusion before Lieutenant Kaizu quickly snapped out of it. "Don't lose your attention so easily, you idiots! I said attack!"
CLANK
Lieutenant Kaizu was suddenly struck in the back of his head by Sokka's boomerang. Even though he was wearing a helmet, the unexpected impact was enough for Lieutenant Kaizu to lose his balance and end up slipping down the rooftop. In a desperate attempt, Lieutenant Kaizu grabbed the ankles of both his soldiers, but the only thing he managed to do was to make them lose their footing as well, and in the end, the three of them fell face-first to the muddy ground.
"Woo-hoo! That's what Sokka's talking about, baby!" Sokka exclaimed. "Who needs bending when you have a boomerang?"
Sokka was so caught up in his celebration that he didn't notice the Fire Nation soldier coming at him until it was almost too late. The soldier swung his sword horizontally, and while Sokka managed to raise his club and his machete just in time, he unintentionally dropped them after parrying two of his attacks. The soldier charged again, and with nothing to defend himself with, Sokka stepped back and accidentally fell on his butt after placing his foot on wet dirt.
The soldier raised his sword over his head, intending to finish business. Sokka closed his eyes and brought his arms to his face…
CLANG
The sword never reached Sokka. When he opened his eyes, he saw Shujinko standing between him and the soldier, holding two of his weird knives in a crisscross fashion to stop the blade from coming any closer. The boy with brown hair and strange clothes had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, almost as if he was using some kind of teleportation.
Of course, that wasn't the case. It was just that Shujinko's speed far exceeded that of a normal human being due to his training, and for someone who had never been trained in the shinobi arts, it was borderline impossible to fully perceive the movements of a ninja. Shujinko was fast, but not particularly so when compared to people like Neji, Lee, and Kakashi just to name a few.
"What are you waiting for!?" Shujinko shouted as he glared at Sokka over his shoulder, still struggling against the swordsman. "Don't just sit there, move!" Shujinko's command shook Sokka out of his state of trance. Realizing that he was still in danger, the son of Hakoda grabbed his weapons and scurried off to where Aang and Katara were.
Now that he didn't have to worry about Sokka, the Ozuma could concentrate on his fight. While the swordsman certainly didn't lack strength, he committed the terrible mistake of spreading his legs too wide for his own good, and Shujinko didn't hesitate to send a kick to his family jewels. Granted, attacking someone's genitals wasn't the noblest thing to do even during a physical confrontation, but it was damn effective and that was all Shujinko cared about. Besides, he was fighting against an enemy, not sparring against a comrade.
The swordsman's eyes bugged out and his jaw fell open. He really felt that one. Taking advantage of his position, Shujinko lowered his kunais, forcing the soldier to do the same with his blade. Then, Shujinko buried his knee deep into the man's gut to make him lose whatever oxygen he still had inside his lungs, and to finish it all up, the brown-haired boy punched the soldier in the face with enough strength to send him several steps back until he fell, clutching his groin in agony.
Shujinko turned around. All of the soldiers were either unconscious or experiencing too much pain to stand back up, but none of them were dead. Until he knew for certain who was this Fire Lord and what the Fire Nation was, killing soldiers was something he wanted to avoid.
"I think that's the last of them," Aang said to Katara while Sokka used a ladder to reach Momo, who had climbed up a post the minute the fight had taken place. "At least we managed to get enough food for a couple of days before this happened. So what do we do now?"
"We have to call Appa and leave this village. They'll be looking for us the minute they wake up. It's too dangerous to stick around here," Katara replied.
"Aang, Katara, look out!" Sokka shouted.
One Fire Nation soldier was standing on the rooftop of another house with a bow and a quiver full of arrows. He was the only one who had been smart enough to hide in a secure place and wait until the fighting was over before attacking. By the time Sokka had alerted Aang and Katara of his presence, the soldier had already tensed his bow and was seconds away from firing an arrow directed at Aang.
SWOOSH
THUCK
Having felt the presence of the soldier before Sokka had, Shujinko threw a shuriken at the wooden weapon. The metallic star got embedded into the bow, startling the archer and making him miss his shot. Instead of hitting its target, the arrow flew straight into a pile of hay that happened to be nearby.
"What the...!"
BAAM
After throwing his shuriken and possibly saving the life of the bald kid, Shujinko approached the archer at great speed and delivered a flying kick that took him off guard. It was basically the same kick as Might Guy's Dynamic Entry, but without yelling out the stupid name first since doing that wasn't just ridiculous, but also counterproductive as it gave away Guy's position.
The archer saw stars when Shujinko's feet met his face. His body crashed against the chimney, knocking his lights out for good. Shujinko let out a sigh, glad to have reacted in time. He jumped off the house and slowly made his way to the group of teenagers who were staring at him, their jaws slacking.
"How did you do that?" Katara asked almost immediately.
"You can ask questions later. Right now, it's important that we leave this place as soon as we can, and I'm coming with you," Shujinko replied with a no-nonsense tone of voice.
Sokka frowned. "Wait a minute, we don't know who you are. Who said you can come with us?"
"I did. I need someone to explain to me what is going on and where I am. Considering how I just saved your lives, I think the least you can do is give me some information,"
"Sokka, I think he's right," Aang interjected. "He did help us out with those soldiers, and if he wanted to hurt us, he would've done so already. I say we give him a chance,"
Katara remained silent. After what happened with Jet, she had a hard time trusting complete strangers, even if they seemed to have good intentions. It would be foolish of her to repeat the same mistake twice. Although she usually trusted Aang's sense of judgment, Katara knew the young monk almost always assumed that the people around them had honest intentions only, which sometimes did more harm than good.
Regardless, Shujinko did indeed help them defeat the Fire Nation soldiers and even prevented something terrible from happening by stopping that archer. Who knew what would've happened if Shujinko hadn't been there. Although she still had her fair share of doubts, Katara decided that hearing what Shujinko had to say wasn't such a terrible idea, or at least it wouldn't be the worst idea they had ever come up with.
"I'm with Aang. We can't leave him alone here after lending us a hand," Katara said. Shujinko sent a curious glance her way. First, she attacked him, and now she was fine with him being around? Whatever. He didn't know how the mind of a girl worked, and there were more important issues at hand right now.
The corner of Sokka's mouth twitched, clearly not approving the way things were developing. As far as he was concerned, the foreigner had no place in their group, not because he had anything against the guy in particular, but rather because he wasn't fond of new incorporations and rushed decisions. Sokka was about to tell them to forget about it until he remembered how the stranger saved his life when he confronted the swordsman that was about to deliver the killing blow. He owed him, and Sokka hated owing people when he didn't know anything about them. The only way to clear his debt was by accepting the stranger's request and get over with this mess as soon as possible.
"Fine, he can tag along for the time being. Now let's get out of here," Sokka finally said, much to Aang and Katara's satisfaction.
"Wait, please," an elderly man said as he made his way towards them. He was old enough to have a few grandchildren of his own. "On behalf of Gi Yuin village, please accept our gratitude. Those Fire Nation soldiers have been causing an awful lot of trouble as of lately. Knowing that there are young and brave lads like you out there, who are willing to fight back against the oppression of the Fire Nation, gives my heart comfort,"
"Think nothing of it, sir," Aang replied as he bowed and performed a sign with his hands. Shujinko supposed it was a common way to show respect around these weird lands. "I'm sorry for causing the village so much trouble. Some stuff got destroyed here and there,"
"An awfully low price to pay in exchange for justice. Barrels and buildings can be repaired, but the same thing cannot be said about the pride of those ruffians,"
"When they realize that we're gone, those soldiers will be asking the people of this village where did we ran off to," Shujinko said. "If you want to thank us, you can do so by giving the soldiers false information. Tell the villagers to give different leads in case they ever get questioned. Other villages, towns, and cities within a reasonable distance from here should throw them off. With enough people giving different answers, those soldiers won't know where to begin looking for,"
The elderly man nodded. "A wise idea, I'll make sure everyone follows it. Safe travels, young ones,"
Sokka rubbed his temples in exasperation. "Alright, alright, enough chit chat. We'd love to stay for a cup of tea and biscuits, but we're kinda in the middle of something called 'not getting hunted by the Fire Nation', and we've wasted enough time already. Come on people, let's move out,"
The group of travelers walked deep into the forest in search of a glade large enough to call for Appa. Since the Sky Bison would've attracted far too much attention in a small place such as Gi Yuin Village, it was decided that Appa was going to fly around undetected while Aang and the siblings from the Water Tribe went to buy the provisions they needed.
Due to Shujinko's presence, the group was unusually quiet. Sokka, who was besides Shujinko, walked in front of Katara in case the new guy tried to do something to his sister. As for Katara, she wasn't enjoying the awkward silence, but she wanted to avoid talking to Shujinko unless she had to. If Katara accidentally let it slip that she and Shujinko had a bit of a confrontation before the Fire Nation soldiers arrived, Aang and especially Sokka weren't going to be happy and violence was more than likely to happen.
Aang did his best to avoid eye contact with Shujinko, although he couldn't help stealing a few glances his way, only to turn his head around when Shujinko stared back at him with a raised eyebrow. The tension was truly tangible. He occasionally threw out Shujinko innocent, non-invasive comments in order to lighten up the mood, and while Shujinko did not ignore said comments, it was rather obvious that Aang, Sokka, and Katara were waiting for the right moment to ask the big questions.
"Alright, here we are!" Aang cheerily announced as they reached a glade inside the woods. "This place looks large enough for Appa to fit in. I'll call him right now,"
"Who's Appa?" Shujinko asked.
"Mhm? Oh, right, you wouldn't know. Appa is our friend. He lets us ride on his back and fly to wherever we need to go. If it weren't for him, we never would've gotten here, or anywhere for that matter,"
Shujinko blinked once… twice… thrice… "Right… I'll just pretend that what you said made sense. It's not my business anyways," he said before taking a seat on a fallen tree. The forest was oddly familiar to ones back in the Hidden Leaf Village, which made him feel as if he was in the village he called home, even if only for a second. Shaking the thoughts out of his head, the Ozuma gave Aang a serious stare. "Now, I think I deserve some answers,"
Aang blew a strange whistle shaped like an animal, emitting a deaf sound that the human ear could barely even register. "Well, what do you want to know?"
"First and foremost, I'd like to know where we are,"
"… Inside a forest near Gi Yuin Village?" Aang asked tentatively.
The Chunin slapped his forehead. "Yes, Aang, I know that. I'm talking about where we are as a whole. I've never heard of Gi Yuin village before, and the same thing goes to all the places I've heard so far. I don't know how I ended up here. The only thing I know is that I have to find a way to the Hidden Leaf Village as soon as possible. I could really use a map right now,"
"Well, if what you need is a map, you could use ours," Katara offered. She then stared at her brother, who reluctantly took out a carefully rolled piece of paper attached to a thin string of leather and tossed it to Shujinko, who caught it effortlessly.
"Thanks. It won't take me long. I'll get out of your hair as soon as I figure out where I am and how to get to where I need to go," Shujinko said as his facial features softened considerably. He was finally, finally making some progress.
Removing the string of leather, Shujinko opened the map…
…
The eyes of Aang, Katara, and Sokka widened when Shujinko began to frown at the map, even going as far as switching its position several times before reading the name of the places shown in it. His frown deepened by the second until it became a full-blown glare. His odd behavior caused the three other youngsters to share a curious look between them until Aang spoke up.
"Huuuh, Shujinko… is there something wrong?"
Shujinko extended his arm as he showed the map to the group. "Well, yeah. What kind of map is this? Where the hell are we?"
Aaaaaaaand that was chapter 2. Hope you all liked it.
So how was it? Starting a story is hardly ever easy, especially when your character finds itself in a world different from its own. I tried my hardest to make Shujinko's reactions and thoughts as believable as I could. And how was the scene fight? I know it wasn't as exciting as other fights I have planned, but you have to keep in mind that Shujinko is a Chunin and has been training with Kakashi over eight months now, so yeah, don't be surprised if he doesn't go all out against a couple of fodder firebenders. I think we can all agree that the average shinobi beats the average bender. At the very least that's what I think and I know most of you think the same as I.
Don't forget to Review, Favorite & Follow
Peace!