CHAPTER 10: ON THE RUN

(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 want? Get ready for one wild space-time adventure

The day after Aang's first successful attempt at Earthbending, Team Avatar set out to find a new place to hide and lay low. While they could've stayed at the abandoned rock quarry for a couple more days, Shujinko had heavily advised against it, claiming that the chances of them getting caught by the Fire Nation would increase the longer they remained stationary. When asked if it was necessary for them to move out when there was no immediate need to do so, Shujinko replied with "Shinobi rule number 30: Always keep your enemies guessing, even when they're not around,"

Both Aang and Katara thought the Chunin was exaggerating, but to their surprise, Toph was actually on board with the idea. Not because she was thinking along the same lines as Shujinko though, but rather because this was her first time exploring the real world and she wanted to visit as many places as she could. Besides, other than lifting, moving, and throwing the same stones over and over again, there really wasn't a whole lot to do in a rock quarry. As for Sokka, he pointed out the scarcity of resources around them and how there was barely any game to hunt, as well as how he didn't fancy getting stuck inside a hole again.

With two votes against and three votes in favor, Team Avatar ended up leaving the rock quarry in search of a new camping site. After flying for a couple of hours, they came across a rural region of the Earth Kingdom surrounded by humped hills. They decided to stop there since it was getting late in the evening and they needed to start setting up their camp. Aang chose a spot that seemed open enough for them to rest comfortably and secluded enough to avoid being seen.

"Alright, this place looks good enough," Aang said after Appa landed on the ground. "What do you guys think?"

"Are you kidding me? After spending a week in a boring and uncomfortable rock quarry, this is paradise," Sokka said with a smile as he tossed his sleeping bag to the ground. "Hey, you know what I was thinking? Since Appa is shedding, we should use his fur to make sleeping mats. Just imagine all the warm and cozy naps we would enjoy,"

Toph scoffed at that. "No way. Everybody knows the earth beneath our feet is the best sleeping mat one could ask for,"

While Sokka started ranting about how only a lunatic would choose to sleep on the hard ground, Shujinko was too busy noticing the amount of hair scattered around the campsite. Appa was a big and furry animal, and the amount of fur he was shedding could potentially become a problem for them. "Hey Aang, how long does it takes for Appa to shed all of his fur?" Shujinko asked with a slight frown on his face.

Aang, who was carrying a couple of logs of firewood to the center of the campsite, stopped to think about it. "I'm not exactly sure, but it shouldn't take longer than a couple of days. Why do you ask?"

The Chunin picked up a sample of Appa's fur from the ground and examined it carefully before meeting Aang's eyes. "If Appa continues to shed this much fur, it'll end up leaving a trace behind for others to pick up. That's something we have to avoid at all costs. Is there any way we can fix this?"

"Fix?" Aang seemed surprised for a while before a frown appeared on his face. "What do you mean by that? There's nothing about Appa that needs fixing,"

"You know that's not what I'm talking about. I'm just trying to make sure no one follows us. From what I've heard, you guys have had people from the Fire Nation hot on your heels for a long time. It wouldn't make much sense to give them an opportunity to find us, now would it?"

"Shujinko has a point, you know," Katara chimed in while she and her brother were raising their tent. "I mean, when you think about it, Zuko has been trying to capture you ever since the day we found you in that iceberg. He already used my mother's necklace to track us down, so I wouldn't say the possibility of him doing the same with Appa's fur is too farfetched,"

Shujinko raised an eyebrow. "Zuko? Who is Zuko?"

"Oh, you know, just an angsty teenager obsessed with capturing Aang. He's been following us around the world like a madman, and he also looks like one with that hairstyle and that scar on his face," Sokka said in a dismissing tone. "He also claims to be the prince of the Fire Nation, so yeah, there's also that. We've come across so many weirdoes that we kind of got used to them at this point,

"The prince of the Fire Nation is after Aang?" Shujinko lowered his gaze as he furrowed his brow. He didn't know what to do with this new piece of information or how relevant it was. All he knew is that he found it to be rather odd. "That doesn't make much sense to me. I mean, I get that the Fire Nation wants to capture the Avatar, but why would they send the next Fire Lord to do the job? If Zuko is indeed the heir to the crown, then surely his life should be protected instead of being placed in danger,"

He expected an answer to that question from either Aang or one of the Water Tribe siblings, but when his words were met with an uncertain silence, Shujinko decided not to push the subject. However, that didn't mean he wasn't going to dwell on it any further. As he helped to get a fire going, the young shinobi kept thinking about the fact that the son of the Fire Lord was chasing them down personally. It made as much sense as the Feudal Lord sending his own son to fight a war against a neighboring country. 'There has to be a missing element here. Maybe Zuko has a personal interest in all this, but I can't draw any conclusions without knowing more about him first,'

Meanwhile, Katara saw something that made her furrow her brow. While everyone else was busy working, Toph was chilling out inside her own stone tent a little further away from the camp. The fact that Toph wasn't lifting a finger to help them rubbed Katara the wrong way, but since she was new to the group, the waterbender decided to take the initiative in a gentle way. After all, this was the first time Toph was living with a group of people around her age, so she didn't necessarily know how things worked.

Once she was close enough to Toph, Katara cleared her throat. "So, Toph, usually when setting up camp we try to divide up the work," she began to say.

The earthbender shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, don't worry about me. I'm all set up. My tent is ready and I have plenty of snacks to eat," she replied while lifting a small bag of edibles. "As you can see, I'm good to go,"

"… Well, what I'm getting at here is that some of us are in charge of fetching water while some of us are in charge of cooking the meals, for example. I'm not exactly sure what task you'd be doing, but-"

"Katara, I'm fine. I can carry my own weight," Toph interrupted her, something that irked Katara. "Besides, why should I waste my time doing chores I'm not going to benefit from? You're the ones who'll be using those tents, not me. You're the ones who'll be eating that food, not me. So how about we start getting along and stop bothering each other?"

The girl from the Southern Water Tribe clenched her fists and took a deep breath, trying her best to keep her frustration under control. Despite being a mature young woman, Katara's patience ran thin whenever someone gave her attitude. She certainly wasn't asking anything unreasonable from Toph. Not wanting to cause a scene in front of everyone, Katara turned on her heels and walked away with a sour expression on her face. "… Never mind,"

Once the camp was set up, everyone gathered around the cooking pot and had dinner together, except for Toph who stayed inside her tent. Shujinko took notice of that and wondered why she wouldn't join them, but since Toph seemed to be perfectly comfortable resting where she was, he decided it wasn't a big deal. There was, however, something he wanted to bring up. It was an issue he hadn't thought about up until now, one that could seriously compromise the group's mission, maybe even his own.

"Hey Aang," Shujinko said, gaining the attention of the Avatar. "You said you have to master all four elements before the arrival of Sozin's Comet, right?"

Aang swallowed a spoonful of stew before addressing the question. "Yup, that's basically the plan,"

"And how are you going to learn Firebending from a master when all the firebenders out there are after your head? Because I don't think we can capture a Fire Nation soldier and force him to give you Firebending lessons,"

His question seemed to have a negative impact on Aang, who frowned at the flames of the fire that was heating up the cooking pot. It took him a while to answer to Shujinko, and when he did, Aang had a rather troubled expression on his face. "To tell you the truth, I don't know. We once came across Jeong Jeong, a firebender who was willing to teach me the basics of Firebending, but he had to run away and so did we… The thing is, I know I'm supposed to learn Firebending, but I don't think I want to,"

That last statement caught Shujinko off guard. "Why? With everything that's going on around here, why wouldn't you want to learn Firebending?"

"… Because I've seen what Firebending does to the world and what it can do to people," Aang replied, an uncomfortable look on his face. "When Jeong Jeong was teaching me Firebending, I got distracted for a moment and I ended up hurting Katara. It was an accident, I didn't mean to do it, but I did. Fire is the most dangerous element of all and it has caused too much pain. I can't stand the idea of hurting those around me, and if Firebending can do that, then I don't want to learn it,"

There was a moment of silence during which Aang kept his head low, remembering how awful he felt when Katara got her hands burnt. It was true that things could've gotten a lot worse for Katara, and it was also true Katara was able to discover her healing abilities thanks to that accident, but even so, Aang had yet to completely forgive himself for hurting her. From that day on, Aang had never attempted to do Firebending again, not only because he didn't know how to do it, but also because he refused to repeat the same mistake. His friends were more important to him than Firebending or any bending could ever be.

The Water Tribe siblings also remained quiet as they dwelled on how much destruction the Fire Nation and Firebending had brought upon their lives. The raids on the Southern Water Tribe, the death of their beloved mother, the invasion of the Kyoshi Island, the attack on the Northern Water Tribe, Yue's sacrifice, the taking of the city of Omashu, and many other similar instances had been the result of firebenders and their thirst for war. Nothing had torn the world apart as the Fire Nation had. It was hard to think of firebenders as anything else other than terrible people, and in some cases, monsters.

Shujinko finally was the one who broke the silence. "… I don't mean to offend you, Aang… But I think you're being silly on this,"

"Silly?" At first, Aang was so surprised by what Shujinko had said that he didn't know how to react. Sokka and Katara were no exception, as they were just as taken aback as the airbender was. "What are you talking about? I just don't want to hurt anyone. What's so silly about that?" Aang asked in a defensive tone as he narrowed his eyes.

"There's nothing silly about not wanting to hurt your friends. It's your way of approaching the problem that I find silly," Unlike Aang, Shujinko was completely calm, as if he was talking about trivial matters instead of a moral dilemma. "From what you just told me, Katara got hurt when you tried Firebending for the first time. I have no doubt you didn't do it on purpose, but that doesn't change the fact you were the one at fault. Firebending itself didn't hurt Katara, you did,"

"What are you getting at?"

"It's simple. You talk about Firebending like it's a tool of evilness, but from my point of view, it's no different than any other form of bending. Just like Ninjutsu, bending is power, and there's no such thing as a good power or a bad power. Being a firebender doesn't make a person inherently bad, the same way being an airbender doesn't make you inherently good. What you do with that power, what you decide to use it for, that's what determines the kind of person that you are,"

"That's easy for you to say, you haven't seen what we've seen," Sokka said, adopting a serious tone of voice. As much as he enjoyed cracking jokes and making humorous remarks, there was nothing remotely funny about how Firebending had ruined people's lives all across the world for nearly a hundred years. "I don't know what kind of wars have taken place in the Five Great Shinobi Nations, Shujinko, but here, the Fire Nation is responsible for pretty much everything that has happened. If firebenders aren't evil, then how come they're the ones who are always starting trouble?"

"Because bad people exist, Sokka, and bad people use their power to do bad things. It's not about where they come from. If the Earth Kingdom or the Water Tribes had started the war, then earthbenders and waterbenders would be perceived as evil, even when we know Earthbending and Waterbending aren't evil things. The way I see it, bending is like a weapon, and a weapon has no morality of its own,"

His answer caused both Aang and Katara to widen their eyes. It was somewhat surprising for the pair of them to hear such a pragmatic approach towards bending, stripping away all of its philosophical layers and reducing it to its bare core. Aang felt especially antagonized by Shujinko's vision of bending. As an Air Nomad, he'd been raised to believe Airbending was a way of life, and a particularly peaceful one at that. For Shujinko to equate bending (and Airbending by extension) to a weapon felt not only wrong but disrespectful as well.

On the other hand, Sokka found himself hard-pressed to argue against the Chunin's logic. If anything, he had to admit Shujinko's point of view made sense to him, at least to an extent. As a non-bender, Sokka had never bothered to understand bending the way Katara and Aang did. After all, why should he? While the rest of Team Avatar had special powers to rely on, Sokka was forced to make do with brawn and brains. Had he been born with any bending abilities, Sokka was pretty sure he would use them just like he used his machete, cub, and boomerang.

Shujinko then stood up and stretched his back. "In any case, this is just my opinion. I'm hardly an expert on the subject of bending, so feel free to disagree with me here," he said in an attempt to diffuse the growing tension. In all honesty, the Ozuma was enjoying the debate they were having, but it wasn't worth it if was going to end in sour moods. He then looked at Aang, who was still frowning at him. "All I'm saying here is that you might want to reconsider your stance on Firebending. All of your previous lives learned it at some point, right? Maybe there's more to Firebending than you think. Anyways, I'm gonna go check on Toph. See you guys in the morning,"

As Shujinko walked away, Aang let out a sigh of frustration. He didn't know what to make of Shujinko's advice. One part of him wanted to believe the golden-eyed teen simply didn't know what he was talking about, but at the same time, he couldn't deny there was some truth to be found in his words. If Firebending was inherently dangerous and evil, how come there used to be peace before the Hundred Year War? Was it possible that his perception of Firebending was inaccurate?

Katara, who had remained silent up until then, felt the need to lighten the mood with the first idea that came to her head. "So… Does anyone wants seconds?" she asked, only to receive looks of confusion from Aang and Sokka. "Okay, I was only asking. Sheesh,"

Meanwhile, Shujinko slowly made his way to Toph's earth tent, where the Blind Bandit was apparently taking a nap. Once he got there, Shujinko stood in front of her tent, trying to see whether if she was awake or not. After a short while, Toph lowered her chin and raised an eyebrow at Shujinko. "You want to talk to me or are you just standing there because you feel like it?"

The Ozuma chuckled. "Sorry, I wasn't sure whether you were sleeping or not," he said before taking a seat next to the tent, resting his back against one of the diagonal pillars. "Mind if I keep you company for a while?"

"Meh, do what you want. I don't really care,"

"Thanks," Once he got himself comfortable, Shujinko took a deep breath and exhaled through his nostrils, looking at the stars in the sky. "I think I ruffled some feathers back there,"

"You sure did. I heard the conversation all the way from here. Comparing bending to a weapon… That's an original point of view you've got there,"

Shujinko was slightly surprised someone was willing to give him some credit. "So you actually agree with what I said back there?"

"Nope, not at all. I said your point of view was original, not accurate, at least from my perspective. Sure, it's fun to kick people's butts using bending, but for me, Earthbending is more than that. It's how I see the world, how I interact with it. Without Earthbending, I'd be even blinder than I already am,"

"… I guess. This bending stuff is more complicated than I thought," Shujinko admitted. "From where I come from, those who have my kind of power don't really treat it the way you people treat bending. I mean, we wield it against our enemies and use it to our advantage like all of you do with bending, but that's all there is to it. There are no emotions or morality involved in Ninjutsu. It's a tool more than a way of life,"

Toph turned her head to the right to face Shujinko, ignoring the pillar of earth standing between them. "Ninjutsu? That's the power Twinkletoes told me about the night we got captured. Is that what you used against me when we fought against each other?"

"That's right, although I only used it during my last attack. The rest of the fight was, well, natural, for lack of a better term. It was a Wind Style jutsu, the shinobi version of Airbending if you will. In order to perform jutsus, I use chakra, the shinobi version of chi,"

In a way, Toph felt glad to know about the existence of Ninjutsu. As a proud earthbender, her defeat at the hands of Shujinko had left a bad taste in her mouth and her ego had been quite bruised. At least now she knew her opponent had used a special power against her, a power so unique not even the Avatar could learn it. It was a trivial and inconsequential fact in the grand scheme of things, but it nursed her fighting spirit nonetheless.

"What else can you do with chakra?" Toph asked, keeping a casual tone of voice that betrayed the feeling of curiosity she felt inside.

"Let's see, I can make solid clones of myself and have them do things. I can transform myself into objects and adopt the physical appearance of others. I can increase my speed and jump great lengths. I can use Genjutsu and cast illusionary techniques upon people, although I'm not really that good at it. Oh, and I can also adhere my feet to almost any surface, solid or liquid, and move around without falling or sinking. There's a bunch of other stuff I can do, but that's what I mostly use chakra for,"

…

The Blind Bandit turned around, lying on her left side. She grabbed a pebble from the ground and started playing with it, passing it around her fingers. "You really do come from another part of the world, after all," she said, more to herself than to Shujinko. Once again, Toph's seismic sense hadn't picked a single change in Shujinko's heartbeat pattern despite his ridiculous claims, and at this point, Toph had no other choice but to believe in what he said. "So, what's your home like?"

It took Shujinko a while to come up with an answer to that question. Aang, Katara, and Sokka had asked him about his life in the village, but not about the village itself. "If you mean the Hidden Leaf Village, I'd say it's a good place to live in all things considered. Now, if you're talking about where I come from in general… Well, it's nice enough when people aren't chasing you around trying to hurt you,"

"Chasing you around? As in…" All of a sudden, Toph let out a gasp. Shujinko was about to ask her what was wrong, but the earthbender quickly undid her tent, causing Shujinko to fall on his back. Toph placed her hand on the ground and felt the vibrations of the earth, sensing powerful waves coming from a distance. "Everyone, get out of your tents now! We're being chased!"

Shujinko blinked three consecutive times as he got on his knees. "Yeah, kind of like that, but you didn't have to make such a realistic impression. People are sleeping, Toph,"

"No, I'm being serious! There's something coming towards us!"

The rest of Team Avatar got out of their tents and ran to where Toph was. Meanwhile, Shujinko reached for his kunai and got into a fighting position, looking left and right as he tried to detect the incoming threat. "What is it, Toph?" Aang asked, to which the earthbender placed her palm on the ground.

"It feels like an avalanche… but also not an avalanche at the same time,"

Sokka raised an eyebrow at that. "Wow, your powers of perception are out of this world,"

"Which direction is this… avalanche not avalanche coming from?" Shujinko asked.

"Right there," Toph pointed a finger at the forest and the rest of Team Avatar fell silent. No one could see anything out of the ordinary, but after a short while, a distant rumbling noise reached their ears.

Without a second to waste, Shujinko turned around and ran towards a small cliff that was nearby, jumping from one rock to another until he reached the top. Once he got to an elevated terrain, he activated the Karura Tensei and used his enhanced eyesight to see what exactly was coming towards them. Sure enough, something was closing in on them at high speed, raising giant clouds of dust and smoke along the way. It looked like a carriage of sorts, only way larger and made out of metal. Shujinko had never seen such a strange contraption before, but whatever that monstrosity was, it couldn't be good news.

Shujinko performed a summersault and landed on the ground, deactivating his Kekkei Genkai while in midair. He had yet to show his companions the Karura Tensei, and this was hardly the best of times to do so. "Did you see anything?" Sokka asked as Shujinko rejoined the group.

"Yeah, I saw a… Well, I have no idea what I saw, but it's huge and it's coming our way fast,"

Katara looked at Aang. "Do you think we should get out of here?"

"It's better to be safe than sorry. Come on, let's pack up and leave this place,"

|A few hours later|

"Oh, finally, sweet land!" As soon as Appa landed, Toph threw herself at the ground and started making dirt angels like a child playing in the snow. She even grabbed a bunch of dust and rubbed it against her cheeks. It was enough to get a chuckle out of Shujinko, who had gained a new understanding of what Earthbending meant to Toph thanks to their previous conversation.

The rest of Team Avatar wasn't feeling as enthusiastic as the earthbender or as calm as the ninja. It was already past midnight and they hadn't enjoyed a wink of sleep. Shujinko, on the other hand, was in much better shape than them. His experience as a shinobi allowed him to stay awake and active for longer periods of time than the average person, although he was well aware even ninjas got tired at some point. 'At least we managed to put some distance between us and that thing Toph felt earlier,' Shujinko thought. 'With some luck, we should be able to get a couple of hours of rest,'

Toph stretched her back, her joints making loud popping noises. "Well, I'm off to get some sleep. I'll see you guys in the morning,"

"Actually, could you help us unload?" Katara asked as Toph was beginning to walk away. The blind Beifong turned around and gave her a tired look.

"You need my help to unload Sokka's funky-smelling sleeping bag? Seriously?"

"Hey, I'll have you know my sleeping bag smells perfectly fine!" Sokka objected. He then held his sleeping bag close to his nose and gave it a good sniff. His face quickly turned a sickly green as he tossed the sleeping bag away. "Ugh! Okay, so maybe it's been a while since I last took a bath,"

"Out of curiosity, are there any showers in this part of the world?" Shujinko asked.

Aang blinked owlishly. "Showers? What are showers?"

The Chunin slapped his own forehead and sighed. "Never mind. I should probably stop asking these questions,"

"Anyways, where was I?" Toph asked no one in particular before snapping her fingers. "Oh, that's right, I was about to get some sleep. Good night everyone, have fun making your tents,"

"Toph, you clearly don't understand how things work around here," Katara said as she walked towards Toph, an annoyed frown on her face. That sarcastic remark at the end had been enough to exasperate the waterbender, who was feeling crankier than usual due to her lack of sleep. "Whether you like it or not, you're part of our group now. In this group, everyone has to pitch in and-"

"Oh great, another lecture from you," Toph cut her off rather rudely. "Listen Katara, I already told you I'm carrying my own weight. I didn't ask anyone to help me with my stuff and none of the boys in the group have asked me for help, so why can't you do the same?"

"Could you please stop missing the point on purpose?" This time, Katara raised her voice loud enough for everyone to hear, ignoring Shujinko's gestures to tone it down. "In case you forgot, there was a giant thing coming after us a couple of hours ago! We have to work together if we want to keep moving forward, so stop being so selfish and unhelpful!"

The Chunin grimaced as he ran a hand down his face. 'Oh boy, this is getting ugly,'

"Excuse me? I gave up everything I had just to teach Aang Earthbending, so don't you dare call me selfish or unhelpful!" The Blind Bandit yelled before sitting on the ground and raising an earth tent, covering all four sides. "Now leave me alone! Go annoy someone else, Sugar Queen!"

"S-Sugar Queen?" Katara repeated. Her face went red and steam began to pour out her ears. In a fit of rage, the waterbender started punching and kicking the walls as hard as she could, growling and gritting her teeth. "Gaaaah! How… can… you… be… so… infuriating!?"

Shujinko decided to intervene, worried that Katara might break a finger if she kept going at it. He approached Katara and grabbed her wrist, holding her firmly. "Alright, that's enough. You both need to calm down,"

"BOTH!? I'M COMPLETELY CALM!" Katara roared as she turned around, her eyes so wide they threatened to pop out of her head.

The shinobi winced at the volume of her voice, but his grasp on her wrist didn't falter. "You got that out of your system? Good, now come on. Let's go back to bed," Shujinko said before gently releasing her. Katara remained quiet for a moment, breathing heavily. At first, she seemed to have calmed down, but then she grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it at Toph's tent before storming off. Shujinko let out a sigh and began walking after her, frustrated by the childish behavior of both girls.

Sokka and Aang watched all of this happen from a safe distance, hiding on Appa's saddle like a pair of kids. "You know, Shujinko really is a brave guy," Sokka commented, to which Aang turned to him.

"Because he's a ninja?"

"No, because he withstood my sister's fury without so much as a flinch. That's bravery right there,"

000

"The stars sure look beautiful tonight," Katara said out of the blue. Aside from Toph, who was inside her earth tent, the members of Team Avatar were lying on the ground next to each other, having decided to sleep out in the open. They were too tired to raise their tents and sleep inside them. Besides, they didn't want to waste time packing in case they needed to make a second escape. Katara's comment had been fairly harmless, at least until what followed next. "Too bad you can't see them, Toph,"

Shujinko, who was still awake, was about to berate Katara for her pettiness. However, Toph got back at her rather quickly by punching the earth from inside her small shelter. A rumbling noise was heard, and seconds later, Katara's body bounced off the ground, jumping over Aang and Sokka before landing on the shinobi of the group.

"Oof!" the golden-eyed boy yelped, getting his wind knocked out of him and closing one eye.

Katara let out a grunt of pain after landing on Shujinko, hitting her face against his chest. When she pulled herself up, the waterbender blinked a couple of times to clear her eyesight. Once she did so, she was shocked to see a pair of golden eyes staring back at her. Shujinko's face was right in front of her, his lips mere inches away from hers. The two teens froze, locking their gazes with no idea of what was going on.

However, once the awkwardness of the situation kicked in, Shujinko and Katara pulled away from each other, both of them with huge blushes on their faces. Thankfully, Aang and Sokka were only half awake after hearing the commotion, so the embarrassing moment between the shinobi and the waterbender was barely noticed.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, can everyone just cut it out!?" Sokka exclaimed after being rudely awakened by Toph's Earthbending and Katara's shriek. "I'm trying to get some sleep here! Sleep! In case you didn't know, that means silence and quietness!"

"Yeah, what's the big idea?" Aang asked while rubbing his eyes. "Can we please leave the fights for another time? Or better yet, leave them all together?"

His question was left unanswered, however, as Toph suddenly crawled out of her tent with an alarmed look on her face. "Guys, that thing is back! I can feel it coming from behind!"

Upon hearing Toph's warning, the blush on the Ozuma's face faded away. He immediately got up and stared at the sky, where he saw a large column of smoke approaching their position. "This doesn't make any sense. It took us hours to get here, how come they're tracking us so easily?"

"Let's leave the questions for later. Wait just a second…" Sokka said as he rose to his feet. Then, he slapped himself in the face rather hard, leaving a reddish mark shaped like a hand on his cheek. "Ouch! Okay, I'm awake. Now let's get away from here, that thing won't stop until it catches us. Team Avatar, to the Flying Bison!"

"It seems our prey isn't too keen on letting us capture him,"

The words of Azula were met with silence. Mai and Ty Lee watched as the princess of the Fire Nation plucked a strand of fur from the ground and held it close to her face. Azula then tossed the strand of fur away and got on her knees, examining the giant footprints marked on the surface of the earth. There was no doubt they belonged to that beast the Avatar had for a pet. It was rather ironic how the Avatar's only means of transportation was precisely what was helping her track him down, at least until those fools realized their furry companion was leaving a trail behind.

"So what now, Azula?" Ty Lee asked.

"Now we stick to the plan. We'll chase after the Avatar and his friends all night long if we have to. They know their only options are to fight or keep fleeing, and once they finally face us, they'll be exhausted. The lack of rest will weaken their bodies while the pressure of being hunted down will weaken their minds,"

Mai furrowed her brow. "What if they decide not to fight us? They've been running away from us since New Ozai, I don't see what would make them want to confront us directly,"

"They won't have another alternative," Azula replied with an evil gleam in her eyes. "Humans and beasts alike need to sleep at some point. Machines, on the other hand, do not,"

As they traveled across the sky, Shujinko sat in silence, thinking about the predicament they were in.

Somehow, the Fire Nation had caught wind of them and they couldn't shake them off. Being found once may have been a coincidence. Being found twice was a pattern. 'Something must be giving away our location,' Shujinko thought with his brow furrowed. 'They know we're in the run, and the longer this cat and mouse game drags on, the bigger our disadvantage grows. We need to put an end to this and fast. The lack of sleep is wearing us down including Appa, making us an easier target to chase after. The most efficient course of action, both in the short and long term, is to take care of those tracking us down while we still have some strength left,'

However, and as it was so often the case, it was easier said than done. They would have to either take down the machine or deal with whoever was inside of it. Shujinko was confident he could do the second, but he would have to draw them out of the machine before that could happen, and he had yet to come up with a strategy that could work. He needed more time, more information…

"Hey guys, who do you think is tracking us down?" Shujinko asked, gaining everyone's attention. "You mentioned the prince of the Fire Nation has been chasing you around for a while. I think his name was Zuko or something like that. Could he be the one?"

"It could be, but we haven't seen Zuko since he found us at the North Pole," Aang replied, fatigue all too noticeable in his voice. He had trouble keeping his blinking under control, and the bags under his eyes were making him feel uncomfortable. "For all we know, it could be anyone from the Fire Nation,"

"I bet it's because of what happened in Gi Yuin Village," Sokka said. "Think about it. After all the trouble we stirred up in that town, those Fire Nation soldiers must've alerted every settlement in the Earth Kingdom. They know we're here, so running into them was just a matter of time,"

Katara nodded in agreement. "They could also be that group of girls from Omashu. They nearly caught us when we tried to rescue Bumi,"

This caught Shujinko's attention. "Girls? What group of girls?"

"I don't know. We had never seen them before, but they were dangerous. And I mean, really dangerous,"

"Could you describe them to me? Physical appearance, abilities, anything,"

"Well, they're about our age, maybe a little older than us. One of them was a firebender, I think her name was Azula. She could make blue flames and she had a way about her that was just intimidating. Two other girls were with her, one who was sulky and other who was strangely perky. The sulky girl threw weapons with extreme accuracy and the perky one was a martial artist of sorts. I don't like to say this, but they were pretty impressive fighting together,"

Shujinko listened to Katara's every word as he assessed this new threat. By having a firebender, a markswoman and a Taijutsu user, those three girls covered long, medium, and short-range combat. Not only that, but they also seemed to display teamwork according to Katara, which was the most important element in a squad. Shujinko didn't know whether if the blue flames Azula was able to produce were considerably more dangerous than normal flames or not, but judging by the way Katara spoke of them, they seemed to be a big deal. He would have to take them into account if he ever encountered that girl.

A sneer from Toph interrupted the Chunin's train of thought. "So what if they're impressive fighting together? I say we should land and wait for them to come to us. We can take care of them and get rid of the problem right away,"

"You don't know what you're talking about, Toph. You haven't seen those girls fight," the waterbender retorted. "I mean, the deranged firebender and the broody knife-thrower are bad enough, but the other girl did something to me that took my bending away. That is just scary,"

"She took your bending away?" Shujinko asked surprised. "How did she do that? Didn't you say she was a martial artist?"

"I'm not sure how she did it either. She dodged my attacks and threw some finger jabs at me. My body went limp and I couldn't move any of the muscles she had struck. It wasn't too painful, but it felt extremely unpleasant. When I tried Waterbending again, my chi wasn't responding. It's hard to describe, but something inside me felt blocked, almost like a clogged dam,"

The golden-eyed boy made a fist and leaned his cheek against it as images of Neji and Hinata appeared in his mind. What Katara had just described sounded a lot like the Hyuga's Gentle Fist, a legendary Taijutsu feared by ninjas from all nations. Thanks to the Byakugan, a member of the Hyuga clan could see a shinobi's chakra network and disrupt the flow of energy by hitting the chakra points located throughout the pathway system. Shujinko could see why Katara was so spooked, because that girl could neutralize her Waterbending and leave her completely defenseless as a result.

"Whatever you say. It seems to me you're just scared of them, Katara. I still think we should take them on. Once those girls get a taste of my Earthbending, I'll have them running back to the Fire Nation,"

"Ha ha, what a funny joke, Toph. The way I see it, if those girls were to attack us, you'd probably sit back and let us do all the work just like you always do,"

"Alright, that's enough. Knock it off, you two," Shujinko said as he went back to sitting straight, his voice loud and clear. "Do I need to remind you we're being followed by the Fire Nation? Bickering amongst ourselves isn't helping our situation in the slightest, so I'm going to have to ask both of you to stop,"

"You're asking me to stop?" Katara asked incredulously. "I'm not the one who started it!"

"I don't care who started what, I'm putting an end to it. We already have enough problems with the Fire Nation on our heels. If you have to argue, at least be mature enough to wait until this mess is over," the Chunin replied with a straight face, concealing the annoyance he was feeling.

As a member of Team 7, Shujinko was no stranger to group discussions. The golden-eyed boy considered himself to be an honest and straightforward individual, and if he had a personal issue with one of his teammates, he would let them know about it. However, there was a time and a place for those sorts of things, and hearing both Toph and Katara throwing shade at each other during the middle of a chase was a tad bit exasperating. Couldn't they see they had bigger problems to worry about?

"Oh yeah, and why should we listen to you?" Toph asked in a defiant tone. "Don't go around thinking you're everyone's boss just because you can do that wacky Ninjutsu thing. That doesn't make you better than any of us,"

"I never said I'm better than any of you, nor do I go around pretending I am. All I'm saying here is that this isn't the time for childish squabbles. If for whatever reason you have a bone to pick with either me or Katara, keep it to yourself for the time being, and once we're out of trouble, then you can have a go at whoever you want. That's really not a whole lot to ask, Toph, and the same goes for you, Katara,"

The earthbender didn't seem very happy with being told what to do and clicked her tongue briskly, but thankfully she left it at that. Katara didn't reply either, and simply turned her head away from Shujinko's gaze. The Ozuma sighed, wondering if this was how Kakashi felt whenever the Genins of Team 7 got into a stupid argument. 'Kakashi-sensei sure was patient with us. I just hope these quarrels don't happen too often, otherwise we can kiss our teamwork goodbye,'

Sokka, who hadn't bothered to get involved in the silly dispute between his sister and Toph, let out a prolonged yawn. "Anyways, what are we going to do now? I don't like being the guy that has to point out the obvious, but we can't keep running forever. Either we face the Fire Nation while we still have some energy left or we find a new place to hide. Which one of those options should we go for?"

"Well, I think I have an idea," Shujinko said, gaining everyone's attention. "Aang, how long can Appa stay awake?"

"I'm not sure, but maybe until sunrise. It's hard to guess since we've never been in this kind of situation before,"

"In that case, the only way we can get some rest is by sleeping while flying on Appa. The Fire Nation can't capture us as long as we're in the air, and given how easily they've been able to track us down, finding a new place to hide right now would be pointless. However, if we rest while we fly, we'll all get a couple of hours' worth of sleep until Appa is forced to land, and once that happens, we can confront whoever is after us with some of our strength replenished. I know it's risky, but it's the only solution I can come up with,"

Sokka raised a quizzical eyebrow at that. "Flawless logic, but there's one problem. One of us would have to stay awake all night so that the others can rest. Appa needs someone to guide him as he flies, because otherwise, we might end up in the middle of nowhere with no sense of direction. Don't forget he's just as tired as we are, and as much as I love our fluffy flying buddy, I don't really expect him to know how to read a map,"

"That's the part where I come in. Shadow Clone Jutsu,"

POOF

A cloud of smoke burst into existence, and an exact replica of Shujinko appeared sitting next to him. By this time, Aang, Sokka, and Katara had somewhat gotten used to watching Shujinko perform the impossible, but the same thing couldn't be said about Toph, who immediately turned around in shock. Despite not being able to feel the vibrations nearly as accurate as she did with her feet on the ground, the blind earthbender still managed to sense the presence of Shujinko's clone just… appearing out of nowhere. As someone who wasn't used to getting caught off guard, Toph had to bite down her tongue and look the other way, not wanting the others to see her utterly befuddled face.

"My clone here can ride Appa for as long as possible. That way, we can all rest in the meanwhile, including me," Shujinko said with confidence. "Aang, you'll have to stay awake for a while and teach my clone the basics on how to fly an Air Bison. Then you can sleep with the rest of us,"

"Yeah, and don't worry about me. I'm a quick learner just like the original Shujinko," Clone Shujinko said with utmost confidence.

…

"… Did that clone thing… talked just now?" Toph asked, unable to hide her amazement any longer.

"If you don't mind, it's 'shadow clone', not clone thing," Clone Shujinko corrected her as he crawled towards Appa's head. "And yes, I did talk just now. Even if I'm a clone, I can do almost anything the original Shujinko can do. Alright Aang, how do I hold these rains?" he asked as he extended his hand, but the airbender moved them out of the clone's reach.

"Wait a minute, Appa hasn't agreed to this," Aang protested with an annoyed frown on his face. "Why should he stay up all night while we sleep? It's not fair, and it could be dangerous for all of us,"

"Aang, could you please just…" Katara began to say, but then she realized the tone she was using was slightly more confrontational than usual. The fatigue was getting to her. Katara took a deep breath and made sure to sound as calm and gentle as she could. "Look, I understand that you worry about Appa just like every one of us does. You don't want to place him in danger, but if we're being honest here, we already are in danger. Shujinko's plan is risky, but I don't see what other choices we have,"

"Yeah, and if Appa becomes too tired to go on, Shujinko's shadow clone will let us know and we'll stop immediately," Sokka seconded. "Come on, Aang. We need to sleep, you need to sleep, and everyone needs to sleep. You can do it now while you still can, or you can do it later in a prison cell inside a ship on its way to the Fire Nation. What do you say?"

The Avatar pressed his lips together, feeling tired and frustrated. Since when had Sokka and Katara started to take Shujinko's side? Couldn't they see how selfish it was to let Appa continue to fly while they dozed off? He wanted to say no, but his eyes were getting heavier and he couldn't find an argument to counter Shujinko's proposition. As much as he didn't like it, it was the only plan they had and the only thing that might work, even if it meant allowing Appa to get more fatigued.

"Appa, do you think you can make it through the night?" Aang asked as he scratched Appa's fur affectionately. The Flying Bison let out a loud grunt, which he took as an affirmative answer. "Okay buddy, but don't be afraid to warn us as soon as you're feeling exhausted. We're counting on you,"

And so, Aang began to teach Shujinko's shadow clone how to hold the reins and how to guide Appa around. Meanwhile, the rest of Team Avatar got into a comfortable position and closed their eyes, feeling thankful for the rest they were about to enjoy.

Unbeknownst to the group, the princess of the Fire Nation wasn't the only threat chasing after them. Azula and her friends were still following the tracks left by Appa's fur, using their huge tank to cover the distance. Likewise, Zuko was after them as well, riding a stolen Ostrich Horse and keeping an eye on the notorious wheel marks that Azula's tank left on the ground. The two children of Ozai would meet once again as enemies sharing a common goal, the capture of the Avatar.

But Aang wasn't the only member of Team Avatar who was being targeted.

Many miles away, the sound of wings flapping echoed through the dark and quiet night. A giant hawk was soaring in the sky carrying a man on its back, pushing the clouds out of the way with sheer momentum alone. Every now and then, the man would look down at his hand, watching the Eye of Kazemaru glow brighter the closest it got to its counterpart. It made him smile beneath his bandana mask, which only left his beady eyes visible. He smiled, because the same way his Eye of Kazemaru would find its counterpart, he would find his own counterpart as well, the vile foe standing in his path.

'Soon, young Ozuma. Very soon, I will see what you're made of, and you will prove to me how accurately the prophecy described you,'

Aaaaaand that was chapter 10. Hope you all liked it.

God, this chapter was a pain to write. Except for the showdown at the end, I don't even like this episode of A:TLA. The first half feels incredibly repetitive, and looking back at it, it has several major writing conveniences that make me lift an eyebrow.

In any case, at least we got the boring stuff out of the way. I hope you liked this chapter for what it's worth. I personally enjoyed writing the debate between Shujinko and the rest of Team Avatar about bending. It makes sense to me that Shujinko sees bending as a tool devoid of good and evil, for that is precisely what Ninjutsu is to him. You could say Zaheer proves me right, for he became an airbender and he wasn't exactly a peaceful dude in the show. His Airbending didn't make him a morally good person, just like Iroh wasn't a morally bad person because of his Firebending. Shujinko, being a ninja from another part of the world, has a far more practical and "stoical" view on bending as he lacks the bias people such as Aang, Sokka, and Katara have when it comes to Firebending.

If you found this chapter to be boring, I don't blame you, as I find it boring as well if I'm being honest. Whoever, The Chase is simply too important an episode to skip, and now that we got the boring stuff out of the way, I can finally begin to write the scenes we all want to read. The next chapter will be a lot different than this one, and boi will there be action. Thank you for your patience and be on the lookout for the next update.

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Peace!