Chapter 3: He Who Knows 10,000 Things
Appa, flying over the Great Desert
In Appa's saddle, the group was talking about various things-Kakashi was drawing the Fuuja Houin jutsu in Professor Zei's journal; Sakura, Hinata, Toph, and Katara were talking about various different things; Sokka wrapped an extra shirt over his head to keep a steady flow of cool air through his hair, and Yamato was checking the supplies, he had given out a fair share of food, rations, and other equipment to carry on their person earlier; Naruto, Zei, and Aang were on top of Appa's head, where the blond genin was practicing to learn airbending. Sokka crawled to the edge of the front of the saddle and used his telescope to look for the library.
Zei crawled down near Appa's mouth and leaned over. "Tell me, sky bison, are you the last of your kind?" the flying bison roared in reply. "Fascinating, if only I could understand his tongue. Oh the stories this beast could tell," Momo began chattering, and the professor turned to him and shushed. "Tiny monkey…"
Aang looked at the blueprints of the library as it flapped in the wind. "Wow, it shouldn't be too hard to find a place like this out here."
Naruto looked at his hand as he concentrated his chakra. A tiny amount of wind flew out, but it was uncontrolled. "Is there some trick to this, Aang?"
"No trick, just practice," Aang replied as he did the same thing, but the air formed a mini-ball in his hand. "You said you could do something similar?"
"Yeah, called the Rasengan," Naruto replied as he concentrated his chakra to form a mini-hurricane of power in his hand, all contained in a soft-ball sized sphere. "Ero-sennin taught me it three years ago."
Aang's eyes widened as the jinchuuriki let the Rasengan dissipate. "How did you do that?"
"Like you said, practice. I had to learn how to control and form my chakra, first by using my chakra to walk up trees, then using it to walk across water," Naruto replied. "Then, I had to learn to form the chakra in a tiny sphere in my hand and control it without popping a balloon the size of the Rasengan. Then, I had to learn to put power into the attack by popping a water balloon the size of the Rasengan. And finally I had to learn how to control the attack and released the power. I did it in a week to win a bet with Obaa-chan, when it took Yondaime a couple months."
"Yondaime invented the technique," Kakashi said as he leaned back on the saddle, finishing his drawing of the seal. "I hope this helps your collection, Zei-san."
The professor smiled as he took his journal back. "Thank you Mr. Hatake. I have to say that your village would be a pleasure to visit if I could get there."
In the back of the saddle, Katara was showing Hinata how to waterbend. A globule of water floated out of her leather-skinned flask, and hovered around her hands. Hinata watched, popped open one of the flasks of water, and began to concentrate her chakra. Slowly, the water began to flow out in a globule, and she breathed out as she motioned her hands to pull out the liquid. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she manipulated the water and breathed out.
"I…I'm doing it…" Hinata muttered quietly with a hint of pride in her voice.
"Hey Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan! Aang said he's going to teach me how to use the wind to fly in a couple weeks!" Naruto cheered from Appa's head, making Hinata freeze, and the water splashed onto the saddle.
"…you almost had it," Katara said with a smirk, and she bended the liquid back into the Hyuuga Heiress's flask. "Naruto…uh…-kun seems to make you flustered…."
Hinata began blushing, and Sakura smirked. "Someday you got to tell him…" she told her friend quietly as the Hyuuga blushed and put her hands to her face.
"What do you see in such an arrogant jerk like him, anyway?" Toph asked as she blew some of her hair out of the path of her eyes.
"…ano…um…um…" Hinata started, breathing out and trying to calm down. "…he's the most wonderful boy I know…" she confessed in a voice which Naruto wouldn't pick up. "…he's strong, he never goes back on a promise, he's confident…" she then began twiddling her index fingers. "…and also handsome…and I believe he will reach his goal in becoming Hokage."
Katara smiled at that. "Well, when you do tell him, he's going to be lucky to have someone like you on his side," she whispered, making Hinata freeze again, and she fainted as the blood rushed to her head.
"This mushy stuff isn't my thing…" Toph said bluntly. "I really hate flying…I can't feel any earth up here…"
"So you're basically really blind up here," Sakura said as she put the reasons why. "You feel the earth to see."
"Right, whenever I'm on solid ground, I can see as well as the rest of you," Toph replied as she leaned back. "My mom and dad never understood that I wasn't helpless, and they never bothered teaching me to read because I couldn't see…"
"Wait, so they never bothered to teach you to read or educate you?" Sakura asked as Toph nodded.
"They really saw me as helpless since I couldn't see, so they never bothered sending me to school, and kept me secret from the entire town," Toph replied with suppressed anger. "…never even thought that I could be of help to the town, the Earth Kingdom as a whole, or the world. Just kept me inside the mansion under lock and key…"
"…I know how that feels," Hinata told the blind earthbender quietly. "…I'm the heiress to my clan, and even though my father trained me, he hardly let me out to see the village and the Branch Family. When I finally was old enough to go to the Academy, he barely let me have any friends…everyone was screened for their 'worthiness' to be a friend of mine…and then on my graduation year, father basically disowned me since I couldn't beat Hanabi-nii-chan in combat. She's my younger sister…I didn't want to hurt her…"
"Except for the sister part, you're right," Toph said as she put her hand on Hinata's shoulder and smirked. "Let's both prove our dad's wrong."
"Hinata-san has already done that," Sakura told them with a grin. "She's back as heiress to the Hyuuga Clan, started repairing the gap between the Main and Branch houses, and has started making the Hyuuga Clan more active in the village…she even convinced Hiashi-sama, her father, to let some of the Branch Clan reform the Konoha Military Police…in honor of the Uchiha Clan which was slaughtered six years ago." She said with a sad sigh. 'And the reason why Sasuke-kun left…to avenge his clan…'
Katara nodded. "Well that is good," she noticed the look on the pink haired kunoichi's face. "…something wrong, Sakura?"
"…Sasuke-kun left the village for Orochimaru to gain the strength to avenge his clan…" Sakura muttered as she wiped a tear streaming down her cheek from the memory, and then she smiled weakly. "Though I am convinced that Naruto and I will get him back, Orochimaru's hold on him isn't as strong as he thinks…" she turned to Toph. "You can learn to read, you know."
"What do you mean?" Toph asked, confused.
"She can't see the letters, how could she read?" Katara added as Katara pulled out a scroll from her pack and unrolled it.
"There are many shinobi who were blind, either by birth or through an accident on a mission that are still able to perform their abilities in Konoha," Sakura stated, showing them the scroll, which had bumps on the bottom of the kanji symbols. "The bumps stand for the letters and symbols in print."
"…so I would feel it out and read…" Toph said as her jaw started dropping.
Sakura nodded a yes. "Some of them have honed their sense of touch so much, they don't even require the bumps to read, they just feel where the ink that the letters are made from."
She rolled up the scroll and smiled. "You up for proving your parents are still wrong?"
Toph smirked at the challenge, and nodded. "You bet."
Katara smiled at that, and looked over to Hinata. "Sakura seems to have become a good friend to you, hasn't she?"
"Yes, she's started helping me become more confident…though the praise for the Hyuuga Clan's change over the past three years really belongs for Naruto-kun…" Hinata replied shyly. "During the Chuunin Exams, my father witnessing Neji-nii-san, my cousin, and the Clan's prodigy from the Branch, being defeated by Naruto-kun started to make him hold me in a higher regard…since if Naruto-kun could defeat Neji-nii-san, that means I could be stronger…and he became less cold, and more tolerant of my shortcomings."
"That's really good to hear," Katara said as she looked over to see Naruto and Aang chatting and laughing. "I'm glad you're on our side…now lets get back to the waterbending lessons."
Hinata nodded, and began to concentrate again and breathe out.
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Konoha Village, Hokage Tower
Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage sighed, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. A panic had started in the village with the news that five Konoha Shinobi had disappeared; the only trace was a burnt circle in the middle of Training Sector. ANBU had search the area for any other reasons why Naruto, Hinata, Sakura-Tsunade's protégé, Kakashi, and Yamato had disappeared. They came to the conclusion that Kyuubi's chakra wasn't responsible for the disappearance, which eased many of the Elder's fears. ANBU had also been dispatched to find Naruto's wayward sensei, Jiraiya of the Legendary Three to aid in the investigation.
"Any more news, Shizune?" Tsunade asked her former apprentice, the blond haired woman in the blue kimono standing next to her, holding a cute pink pig.
"…nothing yet, Hokage-sama," Shizune replied with a sigh. "The ANBU are searching around the clock, and Hiashi-sama has ordered a full scaled investigation of the disappearance of his daughter by the Military Police."
"Thank you," Tsunade said with an even heavier sigh. "This isn't good; we can't be down five ninja during this time."
"…diplomatic relations between Sound and Iwa have begun, haven't they?" Shizune asked as Godaime sighed with a nod.
"They still hate Konoha with passion for the loss we dealt them in the war nearly 18 years ago," Tsunade replied, interlocking her fingers as she leaned heavily on the desk. "Kumo also isn't too kind of us as of late, mostly because Hiashi killed one of their famed Jounin to save his daughter 13 years ago."
"There are still Kiri and Suna on our side," Shizune reminded her former teacher.
"Yes, and because of Naruto, the Land of Waves is also ready to send soldiers to aid us, and minor Shinobi Villages of the Taki, Kusa, and Ame stand with us as well," Tsunade added as she counted off their allies. "Yet…I fear it won't be enough if both Iwa and Kumo join the Sound."
Suddenly, the door opened revealing the muscular, long, white-haired toad Sannin Jiraiya. Behind him were two Chuunin, both of which were Tsunade's temporary aids until Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane return from their Niju Shotai mission with Asuma Sarutobi and Shikamaru Nara. The perverted Sannin was a bit drunk from the look of the blush on his face, but he was still coherent enough to know the seriousness of the situation.
"…so you want me to look at the burn in Training Sector 8, Tsunade? You should have come personally!" Jiraiya joked as he hiccupped. "We could have had sake later!"
"Jiraiya, where were you when my aids found you?" Tsunade asked.
"It was actually the ANBU who found me, Tsunade, of at a delightful little shipping village with a magnificent hot spring, that was excellent research material for my latest book," Jiraiya replied with a perverted smile, and the Hokage squeezed her fist.
"Shizune, get our esteemed colleague here some coffee to clear out that alcohol, and I mean my special brew," Tsunade ordered, and the brown haired woman nodded, understanding what she meant.
A few seconds later, Shizune handed the toad Sannin a cup of coffee, which he gingerly drank…and then he spat out. "What the hell is this?"
"My special brew," Tsunade replied as she wiped the coffee spray off her clothing and face. "It really gets out the alcohol after a night of binge drinking. I assume you're more alert now?"
"Yeah, yeah," Jiraiya replied with a sour face, wrinkling the red lines on his cheeks. "So what's so important about this burn on Training Sector 8?"
"…you don't recall the ANBU telling you about Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Kakashi, and Yamato's disappearance due to the light they were engulfed in?" Tsunade countered with a hint of frustrated anger in her voice, and she leaned forward. "Well?"
"Give me a break, I was drinking just a while ago, and you know how your memory is afterwards," Jiraiya replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "So, what is there to check, a seal or something?"
"Come see for yourself. You are the expert on seals," Tsunade told him as she got out of her seat and stood up. "Follow me…"
Jiraiya nodded, and the two Sannin walked out of the Hokage Office with Shizune following. The two young Chuunin stepped aside as the three high-level Shinobi headed for the hallways.
Later that day in the village, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune arrived in Training Sector 8, where ANBU and Military Police had surrounded the burn mark that had engulfed the five missing Konoha Shinobi. Jiraiya knelt down and looked at the marking that was left and his eyes opened wide.
"…this is a technique similar to Yondaime's Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique) and Kuchiyose no Jutsu…meant to transport a person or group to another place instantly…" Jiraiya said in awe as he looked at the seal, and he felt the still tingling chakra on it. "…this is Orochimaru's doing, no doubt about it. But it seems Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, Hinata, and Yamato were not his intended target…" he looked at a smudge on the edge of the burn. "The seal was ruined during execution, so the jutsu went awry…and homed in on the strongest source of Chakra…Kyuubi's."
Tsunade nodded. "Recall the Niju Shotai, increase ANBU patrols and contact our allies, and Iwa and Kumo."
"For what, Hokage-sama?" one of the ANBU asked as she stepped forward.
"We need to scour the continent for our lost ninja, and we'll need all the help we can get," Tsunade replied. "I know our potential enemies won't answer our call, but our allies will."
The ANBU nodded, and went back to the investigation. Tsunade then turned to one of the Hyuuga Military Police members.
"Inform Hiashi-sama that we might have a lead of how Hinata disappeared," Tsunade ordered the Hyuuga, who bowed and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Godaime Hokage then turned on her heal and started walking towards the Hokage tower. Jiraiya and Shizune followed, noticing the look on her face. She was deep in thought, and quietly suppressing her anger that Orochimaru may have permanently incapacitated the young man who would become Hokage one day.
"Jiraiya, if you'd put off your research for a while, why don't you go to my personal library and find a way to reverse this ninjutsu and return Konoha's shinobi," Tsunade ordered, making Jiraiya blanch. "Do I make myself clear?"
"…yes Tsunade," Jiraiya replied with a heavy sigh. "My readers will just have to wait."
Tsunade smiled at that. "Good. Shizune, provide him with any help he needs-any non-perverted help he needs-so we'll be able to return our Shinobi to Konoha."
"Hai, Hokage-sama," Shizune said with a bow, and Tonton squirmed in her arms.
Tsunade started to burn with a fiery determination, the very determination that founded the Land of Fire and Konoha. They would get Naruto, his teachers, and his friends back, or they would die trying.
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Earth Kingdom, Great Desert
After hours of flying, they still hadn't found the library. Momo slumped on Aang's head, closing his lime-green eyes and lowering his ears. Katara, Hinata, and Yamato were on the right side of Appa's saddle, looking outward, while Kakashi and Sokka were looking out through the left, the young Water Tribe warrior using his telescope to get a further look out. The Hyuuga Heiress activated her Byakugan, and pushed it out to it's 800 meter maximum radius.
"It shouldn't be that hard to find a giant ornate building from the air," Katara commented as she shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand and looked out.
"Yo, nerd-san, you sure this place is out here? The owl guy may have moved it!" Naruto asked as Sokka and Hinata kept searching long distance.
"I'm sure, Naruto, the maps and scrolls have never led me astray," Zei replied as he looked at one of the medical scrolls that Sakura had provided him with. "Very impressive, I doubt we have such a catalogue of the human body at Ba Sing Se's greatest medical schools. Mind if I keep this one?"
"Sure, that's a copy of the main scroll, by the way," Sakura replied as she looked out over the saddle to the rolling desert. "Any luck?"
Sokka looked back at his sister, shrugged, and went back to looking through his telescope. He scanned the area, and at the same Hinata began focusing her Byakugan vision on an spire poking out of the sand at the edge of her vision area. Sokka caught it too, and his face contorted to a smirk.
"Down there!" Both Sokka and Hinata yelled, and they pointed to the upper right of Appa's head. "That spire down there is our best bet." Hinata added as the flying bison began to descend from the air.
A few seconds later they landed near the spire, and everyone had gotten off of Appa. Kakashi looked up at it and he saw the disappointed look on Naruto's face.
"Forget it, it's obviously not what we're looking for," Katara said as she looked at the spire. "The building in this drawing is enormous."
"Probably it's covered by the sand," Kakashi commented as a ping sound was heard from their left, and they looked over.
Over the dunes a grey fox walked over the sand carrying a scroll. Kyuubi stirred inside Naruto at the sight.
So that's the slave driver's new whipping boy, another kit!
"What kind of animal is that?" Sokka asked, not recognizing it.
"Are you serious, Sokka-san, that's a fox," Sakura replied as the fox ran over to the ornate spire and began literally running up it.
"That's one of the knowledge seekers alright," Naruto said as the fox reached the open window and leapt in. "The bastard fox doesn't like how the owl 'bastard' treats his brethren."
"Ah, we must be close to the library," Zei said enthusiastically.
"…this is the library if you look at the blueprints hard enough," Kakashi said as he pointed to the top of the dome, which had the exact same spire on top of it.
"…it's completely buried," Sokka added as he pointed at the spire.
"The library is buried?" Zei yelled out in fear as he slammed his hands to the sides of his head. "My life's ambition is now full of sand!"
He collapsed to his knees after running forward a bit, with a small shovel in hand. "Well, time to start excavating." The professor immediately started digging
Hinata activated her Byakugan again as Toph slammed her palm into the spire. "Actually, that won't be necessary. The inside seems to be completely intact."
"There are also more of those knowledge collectors down there…its huge!" Hinata gasped as she stretched her Byakugan to its range limit. "…it just keeps going, and going and going…must be literally kilometers long and deep…"
"That big huh? Looks like we're going to have a long look down there," Sakura said as she looked up at the building.
"That fox thingy went up there through a window, I say we go inside and give it a look," Sokka added as Toph crossed her arms and stepped away from the spire.
"I say you guys go ahead without me," Toph told them as she looked around.
"You got-oh wait…" Katara started and she blushed in embarrassment on forgetting the conversation they had on Appa.
"I held books before, and they don't exactly do it for me yet," Toph finished with a shrug. "Let me know if they got something you can listen to."
"Though you'd be alone up here," Kakashi started, and he smirked and did a few hands seals. The group looked at him as he placed his palm on the sand, and lines went out. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."
A puff of smoke followed, and the copy ninja slowly lifted his hand, revealing a pug dog with the same headband on his head, in blue clothes. "Yo."
"W-W-What the heck did you do? Teleport a weird animal who could speak here?" Sokka asked as the pug turned to him.
"Strange creature? Never saw a pug before?" the dog asked, making Sokka jump back.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet my ninken-ninja dog-Pakkun," Kakashi said as Pakkun raised his paw and said 'Yo' again. "He'll be able to keep you company, Toph-chan, while we are down in the library."
Pakkun then began walking to Toph, who was skeptical. The pug raised his paw again. "If you're up to it, you can play with my soft, cute, foot pads!"
"…no thanks…" Toph said as Momo flew to Pakkun, and chattered at the ninken.
"Fascinating! I never thought I'd see a real dog out here, much less one that can speak!" Zei exclaimed as he entered the data on Pakkun into his journal. "So how did you get here? What was that thing Kakashi did to get you here?"
"I used the summoning jutsu to bring him here. I have a blood pact with the Spirit Dogs, and Pakkun just happens to be one," Kakashi stated as he noticed Sokka tossing his boomerang up to the window with a rope attached. "He has an excellent sense of smell, so if anything happens he'll be able to pick up the scent and warn you if anything comes. I figure this sand must be messing up your senses out here."
"You're right about that; everything is fuzzy and blurry when I stand here," Toph admitted as she felt Pakkun walking over. "Let's go over to the other fuzz ball. Let me know if they got something you can listen to."
Sokka began climbing up the rope he through up as Naruto and Aang said goodbye to Appa. The young Avatar patted the giant Flying Bison's nose. "Don't worry buddy, I'm not making you go underground ever again. You can stay right here with Toph and Pakkun."
"Stay safe beaver-san, and keep my extra ramen cups safe!" Naruto laughed playfully as he rubbed the bison's nose and began walking to the rope with Aang.
"Wow, you're as big as a giant toad," Pakkun exclaimed softly as he watched Appa and Toph look left and right from each other.
"What's up?" Toph asked as the flying bison growled a reply.
"So we might as well conserve our chakra until we need it," Yamato said as he looked at the rope. "It's the best idea, incase we need to get out of there quickly."
"But this is the sucky way to do it…" Naruto muttered as Hinata giggled softly at that.
All five ninjas began climbing up the rope after the Aang's group and the Professor had already scrambled up to the window. Naruto kept complaining this was the slow way to Kakashi, and Sakura finally got tired of it.
"…Naruto, shut the hell up," Sakura told him firmly with a killing intent in her eyes. "You should know conserving our chakra is the best way to go now!"
"…s-sorry, Sakura-chan…" Naruto mumbled as he kept climbing.
Soon, they were all in the interior, climbing down on the rope. Hinata looked down, it was really high up. As she cautiously looked around, she used a burst of chakra to keep her feet sticking on the ornate wall markings of the tower. They reached the base of the tower and descended into the oculus of the rotunda base.
"Oh, it's breathtaking…" Zei gasped as he looked around the library from the rope.
"Man, you were right Hinata, it is huge in here!" Naruto exclaimed as he continued to climb down the rope with Hinata over him, and he looked up. 'Wow, I didn't notice she got curvier during my time away…' he suddenly stopped and shook his head furiously. 'Where the hell did that come from? I'm not a pervert like Ero-sennin!'
"The spirits spared no expense building this place, look at these beautiful buttresses," Zei told everyone as he held out his hand, and Naruto, Aang, and Sokka began to chuckle at the last word he said. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," Aang replied as he looked down. "We just like architecture."
"As do I," Zei said with wonder in his voice.
The professor reached the bottom of the rope and leapt off. Aang, Sokka, Sakura, Naruto, Hinata, Kakashi, and Yamato followed afterwards, and Zei gasped at a massive mosaic of Wan Shi Tong. Inside the young jinchuuriki's mind, Kyuubi growled at the sight of the mosaic of the owl.
"Wow…" Naruto gasped as he looked at the mosaic.
"My word! The exquisite mosaic handiwork of this tile rendered avian sym-," Zei started as everyone looked at him. "…nice…owl…"
A ruffle was heard from behind them, and Naruto, Kakashi, Yamato, Hinata, and Sakura instinctively went for their kunai pouches, and then leapt to the end of the causeway and into the shadows. Katara and Sokka ran to the left pillar, and Aang led Zei behind the right one. Using a small bit of chakra, the pink haired kunoichi cast a camouflage genjutsu that concealed herself and her friends. They watched as a massive brown owl with a white face walk onto the causeway. He stopped in the middle and looked at the rope, and Naruto heard loud roars and barks coming from Kyuubi's cage.
The owl's head turned a full 180 degrees as he looked to where everyone was hiding. "I know you are back there…" he announced as Aang quickly ducked back behind the pillar.
Zei couldn't keep his excitement in, and he came out of hiding. "Hello! I am Professor Zei head of Anthropology at Ba Sing Se University." He bowed respectfully to the owl.
"You should leave the way you came," the owl advised as he looked to the left at a pillar with a bunch of animal heads on it. "Unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology."
Zei started rubbing his neck nervously, not expecting this at all. Sakura dropped her genjutsu as the rest of the group started walking out of their hiding spaces. Naruto told Kyuubi to shut up and get over it in his mind as they walked up.
"Are you the spirit that brought the library from the Spirit World?" Sokka asked as they stopped behind the Professor.
"Indeed, I am Wan Shi Tong, 'He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things', you are obviously humans…" the owl stated with resentment in his voice. "…which by the way are no longer permitted in my study."
"And why is that?" Kakashi asked Wan Shi Tong, who looked at the silver-haired Jounin.
"What do you have against humans?" Aang added by raising his hand.
"Humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans, like that Fire Bender who came to this place a few years ago looking to destroy his enemy," Wan Shi Tong replied, and he went down to eye level with Sokka. "So, who are you wanting to destroy?"
"Hey!" Naruto yelled, making the great Owl look at him. "Even if we were looking to get an edge, it wouldn't be for such a selfish reason as conquering others! Everything I learn is to protect my precious people! So the bastard fox is right about you, you are a bastard who thinks he knows it all! You act like you know it all, but you don't!"
Wan Shi Tong's neck turned and faced the blond genin, who was still growling at him. "You have one of the Spirit Creatures sealed inside of you, a former…collector of mine."
"Yeah, the bastard demon fox Kyuubi! He tried destroying my village of Konoha 16 years ago, so Yondaime Hokage sealed him up inside me!" Naruto replied, unafraid of the owl.
"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata squeaked out, making Naruto look back to her. "I-It is his library…and we are looking for a way for you to complete your attack…w-we should just go somewhere else…"
Sokka gulped at that. "No way Hinata…" he then smiled at Wan Shi Tong. "No, we're not in for destroying; we're not into that…"
"Then why have you come here?" Wan Shi Tong asked the young Water Tribe warrior directly, his eyes focusing on Sokka.
"Um…knowledge for knowledge's sake?" Sokka asked as he looked back.
"If you're going to lie to an all knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it," Wan Shi Tong told him as Sokka's nervous smile disappeared and he stepped back.
"I-I'm not lying…I'm here with the Avatar and he's the bridge between our worlds, he'll vouch for me," Sokka said as he pulled Aang to face the great Owl, and patted him on the back, and then elbowed him.
"Ow…um…yeah, I'll vouch…we will not abuse the knowledge in your library good spirit, you have my word," Aang told him as they all bowed.
"I could use some help creating some new medical ninjutsus with the information in your library, good spirit," Sakura said as she bowed. "I'm a medic-nin, a doctor, and I won't abuse your knowledge like Aang told you."
"And all we could use is a few maps, and probably some information on how to return to our world," Kakashi mentioned as he pulled out his all too familiar book, 'Icha Icha Paradise'.
"Hmmm…very well, I will let you peruse my vast collection, on one condition," Wan Shi Tong told them sternly. "To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge."
Zei then walked forward, reaching into his pack and he knelt before the great owl with a large book. "Please accept this tomb, as a donation to your library."
"First edition, very nice," Wan Shi Tong commented as he stretched out his wing, and waved it over the book.
"I have an authentic Waterbending Scroll," Katara offered, the scroll she stole from the Pirates nearly three months ago. 'I need to keep the others Master Pakku gave me to instruct Aang and Hinata.'
"Oh…these illustrations are quite stylish," the owl's wing flew over the scroll as Aang sat down and began to think.
"Uh…oh, I know!" Aang exclaimed as he reached into his shirt and pulled out…his wanted poster. "Hah!"
"I suppose that counts," Wan Shi Tong said as his wing waved over the poster, and Sakura stepped forward.
"I have a basic healing ninjutsu scroll," Sakura offered with the scroll in hand.
"Very nice, such healing techniques are severely lacking in my library," Wan Shi Tong commented as his wing flew over the pink haired kunoichi's scroll.
"Ano…um…I have this taijutsu scroll that my father gave me to study from when I was younger," Hinata offered shyly, and the great owl looked at it.
"These illustrations are as impressive as the ones in the Waterbending Scroll, very nice," Wan Shi Tong commented again as his wing flew over the Hyuuga Heiress's scroll.
"Hm…I know," Naruto said as he reached into his pack and pulled out a scroll. "This has a bunch of cool genin-level ninjutsu's, taijutsu's, and genjutsu's! Would this do?"
"…yes, such knowledge hasn't arrived here since long ago," the owl replied as his wing again flew over the scroll, and Naruto grinned.
"Told you you didn't have everything," Naruto grinned as the owl sighed.
"I have a first edition of the very first volume of Icha Icha Paradise…" Kakashi offered as he pulled out the small book. "I suppose this'll do, even though I do not want to part with it."
"First edition…and a very stylish cover. This will do very well," Wan Shi Tong replied as his wing waved over Kakashi's dirty book.
"And I have an advanced stealth and espionage scroll," Yamato offered, and Wan Shi Tong's beak moved.
"Excellent, my knowledge seekers haven't found much in the area of stealth or espionage area," Wan Shi Tong said as he took the scroll, and the ANBU Captain bowed. "And you?"
"Oh great spirit, check this out," Sokka replied as he held a string, and started tying it in intricate ways to form a butterfly shape, and he offered it out to the great spirit owl. "Ta-daa!" Everyone's eyebrows either rose questioningly, as if he was really serious about offering that. "It's a special knot that counts as knowledge!"
"You're not very bright, are you?" Wan Shi Tong asked after a little consideration. Sokka's joyful look turned sour as the owl's wing waved over his butterfly knot. "Enjoy the library."
With that, Wan Shi Tong leapt off the causeway ledge and spread his wings. He started spiraling down the height of the library.
"Man, for once I agree with the bastard fox, he is a know it all bastard," Naruto commented, making Aang and Hinata giggle, and the blond haired genin looked back at the Hyuuga Heiress, enjoying the sound of her laugh. 'I never realized she had such a pretty voice.'
Hinata caught him looking at her, and she began to blush. Naruto wrote the blush off in the category of 'weird things Hinata does', and just smirked too. They all began to walk away, with Momo chattering on the ledge as he followed.
"Bright enough to fool you," Sokka said as the owl disappeared from sight.
They all decided to spread out in groups to increase their chances in finding anything. Naruto decided to go with Hinata, who blushed, and Sakura tagged along with them. Kakashi went out on his own to search the library for any ninjutsus that would be able to take them back to Konoha. Yamato decided to stick with Aang, Katara, Zei, Momo, and Sokka. They had a better chance this way, and Kakashi had distributed compact, ear radios through the group in case a quick contact was needed.
"What is that thing?" Sokka asked as Yamato placed the radio in his ear.
"A device that'll allow us all to keep in contact, and signal anyone if we need to coordinate a search, if they are in trouble, or if they found something," Yamato replied as he attached the earpiece to the radio, and put it in his pocket. "We use them a lot in Konoha, we call them radios."
Sokka nodded, still confused by the concept the radio was. "Whatever, lets just see if we could find anything useful about the Fire Nation."
The ANBU Captain nodded and the five of them walked to one place in the library that looked promising.
To be continued…