Clash of Ninja
By: The White Dragon Rider
Chapter : Cherry Blossom
Deep Woods
It had been about an hour since Toph's fall and Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Momo had fled deep into the woods
Sokka had finally regained use of his limbs and was finally walking on his own much to the relief of Katara who had to carry him for the better part of the last hour
No one said anything as they walked solemnly through the deep, thick woods to escape the Fire Nation armies behind them
Katara still had some tears in her eyes as she walked
She had been crying a lot since Toph had fallen off the cliff
Aang walked ahead of her
He had a sad/angry look on his usually happy face
Aang was sad that Toph was gone but at the same time he had an extreme rage inside him
He wanted to get Azula for what she had done
Aang had no doubt that if Katara hadn't stopped him earlier he would have used the Avatar state and killed Azula in a second
A few tears came out of Aang's eyes and they walked
First he had lost Appa now Toph was gone
The only difference was that Toph was gone for good
From now on he was not going to lose anyone else
Momo who was on Aang's shoulders also was crying in a baby-like way
Sokka was also sad too but since he was trying to be the man of the group he did his best to be strong and help the others as best he could
But for now he was quiet
He knew there was little he could do or say to make Aang and Katara feel better
Sokka knew that when someone close to you died that there was nothing that could stop the immense pain
He had leaned that from his mother's death and Yue's
Sokka knew he would just have to wait
After about five more minutes of quiet walking they reached a small stream in the woods
"Ok we'll rest here for a few minutes, I think we put some good distance between us and the Fire Nation" said Sokka
He knew they needed to recover some strength from their last fight
Being exhausted was not good if they got attacked again
Sokka thought like a warrior and knew that resting up in case they got attacked again was a good idea
Plus Katara had plenty of water to bend here incase they got attacked
Aang and Sokka sat on the ground while Katara refilled her water pouch with river water
When she was done she walked over to the two and sat down on the ground
She still had some tears in her eyes and looked sad and regretful
"I still can't believe she's gone" said Katara with her head in her arms
"Yeah it doesn't seem real almost" said Sokka sadly
"I should have moved faster, I could have saved her" said Katara regretfully
"It's not your fault" reassured Sokka
"Yes it is, I was only off by an inch. If I had gotten to her in time she'd still be here" said Katara regretfully
She could still remember the shocked look on Toph's face as she fell into darkness
Katara cursed herself
If only she could have grabbed Toph's hand and saved her
"If it's anyone's fault it's mine, I was the one who was suppose to get hit by that attack" said Aang sadly
He had been the one Azula was aiming at
If he had blocked the attack or even been hit by it Toph would still be alive
"Regret and blaming ourselves won't do anything now, let's just focus on what we do now" said Sokka seriously
"I want to go back, there's a chance she could still be alive" said Aang getting up with his staff seriously
He had to go see, he still had hope she was alive no matter how impossible it seemed
"Aang you can't" said Sokka sadly
"There's now way she could survive that fall" said Sokka with pity
He knew Aang still had hope but he knew it was false hope
No one, not even Toph could survive a fall like that
It just wasn't possible
"She's gone let's face it, going back would only put you in the hands of the Fire Nation" said Sokka
"He's right Aang" said Katara realizing it was true
Aang would only be going right into the Fire Nation army
"We need to stick together and get out of here before the army catches up to us" said Sokka seriously
"I guess you're right" said Aang in defeat sitting back down
"So what'll we do now?" asked Katara
"We need to head to Ba Sing Se, to get Appa and tell about the solar eclipse" said Sokka seriously
"Also to get a new earthbending teache…" began Katara sadly
Aang gave her a look before she could finish the sentence
Katara quickly shut up
But they knew without Toph Aang couldn't learn earthbending
Continuing on to Ba Sing Se seemed like the best thing to do for now
After a few more minutes of waiting and resting they decided to get up and get moving
"Come on guys let's go" said Sokka
They all got up and began walking deeper into the woods
As they walked away Aang looked back in the direction of the cliff with a sad look
'Good bye Toph' thought Aang solemnly before turning around and continuing on
Later in the WoodsThey continued their escape in woods so thick they could barely walk through the trees
They decided to change courses several times to throw off the Fire Nation
Their path ziged and zaged through the woods
They had lost sign of the Fire Nation army but they knew they were still in danger
As they walked they passed by some thick bushes off to the right of them
Aang passed by first followed by Katara
As Katara walked by it Sokka who was last thought he heard something in them
Suddenly he saw them rustle slightly just as Katara passed
He instantly remembered the last ambush and dove forward
Sokka knocked Katara down to the ground just as a blast of red flame flew over their heads
Aang quickly turned around to see a fire Bender through the hole he had burned in the bush
Before the fire bender could use another attack Aang blasted him into a nearby tree with a gust from his staff
Sokka and Katara got up thanks to Aang's opening and turned to see the fire bender lying unconscious next to the tree
They all then turned to see about two dozen more come out of the bushes and from behind nearby trees
"Not another trap!" said Sokka annoyed while getting into fighting stance with his boomerang
Aang and Katara did the same as they faced them
"Think we can take them?" asked Katara worriedly as the fire benders approached in battle formation upon their group
"What should we do?" asked Sokka
Aang wasn't about to risk losing anyone else to the Fire Nation
"Let's run" said Aang
"You sure?" asked Sokka
Aang looked over at Katara who looked worried and a little distraught still as she faced the firebenders with he water at the ready
"Yes" said Aang when he turned back to Sokka
"Ok" said Sokka
"Alright" said Katara putting her water away
They then turned around and ran away from the firebenders
"After them!" shouted the squad leader pointing towards them running away
Sokka, Aang, and Katara ran through the woods as fast as they possibly could
Momo flew behind them while dodging fire blasts from the fire benders that were sent after Aang and co.
They all had to duck to dodge the fire blasts that were sent after them in random intervals
Katara dodged a fire blast by moving off to the side
When she did she got separated from Aang and Sokka
She was surprised when she looked over and lost sight of Aang and Sokka in the dense trees
"Aang? Sokka?" yelled Katara through the woods to them
She got no answer besides a few more fire blasts from the fire benders that had heard her yelling
'This isn't good!' thought Katara worriedly
She was now all alone with at least a dozen firebenders after her
Katara ran through some thick bushes
She had to close her eyes to keep the stick and leaves from blinding her
When she felt the leaves were gone she opened her eyes
The first thing she saw was a pair of shocked green eyes before she felt the hard impact of her crashing into something
Small Field"Ow" moaned two female voices in pain
One was Katara rubbing her head
Katara opened her eyes and looked over at where the other voice had come from
She saw a girl around her age with short pink hair sitting next to her rubbing her head
The other girl looked over at Katara
"Watch where you're going" said the other girl slightly annoyed to Katara
"Sorry" said Katara
They then both got up and looked at each other
Before they could say anything the two were interrupted by some firebenders and Fire Nation soldiers arriving
"There's the Water Tribe girl!" shouted one of them
Before they knew it the two of them were surrounded by the soldiers
"Give up now or be killed!" yelled one of them to the two
Both girls were now at the business ends of the fire soldier's spears
"Hey wait! What's going on!" shouted the pink haired girl defensively
"Who are you!" demanded a Fire Nation solider
"Sakura Haruno" answered Sakura
"She's helping the fugitive! Get her!" shouted another solider
"What do you mean I just met her?" shouted Sakura pointing to Katara
"Give up now!" shouted a solider putting his spear dangerously close to Sakura's face
"I have no reason to fight you!" shouted Sakura defensively
"So doesn't look like any from the wanted posters" said a solider
"Yeah none had pink hair" agreed another solider
"Yes it's weird" said another solider
"Hey!" shouted Sakura angrily at the comment
"Pink hair is not normal" said another solider
"Yes and her forehead is massive" said another solider
"What?" asked Sakura in an ominous tone
"Yes it's huge!" agreed another solider
SNAP!'They're going down!' yelled inner Sakura angrily
"You're going to pay for that" said Sakura in an evil, angry, demoness voice as she cracked her knuckles
"Prepare to attack!" shouted a Fire Nation commander fiercely
Katara got into a fighting stance with her water
Sakura pulled out a kunai knife and got into fighting stance too
The two girls stood pack to back while they faced the Fire Nation soldiers
"Need some help?" asked Sakura anxiously
"Yeah thanks" said Katara
"ATTACK!" shouted the commander to his troops
"Bring it on from anywhere!" shouted Sakura as the battle commenced
Katara used a long sweeping 360 water whip attack to make the soldiers back off from the two of them
Sakura ducked down to avoid the attack
The soilders were forced to back off and break the circle around the girls
Sakura attacked while the soldiers were thrown off guard from the attack
She charged forward and delivered a flying kick to two soldiers
They got a full hit straight to their faces and were knocked out in one blow
Sakura then began attacking the second line of soldiers armed with swords
She skillfully dodged their attacks and used her Taijutsu to counter attack with a fury of punches and kicks to the soldiers
Sakura might not have had powerful Ninjutsu or Genjutsu but she was still more than a match for the soldiers in close quarters combat
She wasn't any Rock Lee but the soldiers were certainly having a hard time touching her
One soldier tired to hit her with a downward sword slash
Sakura used her kunai to block the attack
Another soldier tired to hit her from the side while she blocked
Sakura jumped back from the one she was blocking just as the second soldier slashed his sword at the thin air where Sakura had been seconds ago
She kicked the second soldier into the first one with a lot of force
Then a third joined in and tried to stab her from behind
Sakura ducked down under the blade and then gave the man a sharp upward kick in between the legs
The man screamed in a loud girl voice before falling to the ground in pain
"That's for the forehead comment!" said Sakura angrily
She then turned around to see about four more soldiers show up
'I'll take them all on!' roared inner Sakura as Sakura got ready for the fight
Meanwhile Katara was taking on the soldiers with spears while Sakura handled the ones with swords
Katara was blocking the spear jabs with her ice shield and trying to counter attack with her water whip at a safe distance from the spear ends
Katara whipped one soldier with a water whip straight to the face with enough force to send him flying painfully
Another came flying out from nowhere and tried to jab her with his spear
She quickly ducked under the spear and used a low sweeping water whip to knock him off his feet onto the ground
Two more soldiers attempted to stab her from behind
Katara turned around and raised her water and formed a ice shield
The two spears broke clean in half upon impact with the hard ice
The soldiers looked down at their broken weapons with shock before looking at Katara with fear
Katara gave them a menacing look
Crack!She hit them with a water whip so hard she was pretty sure she heard something break
The soldiers landed three feet away after flying through the air
She gave a confident smile after they landed
The battle raged on for a while
The two girls seemed to be more than a match for the soldiers
After a few minutes all that was left standing were the fire benders and the two girls
Katara and Sakura stood back to back as the fire benders surrounded them
Katara was in a fighting stance with her water while Sakura had her kunai out and ready
They both looked at the red armored fire benders with the ugly helmets
"How about we do this together?" asked Sakura
"Good idea" said Katara
"Attack!" shouted the commander
The fire benders sent a blast of fire at them from every direction
Sakura pulled Katara close to the ground just in time to avoid the blast
'Whoa! Was that fire jutsu!' thought Sakura as she got up and looked at them
"Thanks" said Katara as the two got up
"Get them!" shouted the commander angrily
The two girls counter attacked before the fire benders could attack again from all directions
Katara whipped three in the face with a sweeping water whip attack
They were knocked down which gave the girls a chance to break their lines
Katara charged forward and gave one a pounding with a few water waves
Sakura used her Taijutsu to give another fire bender a strong kick to the face
She realized that this would go faster if she used her kunai and shuriken but she thought she better save them if she could
The two of them fought as hard as they could
It was hard since the armor the firebenders wore was tough and took a lot of impact
"This isn't working" said Katara frustrated as a fire bender got up from her tenth straight water whip to him
"We need to find a way to get through the armor" said Sakura
"I think I have an idea" said Katara
Katara then used a sharp water blade on the nearest fire bender's chest armor
The blade cut through the armor and revealed the vulnerable skin
Katara used a precise hard-hitting water whip on the open part of the torso
The fire bender fell back with the wind knocked out of him
"Use your knife thing to cut open the armor!" shouted Katara
"Ok" said Sakura
Sakura charged at the fire bender and quickly slashed off most of the fire bender's chest armor
She then delivered a few punches and kicks to the open area
The man was down in seconds
"Alright!" shouted Sakura happily
Katara and Sakura took out two more soldiers easily
"Alright this is working!" said Sakura
"Keep it up!" said Katara
They continued taking out firebenders at a rapid pace
As they fought the two girls noticed the amazing fighting abilities of one another
Sakura looked at the strange girl with brown hair in the blue robes with interest as she fought
She was amazed by the girl's water style skills
The girl was as graceful with her moves as flowing water
Sakura was still amazed when she realized something that shocked her
'If she's using water jutsu how come she's not using any handsigns?' thought Sakura shocked
The girl seemed to use the water attacks by moving the water with her hands not with handsigns
'Could she have a blood line trait?' wondered Sakura
She though back to Haku and his ice controlling bloodline trait that allowed him to use ice attacks without handsigns
Sakura found her swift, fluid movements almost like a dance as she fought with her water
Katara found Sakura just as interesting
She was amazed by this strange girl with pink hair who was taking on firebenders with nothing but a small knife and her bare fists
She thought only Sokka was dumb and skilled enough to try that
Katara wondered who she was and where she came from
But right now she was a bit too busy to ask
Katara had to dodge a fire blast from a fire bender in front of her
She ducked under the fire and rolled out of the way
When she got up three fire benders ready to attack surrounded her
She looked on in horror as they prepared to blast her
There was no time to dodge or block the attack
This was it...
Suddenly Sakura came flying out of nowhere and tackled Katara out of the way
Katara looked up to see the strange girl get blasted by the fire
She saw that Sakura had a confident smile and had her hands together in an odd way
"No!" screamed Katara as the girl was engulfed in flames
She was surprised that the girl had sacrificed herself to save her
When the flames cleared they were met by an unexpected surprised
Instead of a burnt body there was a burnt, black log where she had been before the attack
"What the?" asked Katara in shock
The burnt log clattered to the ground in front of the firebenders
"Where'd she go!" asked the commander franticly
"Look up!" shouted Sakura as she came down almost out of nowhere on a firebender
"What!" asked the firebender as Sakura came down on him
Before he could react Sakura delivered a powerful downward kick straight to his face
The man screamed as Sakura's foot nearly broke his face
He quickly fell to the ground with Sakura standing on him
"Is that all you got?" asked Sakura confidently
"How'd she do that?" asked Katara
One second the girl had been in the flames the next thing she saw there was a log in her place
It was like she warped or something
"Get her!" shouted the commander again
A firebender charged forward and tried to blast her with a stream of fire
Sakura put her hands together and made a hand sign again
The flames hit her again but she wasn't worried
Her body disappeared in the flames again but this time instead of a log there was another firebender in her place when the flames cleared
He looked burnt and hurt but her was still alive
The firebender collapsed to the ground
"WHAT?" asked the commander in shock
Everyone turned to where the firebender had been standing before
They all saw Sakura standing in his place with a confident smirk on her face
"Ho..how!" asked the commander in awe
"That's not going to work" said Sakura smugly
"What the heck is she!" asked the commander thinking no normal human could do that
Before anyone could do anything a powerful blast of wind blew all the firebenders away with great force
All the firebenders laid unconscious a few feet away in a pile
Sakura and Katara looked over at where the air blast had come from
They saw Aang with his fan/staff open a few feet away
"Aang!" said Katara happily
"Katara!" said Aang happily as he ran over to her
"Katara are you ok?" asked Aang worried
"I am thanks to her" said Katara gesturing to Sakura
"Aw it was nothing" said Sakura modestly with a slight blush
"No it wasn't, how'd you do that log trick?" asked Katara anxiously
"It was simple, how'd you do those water attacks?" asked Sakura with interest
"It was only waterbending, your attack was more amazing!" said Katara amazed this girl was amazed by waterbending
It was almost like she had never heard of waterbending before
Sakura was equally amazing and confused at this strange girl who was amazed by a simple substitution jutsu
She had only mastered the few basic jutsu that all ninja academy students had to learn
Thinking about her justu she realized she was almost as bad as Lee in terms of ninjutsu and genjutsu
Naruto and Sasuke had the shadow clone jutsu and fireball jutsu
She thought it was kinda sad Naruto had up showed her with jutsu
"It was only a substitution jutsu" said Sakura
"A substution what?" asked Aang and Katara confused
Just then Sokka finally showed up from behind some trees
"Katara! Are you ok?" asked Sokka worried
"I'm fine" said Katara to her brother
"Who's this?" asked Sokka spotting Sakura
"Yeah who are you?" asked Aang curiously
"Sakura Haruno" said Sakura
"I'm Katara and this is my brother Sokka" introduced Katara
"I'm Aang" said Aang
"Interesting names" said Sakura
"What happened?" asked Sokka to Katara
"After I got separated from you I ran into Sakura…literally, we both got attack by the firebenders and we fought them" explained Katara
"She fought them?" asked Sokka pointing to Sakura
"Yeah she was amazing" said Katara
"Really? Can she bend?" asked Aang
"No she fought them with only her bare hands" said Katara impressed
"You mean this girl took out firebenders with her bare hands!" asked Sokka shocked
"What was that!" screamed Sakura angrily
The next thing Sokka knew he had been hit so hard in the face he flew a few feet through the air
"Owwww" moaned Sokka after he hit the ground
"I'm a kunoichi for your information!" said Sakura fiercely
"A what?" asked Sakura
"A female ninja" said Sakura
"You're a ninja?" asked Katara
"Yes from Hidden Leaf Village" said Sakura
"Where's that?" asked Aang
"The Land of Fire" answered Sakura
Sakura was surprised when she was the others get a surprised and scared look on their faces at her answer
Suddenly they leapt back from her and got into fighting stances facing her
"Whoa what's wrong?" asked Sakura shocked as the others faced her ready to fight
"You're from the Fire Nation?" shouted Aang fiercely
"What the heck is the Fire Nation!" asked Sakura as she backed off from them
"Like you don't know!" shouted Sokka with his boomerang drawn
"I honestly don't!" shouted Sakura defense
"Guys what if she's telling the truth?" asked Katara
She wasn't so sure she was lying
"Please the Fire Nation probably sent her to spy on us!" said Sokka fiercely
"What is the Fire Nation? I said the Land of Fire!" said Sakura
"What's the Land of Fire?" asked Aang
"Land of Fire is the Fire Nation!…Right?" asked Sokka
"What is the Fire Nation?" demanded Sakura frustrated
"They're the ones that have been fighting the hundred year war" said Aang
"Hundred year war! I thought there was peace!" said Sakura surprised
"What?" asked Katara surprised
"Ok everyone calm down!" said Aang as he lowered his fighting stance and gestured for the others to do the same
They reluctantly lowered their guards much to the relief of Sakura
"Thanks" said Sakura
"Let's try and figure out what's going on" said Aang calmly
"Good idea" said Katara
"Fine" said Sokka slightly stubbornly
"So tell us about where you're from" said Aang to Sakura
"Well the Hidden Leaf Village is a ninja village that has the largest ninja army" said Sakura
"A ninja army?" asked Aang surprised
He knew of armies of benders but not ninjas
"Do you have any benders there?" asked Katara
"What's a bender?" asked Sakura wondering what it could be
"You know like waterbending, earthbending, firebending, and airbending" said Katara
"Never heard of it" said Sakura honestly
"You saw me waterbending before" said Katara
"You mean your water style jutsu?" asked Sakura
"Water style what?" asked Katara
"You know jutsu when you use handsigns and chakara to use ninjutsu or genjutsu" said Sakura
"What ustsu?" asked Sokka confused by all the use of the jutsu sound
LaterThey continued talking for quite some time until they eventually began to understand what each other was talking and the story about their worlds
Sakura listened intently as Aang and the others talked of the Fire Nation war, the Avatar cycle, the comet that would give the Fire Lord the power to win the war, bending the elements, Aang's journey, Ba Sing Se, and the fact that they had to avoid all of the Fire Nation on their journey
Aang and the others listened as Sakura told them of the way of the ninja, Hidden Leaf Village, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, the ninja villages, and the Chuin exam
The others kept quiet until Sakura mentioned how she got there and the strange ghostly figure that appeared before them earlier
When she described him Aang shot up immediately
"Roku!" shouted Aang excitedly
"What?" asked Sakura confused
"Avatar Roku! He was the Avatar before me. He was the on who sent you here" said Aang realizing that must be it
"Why?" asked Sakura
"Yeah why would he send some ninja here?" asked Sokka
"I don't know" said Aang
"Does that mean you know how to get me home?" asked Sakura excitedly
"No, sorry" said Aang sadly
"So what am I going to do?" asked Sakura
"Maybe you can travel with us" suggested Katara
"But I still need to find my team" said Sakura
"Maybe we'll find them on the way" suggested Aang
"Besides what else are you going to do? Traveling all alone doesn't sound like a good idea" said Katara
"Good point, I guess I'll go with you for now" said Sakura
"It'll be nice to have another girl with us" said Katara
"Again…" she added a bit weakly and sadly
"What's wrong?" asked Sakura concerned
"Well we lost a member of our team a little while ago in a battle" said Katara sadly
They were still feeling bad about that
"I'm sorry" said Sakura sympathetically
"Thanks" said Katara
"It was a girl?" asked Sakura
"Yes a blind earthbender named Toph" said Katara sadly
"She was blind?" asked Sakura
"Yeah but she could see through vibrations in the ground" explained Katara
"What happened?" asked Sakura
"She got throw off a cliff by a enemy of ours" explained Katara
"I'm really sorry, I nearly lost both my teammates in a battle once" said Sakura remembering the insistence in the Forest of Death when Naruto and Sasuke where nearly killed by that strange snake-like ninja
"We're on our way to Ba Sing Se to get Appa back and get a new earthbending teacher for Aang" said Katara with a tone of sadness still evident
"Well count me in" said Sakura
"Thanks" said Katara
"How can she help? She said she was the weakest of her group. How can a girl with only a few punches and kicks help us?" asked Sokka arrogantly
"Why that little…!" screamed inner Sakura angrily
"She could use that substitution jutsu thing" said Katara
"How does that work?" asked Aang curiously
"I'll show you" said Sakura with a smirk
Sakura stood in front of Katara
"Ok now hit me with your water whip!" said Sakura fiercely
"What!" asked Katara shocked
"Trust me" said Sakura
"Um ok?" said Katara unsure
Katara drew her water and sent a water whip at Sakura
Sakura did the correct handsign as the water whip was about to hit her
As soon as the water whip hit Sakura there was a puff of smoke
Katara was surprised when the smoke cleared
Instead of a log Sokka was standing where Sakura had been
He fell back as he took the full force of the close up water whip
Sakura was now standing where Sokka had been with a smirk on her face
"That's for the comment earlier!" shouted Sakura fiercely
"No fair" moaned Sokka as he lay on the ground in pain
Katara as had a slight smile on her face having been wanting to do that for some time
"Can you show me one more time?" asked Katara slightly evilly
"No she doesn't need too!" said Sokka urgently
"Oh fine" said Katara slightly disappointed
"Can we get going now?" asked Sokka wanting to get going before the rest of the Fire Nation army showed up
"Good idea" said Katara looking over the tree line and seeing the smoke that was the sure sign of the Fire Nation approaching
"Yeah let's get going before the rest of the army shows up" said Aang
"That sounds good" said Sakura knowing avoiding an entire army was a good idea
All of them began to walk away from where they were standing
"It's nice to have you with us Sakura" said Katara to Sakura as they walked
"Thanks I just hope I can find my friends soon" said Sakura
"I'm sure we'll find them on the way" said Katara encouragingly with a gentle smile
"Yeah you're right" said Sakura happily
Things might have been weird and strange for Sakura but now she had the feeling things might be ok for her
End Chapter(Well there it is. I hoped you liked it. I know some people aren't big fans of Sakura but I want to give each member of Team 7 some spotlight. Next is a Naruto and Toph chapter but after that we should see what happened to Sasuke and Kakashi. Trust me you're going to love it if you're a fan of Sasuke…or Zuko. Yup they're going to joining up and kicking ass)
(P.S. I am currently accepting votes for a Katara pairing so you can choose either ZukoxKatara or AangxKatara in your reviews)
Next Chapter:
Chapter 4: TravelingToph and Naruto decide to head to Ba Sing Se. Toph is less then happy about having to be carried due to her injuries. As Toph recovers and they travel Naruto and Toph talk about themselves. And amazingly Naruto can't figure out Toph is blind or a girl still.