Chapter 13: Battle under Lake Laogai
Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, Team Seven's residence
Two weeks have past since the ambush on Yamato. The ANBU Captain hadn't told his teammates of what happened, and the Issai Futa Bundan (All Covering Branches) receded a day after they went up. Aang was starting to get a little impatient, and had decided to get some signs made of Appa to start searching for him. Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Yamato, Kakashi, and Katara had accompanied the young Avatar to find a professional artist to get the most exact profile of Appa possible. Sokka took this badly, and proclaimed he'd have his own drawing of their flying bison by the time they got back.
Sokka laid on his stomach as he tried to draw Appa as accurately as he could. However, the end results were amateurish and child-like. There was no way to identify if it was a flying bison, a pig, or a whale at times. Toph was relaxing near him, on her back with one foot resting on her folded knee. Momo was looking at her, making his chattering noise which was his language. Sokka stuck out his tongue as he put the last touches on his latest drawing as the door opened.
"We found a great artist and a printer to make our posters!" Katara cheered as she and Aang ran up and showed Sokka a poster.
Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Kakashi, and Yamato walked in behind them and the jinchuuriki grinned. "That artist you recommended Kakashi-sensei was awesome!"
"Let me guess, Kakashi-sensei, you got him to draw some of the girls from your Icha Icha book," Sakura said blandly, and Kakashi's visible eye drooped.
"Now really, Sakura, is that fair?" Kakashi asked as he looked down.
"H-Hey, I thought designing the lost Appa poster was my job," Sokka said, completely forgetting what his teammates told him before about where they were going, and he picked up his poster of Appa. "I've been working on my Appa."
Naruto slapped his forehead and Aang put his hands on his head and crouched. "Sokka, the arrow is on Appa's head."
Katara, Hinata, and Sakura put their hands on their mouths to try to hold their giggles at the poor attempt at art. Sokka frowned and turned his picture on it's side.
"This is Appa's head," Sokka told them and Katara walked forward.
"Why are feet coming out of it?" Katara asked as she gently took it out of his hand to get a closer look.
"Those are his horns!" Sokka yelled as he snatched it out of his sisters hands and slumped on the floor. "I haven't seen him in a while okay?"
"Y-You did your best, Sokka-kun," Hinata said softly, and the water tribe boy perked up at that.
"It looks just like him to me!" Toph teased, but Sokka took it in stride.
"Thank you, I worked really hard…" Sokka started, and then her sarcasm hit him. "Why do you feel the need to do that?"
"Dude…you suck at drawing, stick to your strong stuff," Naruto told him and Sokka slumped again.
"Lets…just stick with the professional version," Katara said as her brother angrily tore his picture of Appa up.
"Come on, let's get busy!" Aang said enthusiastically as he took out two handfuls of the Appa posters.
"Calm down, otouto, we have plenty of time," Naruto said as he slapped the biologically younger boy's back. "You're finally remembering my good guy promise."
Aang grinned and ran out of the door next to his 'adopted' older brother after giving their teammates a handful of posters. Hinata, Sakura, Kakashi, Yamato, Sokka, and Toph soon followed after they plotted out their own routes of distributing the posters around the city. The pink-haired kunoichi sighed as she looked at Naruto and Aang splitting up.
"They…really act like brothers don't they?" Sakura asked the rest of the group.
"Yep. Naruto's always been eager to form bonds with people, and Sakura, Aang is a lot like how he was a couple years ago," Kakashi reminded his pink-haired former student.
Hinata lowered her head and squeezed her fists slightly. 'I…wish I wasn't so weak back then…I should have reached out to him…'
With that, all of them headed out from the house. As soon as they got down the street, they split up, planning on meeting later in the day back at the house to plan their next moves.
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Outer Ring of Ba Sing Se
Aang and Momo glided over the streets of Ba Sing Se, dropping their posters like they were propaganda leaflets from a warplane. On the ground, Naruto had created a dozen clones to approaching citizens. As the young Avatar and his lemur compatriot flew over the streets, their posters landed on the ground near the tea shop where Lee and Mushi were working.
Lee put his tea tray down as he walked to the door as his uncle finalized a plan to get a new restaurant with a wealthy businessman. "I'll try to contain my joy," he said sarcastically as he walked out.
He leaned against the wall outside the door and he looked as one of Aang's posters floated down near him and on instinct he grabbed it. The picture made his body tense up, and then he looked up into the air and began looking around, trying to find where the poster came from. However…the Fire Prince didn't catch the deliverer.
He climbed onto the roof, looking around. Naruto was a few blocks over, and leapt down from the roof of the house he was on, right after Zuko had gotten up onto his own roof. He looked around and then glanced at the poster. His frown deepened as a long suppressed rage started boiling in him. With that, he hopped down to ground level and entered his working place again.
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Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, Team Seven's House
The others had returned to the house about an hour before Aang and Momo did. Katara and Sokka were playing a tile game, and the Waterbending Master pursed her lips and put a tile down onto her brother's sequence. Hinata was practicing her Jyuuken in the middle of the room, fighting invisible opponents. Yamato was currently looking at a map of Ba Sing Se, trying to find the true headquarters of the Dai Li. Toph was relaxing on the ground near Sakura, who had taken off her shoes so she could feel the earth better. Kakashi was in at the table, reading his perverted book. And Naruto was eating some rice, watching the Hyuuga Heiress's practice.
'She has gotten really good at that…' Naruto thought as he watched Hinata, who gracefully stepped back, avoiding a shadow opponent's attack, and she retorted with a powerful palm strike. The movement seemed…vaguely familiar to him. 'Nah…Hinata-chan wouldn't…streak to practice, would she?'
The thought of Hinata, the current 16 year old young woman before him nude, performing a battle dance on the same pool of water near a beautiful waterfall that he spotted the 'ultra pretty girl', made him blush. Deeply. He tried to get the picture out of his mind.
'W-Well…Hinata-chan is pretty…so I guess…it's not really that perverted thinking of her that way. Right? Right?' Naruto asked himself as Hinata finished her Jyuuken training. 'She is also extremely nice, I don't need to yell next to her to get her attention…and she's the kindest person I know. And strong…and brave…' he thought as he kept looking at her.
'N-Naruto-kun's looking at me…why? J-Just say something!' Hinata thought to herself and Sakura moved her head to look at the scene.
'Finally, Naruto's denseness is finally being broken…I wonder if he's finally seeing Hinata-chan as girlfriend material or more…?' Sakura thought with a grin.
The door opened and Aang and Momo ran in, creating a distraction for Naruto and Hinata. "I just finished dropping the leaflets, has anyone come in with news about Appa?"
"It's only been a day, just be patient," Katara said as she tried to focus on her game with her brother.
"Yeah, just wait a while otouto," Naruto said as he finished his rice with a grin.
Aang nodded and leaned on the table. The seconds seemed to tick by like hours for him, and then there was a knock at the door.
"You guys are right, patience really pays off!" Aang cheered as he got off the table and ran to the door and opened it…it was the original Joo Dee. "Joo Dee?"
"Hello Aang, Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Katara, Yamato, Kakashi, and Toph," Joo Dee said as she walked into the house.
"What happened to you? Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?" Sokka asked as they all walked over.
"What? Jail? Of course not. The Dai Li are the protectors of our cultural heritage," Joo Dee replied as she waved her hand, as if getting the idea out of their minds, and then she bowed.
"But you disappeared at the Earth King's party," Toph said.
"And you were replaced by another woman called Joo Dee," Sakura added next to her Earthbending teacher.
"I had a short vacation to Lake Laogai, out in the country, it was very relaxing," Joo Dee explained and she put her hand on her chest. "And I'm Joo Dee."
"Then why are you here?" Kakashi asked as he put his book down.
"Yeah," Aang added.
"Dropping fliers and putting up posters isn't permitted in the city, not without proper clearance," Joo Dee replied as she took out one the posters.
"We can't just wait to get permission for everything," Sokka said as he threw his arms out.
"Don't you understand anything? Or is the brainwashing too engrained?" Naruto snapped and she looked at him.
"You are absolutely forbidden by the rules of the city to continue putting up posters."
Aang zoomed up, his face red with anger and frustration, and a vein was popping on his head. "We don't care about the rules," his body grew comically as his anger and frustration grew. "…and we're not asking permission!" He waved his arms around angrily as his body grew and he waved his hands up and down. "We're finding Appa on our own and you should just stay out of our way!"
Naruto slapped his forehead. 'That's probably what I would have done a couple years ago…'
Aang slammed the door in Joo Dee's face after she was pushed out of the room by his rage. He panted as he tried to calm down and Sokka crossed his arms.
"That…might come back to bite us in the blubber," Sokka stated as the red drained from Aang's face.
"I don't care, we'll do whatever it takes to find Appa," Aang said as his anger slowly subsided.
"That might not be the smart idea, Aang," Kakashi started as Toph started to get excited.
"Yeah! Let's go break some rules!" Toph cheered as she stomped her feet to the side and Earthbended an entire section of the house apart. It was like a bomb had hit the building.
Momo flew out of the large gaping hole in the house and the group walked out of the doorway. Kakashi turned to Yamato.
"How much of a charge do the radio receivers have left?" Kakashi asked the ANBU captain.
"About an day or so, Kakashi-san," Yamato replied and the silver haired jounin nodded. The ANBU captain then tossed a receiver to Kakashi.
"Yamato, you've been doing the most counter intelligence against the Dai Li…try to infiltrate the palace to see if it's really their headquarters," Kakashi ordered and Yamato nodded.
"Got it, see you in half a day," Yamato said as he ran off, using the camouflage jutsu to hide where he was going.
Two Dai Li agents were watching the scene from on top of a house, and they withdrew before they could be spotted. They would report the recent developments, as well as to report Joo Dee's failure to gain the trust she once had with the shinobi and Avatar's group.
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Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, Earth Kingdom Palace
In the glowing green walls of the library of the Palace, Joo Dee knelt before Long Feng, who was sitting on the bench in front of the green flame. Two Dai Li agents flanked the door, providing a guard. The administrator of the Dai Li hovered over the 'handler' of Team Seven, and he sighed.
"I am very disappointed in your work with the Avatar and his friends, Joo Dee," Long Feng told her in his powerful, commanding voice. "I had hoped you would be able to control this situation."
Joo Dee looked up at the imposing figure of Long Feng who was bathed in the eerie green light of the strange fire, and then looked down. "I-I'm so sorry, but they don't trust me anymore…I doubt those shinobi ever did," she pleaded, her voice cracking, and she pulled her hands out as she began to cry. "I don't think I can keep doing this!"
"Joo Dee…" Long Feng began and she looked up at him. "The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."
When she heard that, Joo Dee looked straight towards him, and her pupils enlarged as if she was in total darkness. "I am honored to accept his invitation."
"Good…" Long Feng said in satisfaction with a nod. "Now go await further orders."
Joo Dee gave a short bow and rose to her feet. She walked out of the room, passing the two Dai Li guards. Long Feng watched her go.
"If the Avatar keeps searching for his bison it could upset the delicate balance which we worked so hard to achieve in the city," Long Feng stated as he stood up and walked in front of the fire. "Not only that, his 'shinobi' comrades are powerful…exhibiting powers and traits I have no knowledge of, and their counter intelligence is equal to our own." He said as he looked to the fire. "It could even cost us control of the Earth King."
"Should we take care of them?" one guard asked.
"No, it's much too dangerous for us to confront him directly," Long Feng replied as he folded his arms to his back as he gazed at the green flame. "Lets see if we can still handle this…quietly…"
He brought out a scroll and looked up at the chimney of the green fire, his mind working on a plan to destroy Aang and his friends.
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Outer Ring of Ba Sing Se
The team, minus Yamato, was putting up more posters around the city. They had bought some more glue to attach them to the walls so they could stick them onto the walls. Sokka dipped his brush into the glue, smeared a bit of it on the wall, and then slammed it onto the wall to make sure it would stay on.
"We should split up to cover more area," Sokka told the others after he made sure his poster was still sticking.
Next to him was Toph, and further down the line were Katara, Naruto, and Hinata. Sakura, Kakashi, and Aang were on the other street, putting up more posters.
"…Toph, I guess you better come with me," Sokka stated as Toph huffed.
"Why? Because you don't think I can put posters up on my own?" Toph sneered as she grabbed the Water Tribe Warrior's brush and wiped it across the wall, grabbed a poster, and slammed it on the wall, however…she put its face against the wall, and no one said anything. "It's upside down, isn't it? I'll…just go with Sokka."
Hinata giggled as the blind Earthbender push the older boy away and Naruto chuckled as well. The followed Katara as they split up and they reached a small river with many houses near it. The three of them split up to put the posters up around the buildings.
Katara placed one on a statue and put a poster on it when someone walked behind her. "Katara?"
She turned around and gasped at the voice. She saw a teenager with puffy hair that ended slightly spiked, wearing a red shirt with a yellow bracer on his right shoulder, and a dull blue bracer on his left. He was wear red pants with two hooked swords on his hips. A deep anger welled up inside Katara, and Naruto and Hinata walked over.
"I think I can help you."
"You can?" Hinata asked the teenager as Katara's faced flushed with anger and charged the teen, bending the water from the river behind her into a tidal wave.
Naruto pulled Hinata out of the way as the teenager stepped back. "Katara, I changed!"
He was slammed by the water and thrown as far as the alley and Naruto glanced at the enraged water bender. "What the hell? You almost hit Hinata-chan, Katara-chan!"
Katara responded by pulling the water back, putting it into a bubble. "Tell it to so other girl, Jet!"
Jet, the teenager, had unsheathed his swords and began blocking the ice crystals that Katara was launching at him. He was thrown against a wall by the ice, and avoided being cut by many of the shards by mere millimeters. He pulled himself up and stood his ground.
"I'm not here to fight you! I just want to help!" Jet protested as Hinata and Naruto restrained the enraged Katara.
Jet threw down his swords to show his intentions, and Naruto bore his teeth. "Damn, you must have done something really bad to make Katara-chan attack you like that."
"C-Calm down, Katara-chan," Hinata commanded softly as she tried to hold her friend back.
Katara panted and let her body go limp. Naruto and Hinata let go of her arms and the three of them walked forward. The Waterbending Master looked at him, with fire in her eyes, but she slowly calmed down. Jet then smirked, and started to reach for something. Enraged that he might try something, Katara tossed several icicles as sharp as any kunai at Jet, outlying his arms.
Kakashi, Sokka, Sakura, Toph, and Aang ran up as Naruto and Hinata started to restrain Katara again.
"Katara, what's up?" Sokka asked as his sister glared at Jet.
"Jet's back," Katara replied angrily as Naruto and Hinata let her go. "Don't trust anything Jet says!"
"Will you calm down and tell us what the hell happened?" Naruto snapped and the Waterbending Master looked at him.
"We don't even know why he's here!" Sokka added as Katara shot a look at her brother.
"I don't care why he's here, whatever the reason is it can't be good!" Katara snapped angrily. The Shinobi and Toph had never seen the girl so…mad.
"I'm here to help you find Appa!" Jet told them as the poster he found unraveled in his hand, the same one he was reaching to.
"Katara, we have to give him a chance," Aang said as he looked at the poster with Sokka next to him.
"Can some one please fill us in?" Naruto huffed angrily as everyone looked at him.
"Ditto," Toph stated next to the blond jinchuuriki.
"I swear I've changed, I was a troubled person and I let my anger get out of control," Jet protested as he looked at the new group with Aang, Sokka, and Katara. "But I don't even have the gang now! I've put all that behind me."
"You're lying!" Katara yelled angrily as Toph made her way through.
"Again, can some one fill us in, the guys who never even met this guy before?" Naruto muttered as Toph made her way to Jet.
She put her hand on the wall, and closed her eyes. "She's not lying. Remember, I can detect if someone's lying by feeling their breathing and heartbeat through the Earth. When someone lies, it causes a physical reaction. Whoever he is, he's telling the truth."
"Katara, we don't have any leads. If Jet says he can take us to Appa, we have to check it out," Aang said and Katara sighed in resignation.
"Alright," Katara muttered and the young Avatar smiled in thanks. "But we're not letting you out of our sight!"
Naruto groaned. "Okay, okay, we get you hate him Katara-chan, would someone tell us why?"
"Short version," Sokka said as Hinata bent the icicles off of Jet. "He tricked all of us, flirted with Katara, made her believe he was all that, and then used her and Aang to destroy an occupied Earth Kingdom Village."
Naruto nodded and walked over to Jet, and grabbed him by the lapel. "You'd better not try to scam us, kid."
"I'm not," Jet said as he shrugged himself out of the jinchuuriki's grip. "Now let's just go. I know where we should start looking first."
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Stables, Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se
The group followed Jet to a large stable, large enough to fit a 10 ton, six legged bison. Kakashi and Naruto began sniffing the air, trying to detect any scent of Appa as Jet lead them further into the building.
"This is the place I heard about," Jet said as he looked back and Hinata activated her Byakugan.
"There's nothing here," Aang said as Kakashi's eyes scanned the area as everyone fanned out.
"If this is a trap," Katara snarled as she went to her flask.
"I told you, I work nearby! Two guys were talking about a giant furry creature they had, and I figured it must be Appa," Jet told her as her eyes widened. Hinata walked over.
"You might want to calm down, Katara-chan…this guys our only lead, bury the past," Hinata told her younger friend who nodded with a sigh.
Naruto continued to sniff the room as Toph felt around. Her foot touched something soft…some fur. "He was here!" Toph exclaimed as she bent down and picked up the piece of fur.
"Definitely, this place has his scent," Kakashi said as the others ran over to the blind Earthbender.
Aang took the fur out of her hand and rubbed it. "We missed him…"
Naruto sniffed the air, starting to use the Kyuubi's chakra to enhance his olfactory nerves. "Kakashi-sensei, I can't track him. You have a better nose than I do, so can you?"
Kakashi sniffed the air again, and he shook his head. "It carries on for about three hundred meters than vanishes."
"They took that big thing yesterday," the old janitor said as he started sweeping the area, and Aang gasped. "Shipped him out to some island, about time, I've been cleaning up fur and various…leavings all day."
"What island? Where's Appa?" Aang asked enthusiastically as he ran over to the janitor.
"The foreman said some rich royal type of Whale Tail Island bought him up, guess for a zoo or some such, could be the meat would be good."
"We got to get to Whale Tail Island," Aang and Naruto said at the same time. "Wait…where's Whale Tail Island?" Aang asked.
"Far…very far…" Sokka said as he looked at the map. He laid it down for everyone to see…and pointed at where the island was. "Here, it's near the South Pole, almost all the way back home."
"Aang, it'll take us weeks to get just to the tip of the Earth Kingdom," Katara said as she looked at the map, then Aang. "And then we'll need to find a boat to get to the island."
"I don't care, we have a chance to find Appa, we have to try," Aang stated as he stood up.
"Aang, that really isn't an option at the moment," Kakashi starts as the janitor stopped sweeping.
"I wish I could visit an island, I never had a vacation for years."
"Don't you have some more hair to clean up?" Katara and Sakura asked the janitor at the same time.
"Shuffle on…that'll get you…no more need for poor Sweepy…" the Janitor said somberly as he kept sweeping, and the two girls had their hands on their hips.
"You're right Aang, our first concern is finding Appa," Katara said as she finished glaring at the old janitor, and put her hand on the young Avatar's shoulder, who smiled warmly at her.
Naruto smirked. "A few weeks might not be so bad, and then we can finally go kick some more Fire Nation ass."
"W-We could also find more allies to try to get to the Earth King," Hinata added quietly and Kakashi sighed.
"Very well…let's get going," Kakashi said as everyone got up from the map.
"I'll come with you!" Jet said as he rain over to the others as they began walking away.
"We don't need your help," Katara snarled as she looked at the older boy.
"Why won't you trust me?" Jet asked as he walked off to join the others.
"Gee, I wonder," Katara replied sarcastically as she crossed her arms.
"Was this guy your boyfriend or something?" Toph asked as Naruto and Hinata looked back.
"What? No!" Katara replied as she looked away and pouted.
"It seems like he really won you over that time," Hinata said and her waterbending master huffed.
"I can tell you're lying," Toph taunted as Katara ran off to join the others, not wanting to listen to that anymore.
They walked out of the stable, and Naruto glanced at Jet. The boy was kind of like Sasuke, however…didn't have the dark side the let him join Orochimaru. He wondered if the teen could really be trusted.
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Outer Ring of Ba Sing Se
The group was walking along with Jet sticking by them despite Katara's protests of him being there. Naruto and Aang talked about finding Appa and Sokka and Kakashi plotted how long it would get to Whale Tail Island.
"We can take the train out to the wall, then we will have to walk," Sokka stated as they all walked through the streets.
"Don't worry, on the way back we'll be flying," Aang said cheerfully.
"It'll feel really good flying again instead of walking all over the place," Naruto said with a grin as he walked next to Hinata. "Right, Hinata-chan?"
Hinata nodded with a blush and Toph threw out her arms. "We are finally leaving Ba Sing Se…worst. City. Ever."
"It really gives you an appreciation for your own home, doesn't it?" Sakura asked with a smile.
Behind them, two people walked out onto the street. One was a tomboyish girl who could easily be mistaken for a guy with short spiky hair, with two line tattoos on her face, wearing a dark red breastplate with a long black shirt underneath, and a red bandana tied on her left arm, as well as black pants. The other was a boy wearing a straw hat, collared blue shirt, a red piece of cloth over it covering half his torso, a quiver on his back with arrows with red feathers on them, and blue pants. They paused when the saw the group.
"Jet!" the girl cried as Katara looked back.
"I thought you said you didn't have your gang anymore," Katara snarled as the girl named Smellerbee ran up.
"I don't!" Jet replied as he turned around and the tomboyish girl ran towards him and gave him a crushing hug.
"We were so worried, how did you get away from the Dai Li?" Smellerbee asked as she pulled away from him.
"The Dai Li?" Katara, Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, and Kakashi asked at the same time.
"I don't know what she's talking about!" Jet replied, having no idea what was going on.
"You were arrested by the Dai Li a couple weeks ago, we saw them drag him away," Smellerbee said as everyone looked at them, and her companion, the ever silent Longshot.
"Why would I be arrested? I've been living peacefully in the city," Jet protested, still have no idea what his friend was saying.
Toph walked over and knelt down between Jet and Smellerbee. She put her hand on the ground to feel their heartbeats and breathing rates.
"This doesn't make any sense…they're both telling the truth," Toph said as she looked up.
"That's impossible," Katara said in a lower voice.
"Byakugan," Hinata said as she scanned the warrior, then his friends. She couldn't see any cosmetic changes or illusions. "And they're who they say they are…"
"It's not impossible since they both think they're telling the truth," Sokka said as he looked at Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot. "Jet's been brainwashed!"
"That's crazy…it can't be…" Jet said as his eyes widened and he started stepping back. "Stay away from me!"
The entire group surrounded him and his eyes widened in fear. Naruto sighed as they closed in. 'He's definitely not like Sasuke if he could be brainwashed by the likes of the Dai Li…'
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Outer Ring of Ba Sing Se, Jet's House
Jet was sitting on a stool in the middle of his room with the group surrounding him. Katara had her hands on her hips as Kakashi started lifting up his hiate-iti, to reveal his Sharingan. Hinata was keeping surveillance, her Byakugan was activated. Momo was hanging on a rope outside, and Naruto was twirling a kunai on his finger while they got their questions ready. Sakura had her gloves on in case they needed to heal any damage to the young warrior's psyche.
"Katara-chan, you start," Naruto said and the young Waterbending Master nodded.
"The Dai Li must have sent Jet to mislead us and that janitor was in on the plot too," Katara said as the jinchuuriki tossed the kunai to the floor, making Jet leap back.
"I bet they have Appa here in the city, maybe he's in the same place they took Jet," Aang said as he stepped forward. "Where did they take you?"
"Nowhere…I-I don't know what you're talking about…"
"We need to find a way to jog his real memories," Aang said as Hinata deactivated her Byakugan and walked over.
"Maybe Katara can kiss him," Sokka teased as he crossed his arms. "Maybe that'd bring something back."
Naruto slammed his fist into Sokka's head. "Business before teasing man, bad form."
"No one's followed us, not that I can see," Hinata informed them and Smellerbee looked at her.
"I'll handle jogging his memories," Kakashi said as he stepped forward, his Sharingan blazing. "Jet-san, look into my right eye…"
Jet looked up as the iris, with the three tomoe marks began spinning to the left. Smellerbee walked over to Hinata.
"What's he doing? And what did you do?" Smellerbee asked the Hyuuga Heiress.
"Kakashi-sensei has the Sharingan in his right eye, it's a special bloodline ability gifted to the Uchiha Clan. It can be used to copy jutsus, see through genjutsus, and many other abilities, one is the ability to hypnotize people or break existing hypnosis," Hinata replied and the younger girl nodded. "And my clan, the Hyuuga, is granted with an optical kekki genkai like the Sharingan, which is sometimes called the ancestor of that great bloodline, the Byakugan. With it, I can see individual chakra canals, pressure points, vital organs, and chakra points, as well as being granted 360 degree vision, and a sight range of over 50 meters. At my level of skill now, I can extend the range to 800 meters, like my cousin, Neji-nii-san."
Smellerbee nodded and Kakashi turned to the younger people. "He's in my trance; I need something from his past to remind him of who he is and where he was taken."
"The Fire Nation…remember what they did to your family," Smellerbee pleaded with Jet, who looked at her with glossy eyes, the effects of Kakashi's hypnosis.
"Close your eyes…remember it," Katara commanded as the young leader of the Freedom Fighters did so…and memories came back to him.
He remembered people fleeing from a never-ending fire, while he looked on as his house burned, with his parents still inside. One of the Firebenders looked at him, a man who had shaved his head and was in a pony-tail. Tears streamed down the young Jet's face as the evil Firebender looked at him.
"NO…it's…too painful…" Jet yelled as he opened his eyes. Kakashi frowned, that should have done it. The Dai Li's brainwashing technique was more effective than he had anticipated.
"Maybe this will help," Katara said as she walked over, bended her water onto her hands, and activated her healing powers. She put them over Jet's temples as he closed his eyes.
He looked down to the ground as the pain started to subside, then he looked up. The floorboards broke away to show a man floating on a…lake. It was the insidious Long Feng, and he was staring right back at Jet. The Freedom Fighter leader then felt himself submerged under the waters of the lake, into a secret complex…and then finally there was a Dai Li agent, standing in front of a swirling candle, and he closed his eyes to stop the brainwashing.
"They took me to a headquarters, under the water…like a lake!"
"Wait…don't you remember what Joo Dee said? She said she went on vacation Lake Laogai," Sokka reminded everyone as Jet stood up, remembering everything clearly now.
"That's it! They took me to Lake Laogai!"
"Lead the way then," Naruto said and Jet nodded. "Okay Katara-chan, you can stop the glaring at him now."
Katara frowned but Hinata actually giggled at that and she looked at the jinchuuriki. She wondered how anyone in the village could hate him…he wasn't a monster. He'd never be a monster in her mind.
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Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se, Lake Laogai
Kakashi had tried to inform Yamato where they were, but the radio wasn't working at all. He sent a Bushin to try to find the ANBU captain so they could rendezvous at the lake. They stopped at the beach to look at the lake, and Hinata activated her Byakugan to see if she could spot anything. Smellerbee knelt down onto the sand, trying to find evidence for an entry.
"So where's this secret headquarters?" Naruto asked as Jet scratched his head.
"Under the water I think," Jet replied as Hinata and Toph continued to search around for the entrance.
"There's a tunnel right there near the shore," Toph and Hinata said at the same time.
"You're up, Sakura-chan and Toph-chan," Naruto said with a smirk and the two girls walked over.
"Just watch and learn Naruto, if you really want to become a bender," Sakura said with a grin. 'Toph-chan's slave driving better have paid off…"
The two girls stomped their feet and threw out their arms parallel to the ground. The water rippled as a rocky platform rose from the depths, and it surfaced creating a small wave that splashed against the shore.
'A perfectly hidden location for a base…' Kakashi thought as he looked at the platform as they all walked over to the tunnel. 'It's hidden so well…that hardly anyone who doesn't know where it was would be able to find it.'
Sakura lifted the heavy rock covering of the tunnel with her super strength and tossed it into the lake. They looked down the rock ladder and saw how deep it went. Below the ladder was a staircase, which went further and further into the depths of the complex. It was all very…eerie.
After getting down the ladder and walking through the hallways, they reached the main complex. Jet unsheathed his hook-swords, Hinata and Sakura popped the cork on their flasks, Sakura cracked her knuckles, Naruto brought out a kunai and a handful of shuriken, Sokka had brought out his bladed boomerang, Smellerbee took out her knives, and Longshot loaded an arrow onto his bow. Kakashi had his Sharingan out, and Toph was feeling the vibrations through the ground, counting how many opponents they would face.
Silently, they all stepped into the main hallway after a Dai Li patrol walked into a room. As they walked through the hallway, everyone looked around and Naruto squeezed his fist. The Dai Li Headquarters was similar to Orochimaru's base…and it was sort of scary. The dull green glow from the fires made it even creepier, and in the pit of his stomach, the jinchuuriki started to have a bad feeling…and he glanced at Hinata, who was in front of him.
"It's all coming back to me," Jet whispered to the group as he walked over to an arched doorway, and with his hook-swords at the ready, he peered in. Aang had his staff in attack position, ready to fight off any Dai Li who attacked, and Naruto was next to him, with his kunai ready.
"I'm Joo Dee, welcome to Ba Sing Se," a Dai Li agent said in the room, in front of a group of women.
"I'm Joo Dee, welcome to Ba Sing Se," the women repeated, clearly showing they had been brainwashed.
"We're so lucky to have our walls to create order," the Dai Li agent continued.
"We're so lucky to have our walls to create order," the Joo Dees in training repeated as the group past, each of them taking a peek.
"There might be a cell big enough to hold Appa up ahead," Jet said as they all continued walking forward.
"Keep the guard up, we don't want to be caught unprepared," Kakashi ordered as the group nodded.
They reached a door at the far end of the hallway and Jet put his hand on it. "I think he's in here."
They walked in and looked around. The room was large, with chains hanging from the ceiling. Hinata activated her Byakugan to check for anything they would miss, and the door slammed shut behind them. The others turned around while the shinobi got ready to fight. The lights brightened and it was shown on the chains…were an army of Dai Li agents.
"Now that's something different," Sokka said as Naruto snarled and looked around. He saw the bastard himself, Long Feng, standing there with his personal Dai Li guard.
"You have made yourselves enemies of the state," Long Feng stated as everyone got ready. "Take them into custody."
The army of Dai Li agents dropped down from the ceiling, surrounding the group. In response, Naruto crossed his fingers, his anger growing. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"
In a puff of smoke, an equal amount of Shadow Clones of the Dai Li surrounding them appeared, and the Dai Li shot their rock gloves at the group. Sakura and Toph stomped their feet and pulled their arms back, shattering the gloves before they could hit the group. Naruto sent his platoon of clones after the Dai Li, and they were engaged in a melee. The two Earthbenders threw their arms out, sending two pillars of rock exploding from the feet of the Dai Li.
Jet charged at the nearest agent, nearly as angry as Naruto, and he slashed the rock gloves, shattering them, ducked, and tripped an agent. Hinata ran to the nearest agent and slammed her palm into his chest, thrusting a large amount of chakra into his body. Another tried attacking her, but she sidestepped his rock gloves and tossed a dozen sharp icicles at him.
Kakashi ran forward, slammed his fist into two Dai Li agents, and did a few hand seals as two others tried to sneak up on him. He brought his hand to his mouth. "Katon: Goukaiyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)!"
The blast of fire shot out of his mouth, and incinerated the two Dai Li agents that were trying to attack him. Jet glared at the masked Jounin, and then at his students. They were using no fire techniques…
"What the hell was that?" Jet asked as he dodged a rock glove.
"A fire jutsu I copied," Kakashi replied as he brought out a kunai and slashed the throat of one of the attacking Dai Li, killing him. A little blood sprayed onto the Jounin's flak jacket, but the Dai Li fell dead before the jugular began to really spray leak.
Naruto and Aang leapt and brought down blasts of air that deflected attacks and blew away a couple Dai Li agents before they could counter. From the far end of the room, two Dai Li agents sunk into a horse stance and tossed their rock gloves at Katara and Sokka, who shattered the initial two. However, two more were launched and caught them with their guards down. They were yanked to where Long Feng was, but a wall of rock, created by Sakura and Toph jutted out of the ground to block the capture.
The two young ladies then leapt in front of Sokka and Katara who were regaining their wits to fight off the two Dai Li. The Dai Li retorted with a burst of Earth, but Toph stomped her feet and rose a massive pillar to get them out of reach. Sakura leapt down and slammed her fist into the ground, creating a small earthquake which threw Dai Li off their feet.
One regained his footing and ran up to the wall at a surprising speed. He stopped on the wall and bent a pillar of rock at Toph. The blind Earthbender leapt over the attacks and retorted with her own and as two Dai Li agents tried to attack her on the pillar, she threw her arms out and the Dai Li lost their footing. She grunted however when a Dai Li caught her from behind with a rock glove and pulled her down for capture, but Jet pulled her out of the way.
Longshot launched an arrow to cover the rescue, which shattered the second rock glove that the agent used to attack. Jet began blocking the other gloves that were launched at them, shattering them with each strike of his hook-swords. Long Feng frowned at the development and began running. On instinct, Hinata took chase after she used a massive blast of water to blow three Dai Li agents away.
"Long Feng's escaping!" Hinata yelled as Aang, Naruto, and Jet ran up behind her to continue the pursuit.
Following her Aang used an Earthbending blast to blast through the door so they could follow the Dai Li leader. The four of them followed him to a room where two dozen of his guard leapt to block them.
They fought their way through and reached a large room, with two water pipes emptying into a pool below. The door slammed shut and Long Feng and his personal guard leapt down, blocking the exit.
"Alright Avatar, you've caused me enough problems, this is your last chance…if you want your bison back…"
"So you do have Appa!" Naruto roared, enraged. "Tell us where he is!" Aang added as Long Feng smirked.
"Agree to exit the city now and I'll wave all charges against you and I'll allow you to leave with your lost pet."
"You're in no position to bargain," Jet said as he stepped forward, his hook swords ready.
"Am I not?"
"You're definitely not!" Aang yelled as he got his staff into attack position.
"Jet, the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai…" Long Feng started, attempting to trigger the password for the Freedom Fighter's reprogramming.
"I…am…NO!" Jet yelled as he began to charge Long Feng. The Dai Li leader frowned, somehow his careful brainwashing was broken.
In a retort to the attack, Long Feng stomped his foot, sending a pillar of rock crashing into Jet's chest. A sickening crunch was heard and he coughed up blood. The Freedom Fighter leader flew back and crashed into the ground, his breathing erratic. Naruto's eyes widened in anger as Long Feng began running again towards another hallway. "Foolish boy, you've chosen your own demise," Long Feng stated as he ran off.
Just as he did that, the rest of the group broke in. Smellerbee's eyes widened at the sight of her leader…the man she had a crush on…breathing erratically on the ground, and she ran to him.
"Guys, take care of Jet, see if you can save him," Naruto ordered, taking charge before Kakashi could say anything. "Kakashi-sensei, please watch the group…we're finishing this with Long Feng-teme…"
Kakashi nodded. "Very well, Naruto. Lead Aang and Hinata to the Dai Li leader…and be careful."
Naruto nodded as Sakura and Katara hovered over Jet. The pink haired kunoichi hovered her hands over the Freedom Fighter's chest and pursed her lips as the diagnostic jutsu came up with the diagnosis.
"…this isn't good…" Sakura stated as her hands glided over the wound. "He has three shattered ribs, four broken ribs, his lungs have been…shredded…and he has massive internal bleeding."
Katara's hands were covered with water and she began to help Sakura. "Can we…save him?"
"Injuries of this scale…are what Tsunade-shishou specializes in…I don't know if we can," Sakura replied as Naruto, Hinata, and Aang ran off after the Dai Li leader.
Hinata found where he was and they were lead further down into the complex, and they skidded to a halt as they saw the large room. Long Feng pursed his lips as he looked at the Hyuuga.
'She is becoming…too troublesome. Her ability to see where we are will endanger our hold on Ba Sing Se…she must be eliminated,' Long Feng thought from the shadows as his personal guard leapt down.
Naruto slammed the Rasengan into the nearest one, and Aang swiped his staff, blowing five Agents into the wall, hard. Twelve then surrounded Hinata and she reactivated her Byakugan. As the agents attacked, she sank into her specialty stance.
"Hakke Rokujuuyon Shou (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)! Two strikes!" Hinata called out as she slammed her fingers into the nearest agent. "Four strikes!" into the next, making the agent double over. "Eight strikes!" The next Dai Li coughed up blood as his tenkatsus were sealed. "Sixteen strikes!" The next Dai Li slammed into the ground as he lost his ability to bend. "Thirty Two strikes!" The next agent crashed into a nearby wall from the barrage, unable to bend or move. "Sixty-Four Strikes!" She finished the combo on the sixth Dai Li, but more were around her. "Kaiten (Rotation)!"
As she span, blowing the Dai Li away, slamming them all the way around the room, Naruto noticed Long Feng getting into position. As she stopped spinning, Hinata panted and deactivated her Byakugan to recover her chakra. That was when…the Dai Li leader struck.
"Hinata-chan, watch out!" Naruto yelled as he began running to her. She panted and looked at him…just as a rock pillar jutted up, hitting her in the side, and a crunch was heard, then she crashed into the nearest wall and fell. He picked up speed and caught her. "H-Hinata-chan…y-you'll be okay…"
She looked up at him weakly, her breathing shallow. "I-I will…be okay…Naruto-kun…" a trickle of blood flowed out her mouth. Naruto wiped it and hugged her close. "I'll…be okay…" As she thought that. 'Did I at least…get strong enough…for you to notice me…?'
As Hinata thought that, she closed her eyes slowly. Her breathing and pulse lowered to a point where Naruto couldn't detect, and she drifted into unconsciousness. Naruto shook her desperately, trying to get her to wake up.
"She shouldn't have gotten in the way. Now this is your last chance, Avatar, surrender, and you will get your bison back," Long Feng said, his voice dripping with a sick satisfaction of what he did to Hinata.
Aang snarled and he looked as Naruto put Hinata down. The jinchuuriki's body was shaking, rage was boiling up. The Avatar walked over and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, who had his eyes closed.
"Sakura and Katara will be here soon…they'll heal her, Naruto…" Aang said as Naruto bore his teeth.
"I'm going to kill him," Naruto whispered and Aang looked at him. "I'm going to fricking kill him…"
Aang then stepped back as a pulse of Kyubi chakra went through Naruto's body. The jinchuuriki turned around and his eyes opened…revealing not the sky blue irises that were normally in his eyes. No…they were an angry blood red, as sharp as steel, with a catlike slit for a pupil. His whisker marks widened frighteningly and Long Feng's eyebrow rose.
"What is this?" Long Feng asked as Naruto's transformation sped up.
"I'm…going to…kill you…" Naruto snarled in pants as his fingernails grew into claws, and his hair spiked out even more. A red aura then surrounded his body, resembling flames and he went onto all fours…as one ethereal tail formed. "I'm going to kill you…"
"Naruto…calm down…" Aang said as he tried to walk forward. 'I-Is this…the Kyuubi?'
As Naruto's rage grew, his face turned more and more beastlike. A animalistic outline surrounded his eyes and his canines grew larger as a second tail sprouted from his back. As he did that, the ground started…shaking at the level of power he was bringing out.
"Men, destroy that thing!" Long Feng ordered as several Dai Li dropped from the ceiling and launched their gloves at Naruto.
In response…a third tail sprouted and in deep voice. "I'm going to kill you…"
After he said that, he roared which shook the entire complex, alerting the others to what was happening. They were only a few rooms away from where Appa was kept, and the two people inside were thrown off their feet by the pulse. Long Feng's jaw widened in shock as Naruto's transformation nearly finished.
The red chakra around Naruto seemed to solidify and he began bleeding inside. A fourth and final tail sprouted, and the avatar of Kyuubi closed it's eyes…and then they opened. A piercing gaze with dark red pupils glared at the Dai Li.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" With that, Naruto, in his uncontrollable four tailed form attacked.
The Dai Li leapt in front of the charging jinchuuriki, but as they did so, the tails lashed out. They caught the Dai Li agents as Naruto shot out his arms and grabbed two more. The captured agents cried out in pain as their bodies were seemingly lit on fire, and he tossed them away with utter contempt. Long Feng frowned and stepped back as his men crashed into the ground…dead. They didn't even remotely look human anymore…and Naruto stomped forward.
Above them, Sakura and Kakashi looked up, their jaws lowering in shock and fear. Katara looked at them, as she tried to close the internal wounds that Jet had.
"W-What's happening?" Katara asked as Jet coughed up more blood. "Hold on."
"It's…Naruto…he's…he's using the Kyuubi Chakra…" Sakura said, her voice trembling. "From what I'm…sensing…he's in the Four Tailed form…"
"He can't control that level, and Yamato isn't here," Kakashi stated as the Freedom Fighter leader looked up.
"You guys…go…don't worry about me…I'll be fine," Jet stated as more blood leaked out of his mouth, but he managed to flash his trademark smile. "Your friends…need help…"
"But…Jet…" Katara started and the Freedom Fighter Leader shook his head.
"No…go…" Jet said as he coughed again. "I'll be fine…"
"…lets do what he says," Kakashi said.
"You guys go look for Appa and your friends, we'll take care of Jet," Smellerbee told them and Katara looked up at her.
"We're not going to leave you," Katara said, despite what Kakashi had told them.
"There's no time, just go," Longshot surprisingly stated as he looked up. "We'll take care of him, he's our leader."
"Don't worry, Katara…I'll be fine," Jet said as more blood leaked out of his mouth.
As they walked away, Longshot brought out his bow and pointed it at the door, in case more Dai Li came. Smellerbee knelt next to Jet, and choked back tears.
"…he's lying…" Toph said out of earshot, with sadness in her voice.
By the time they got to where Aang, Naruto, and Hinata had penetrated, they saw the Dai Li Leader desperately trying to avoid Naruto's ethereal hands. The beast that had possessed him roared in frustration as he tried to latch onto Long Feng.
"What happened to Naruto?" Aang ran over as Kakashi pulled his Sharingan down, and frowned underneath his mask. Sakura and Katara saw where Hinata was, she was unconscious and apparently not breathing.
"Naruto…has gone to the level of Kyuubi chakra where he can't control," Kakashi stated as he looked at the desperate Long Feng. "As soon as he…kills Long Feng, there will be no stopping him from turning on us."
"What?" Sokka, Toph, and Aang gasped.
"In the 'Four-Tailed State', Naruto loses himself completely," Sakura stated as she began to heal Hinata. "She's been attacked in the same method that Jet was, however…it's not nearly as bad."
Katara nodded and they began to heal her. "What's going to stop him from attacking us?" Toph asked in fear. Even though she couldn't see Naruto…she could feel his power, literally tasting the dark chakra in the air.
"Yamato has a special ability for controlling Bijuu chakra…but he's not here right now…so nothing can stop him…" Kakashi stated and he looked at Aang. "I assume Hinata's injury triggered this?"
Aang nodded. "Y-Yeah…"
Sokka thought about that. "Then we got to get her conscious again."
"What?" Kakashi asked, for the first time not following what Sokka was stating.
"Think about it, he and Hinata have become real close, and if her looking as if she was dead would trigger this, what would happen if he saw her alive?"
"That might not work, Sokka," Sakura said as she finished healing Hinata's side, and began working on the Hyuuga's chest, healing the damage in there. "I tried reaching him…but it didn't work."
"Do you have the same hold over him that he has with Hinata?" Sokka asked her and the pink-haired kunoichi looked at him.
"W-Well…I know he doesn't have a crush on me anymore…"
"Exactly, you're a good friend to him, but if I'm right, Hinata is more to him than just a good friend, hence why he's going berserk now," Sokka said and Sakura began to get what he was saying.
They heard Long Feng scream in pain at that moment. Naruto's ethereal hand had grabbed the Dai Li Leader's leg, pulled him down and then slugged him in the face. Blood flew out of Long Feng's mouth, as well as a few teeth, as he crashed through the wall into the next room. Naruto roared as he followed, and Hinata's eyes began to flutter open as Sakura finished healing her.
"S-Sakura-chan? I'm…alive?" Hinata asked as Sakura nodded between pants.
"Y-Yeah…your wounds weren't as bad as Jet's," Sakura said as she and Katara helped the Hyuuga up. "Naruto's…gone berserk."
"What?" Hinata asked, her attention caught fully.
"Yeah…when he thought you died…Kyuubi possessed him," Aang replied as, without thinking, Hinata ran towards the hole in the wall.
"Hinata, wait," Sokka yelled as she turned back. "Wait for us, we'll be there if…this doesn't work."
"What?" Hinata asked. "What's…the plan."
"You're the catalyst for all of this…you're going to be the only one, out of all of us who can reach him…"
Hinata nodded, and her heart began to race at that fact. They all followed her out the hole in the wall as Naruto stomped towards a barely conscious Long Feng. The man's eyes were widened in fear, and he tried to pick himself up.
"Going to kill you…" Naruto snarled as he stomped forward, the ground starting to melt from the intensity of his chakra.
"P-Please…don't do this…" Long Feng pleaded weakly.
Naruto stopped and seemed to sit down. He then…began gathering chakra in his mouth, and a dark ball of energy formed. If launched…the entire complex would be completely demolished.
"N-Naruto-kun…" a weak voice called out. "Naruto-kun…!"
At that…Naruto paused, and the ball of dark power began to disperse. "H-Hinata-chan…?"
Hinata stepped forward in caution, but with no fear in her eyes. She wasn't afraid of Naruto. "Please…stop…this isn't you. Please…"
Naruto's eyes opened, inside the wall of chakra. "This…is a trick…" Kyuubi said, using Naruto's voice.
"No it's not!" Hinata yelled as she ran forward, not concerned about her own safety at that moment. "I'm real, Naruto-kun!"
With that, her hand was surrounded by blue chakra, and she winced as she put it through the solidified chakra…and put it on Naruto's cheek. His eyes widened as she looked at him. Kyuubi's arm tried to move to grab her, but he willed it back.
"Please…stop…" Hinata pleaded and the chakra began dissolving. "Please…"
Naruto slowly floated down as he regained control. The fiery chakra slowly fizzled out and Hinata grabbed him to ease him down onto the ground. He panted as the burns he received from Kyuubi's chakra healed. Without thinking, he hugged her, making sure she was real.
"Hinata-chan…" Naruto said in a whisper as he hugged her. "…I thought you died…"
"It's okay…I'm here…okay…" Hinata said as she helped him up, and she looked at Long Feng. "Please sir…tell us where Appa is."
Long Feng frowned, and realized he was in no position to bargain. "Fine…he's in the floor above us…now get out of here before I change my mind."
Naruto glared at him, but walked away with Hinata. They met up with the rest of the group. "Appa's up on the floor above us," Naruto said and Aang smiled.
"For a second, we thought we lost ya Naruto," Sokka stated as Naruto looked at him. "Okay…no jokes for now."
Naruto nodded and they all walked into the previous room. The smell of death and burnt flesh caught the jinchuuriki's attention, and he fearfully looked at the dead Dai Li members. Pushing the sight of their corpses out of his mind for now, they all walked up the stairway to the room where Appa was kept.
When they walked in, they found that the bison was not in there. Naruto began to snarl, thinking they got tricked, but Kakashi walked over, seeing several broken chains and the scent of Appa was in the air.
"He was here…someone released him…" Kakashi stated as he looked up the enclosure to see an opening. "And flew out there."
They nodded and everyone began scaling the wall. Aang glided up as the others finished climbing out of the opening, and they looked around. Toph glanced around, and suddenly several rock walls sprang up, trapping them. Momo then flied down and landed on Aang's shoulder, chattering away.
"You really…thought you could escape…?" Long Feng asked as he limped out of the cliff-face where the opening was. With him were several Dai Li, and he leapt down with his guard. Despite his injuries, he landed with grace on the ground, and gave a commanding appearance. "You will all…be arrested here now. My men here are fresh, and you're all exhausted…"
"What is it, Momo?" Aang asked as the lemur stopped chattering and flew into the air, passing Long Feng.
Just as he said that, a guttural roar was heard. From the blinding light of the sun, Appa charged, the ten ton, six legged bison roared and crashed threw the rock wall, smashing the trap like it was made out of toy bricks. He smashed through the next wall, scattering the Dai Li like a giant battering ram. Aang, Toph, and Sakura ran over to the rock wall and moved their hips and threw their arms out. The Dai Li sticking to it were launched into the lake. Appa flew around for another pass and he landed with a large bang next to Long Feng, who was picking himself up, and began growling at him.
"I can handle you by myself," Long Feng stated, despite his injuries, and went into a strong earthbending stance, throwing his fists out. He began to do the same attack that he used on Hinata and Jet, adding to it him riding on the rock.
Appa lunged and grabbed his leg before he could complete the attack, and tossed the Dai Li leader into the water, making him skip on the surface before sinking into the water. The bison spat out Long Feng's shoe and turned to the team, who were running towards him.
Aang leapt onto his head. "Appa!" A tear trickled down his eye as he rubbed his face in the bison's fur. "I missed you buddy."
Everyone but Kakashi, who was smiling underneath his mask, laughed and leaped onto the large beast. At that time, a large tree knocked some more Dai Li agents into the waters of the lake and Yamato leapt down. He panted and looked around, seeing that Naruto was normal.
"I thought…I would be needed," Yamato stated as he saw Appa. "I see we finally found Aang-san's bison."
"Yes…and Hinata-san handled Naruto's tailed state," Kakashi stated as, on the original entrance…Zuko and Iroh climbed out. They were the ones who released Appa. Iroh then convinced his nephew to toss his mask into the water…releasing him from his former personality.
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Island on Lake Laogai
The Team was recovering on an island in the middle of the large lake. Aang was spending his time with his large bison, and Katara was at his side. Hinata, Sakura, Kakashi, Yamato, and Sokka had set up a makeshift campsite and had lit a fire. Naruto…was not near them. He was sitting near the water, his legs pulled up to his chest as he tossed rocks into the water.
"Why hasn't Naruto joined us? We finally got Appa back," Sokka said as Sakura hit him in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?"
"I'll…go get him," Hinata said as she walked off to find the jinchuuriki. "I got something to tell him…"
"Yeah, yeah sure…" Sokka said as he rubbed his arm where Sakura had hit him.
"Again, you need sensitivity training…" Sakura said as she poked the fire. 'You're in his heart now, Hinata-chan…'
When Hinata found Naruto, he was still skipping rocks over the lake. She silently walked over, he was still too distracted with his thoughts to notice she was there. All the images of what he did in the Four Tailed state were in his mind…he couldn't forget them.
"Ano…Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked as she walked over and sat down next to him. "Are you…going to be okay?"
"For the first time in my life…I'm not sure, Hinata-chan…" Naruto replied as he tossed another rock into the water. "Maybe the villagers are right back home…maybe I really am the monster I keep inside me."
"What?" Hinata asked in disbelief. "No your not, Naruto-kun!"
"Hinata…you saw what I did in there. To those Dai Li guys…most didn't even resemble human form anymore!" Naruto stated as he looked at her. "I killed them like Kyubi would!"
"You weren't in control, it wasn't your fault!" Hinata told him as he looked up at her. He had never heard her be so loud. "You're not a monster, Naruto-kun! I'll never believe that!"
"But…you saw what I did…"
"It wasn't you. You were hurt, you were angry, and Kyuubi used that to his advantage. You weren't in control," Hinata told him as he looked over to her. "You're not a monster, Naruto-kun…you're the shinobi whose going to be the next Hokage. You're going to help me change the Hyuuga Clan, remember?"
All of Naruto's hopes and dreams…flooded back to his mind. He smiled softly. "Thank you…Hinata-chan…" he then chuckled. "I'll be sure to beat the bastard fox next time! This is my body, not his!"
Hinata smiled as she looked at Naruto's new determination. She moved the hair out of her eyes. "I-I have…something else to tell you, Naruto-kun…"
"What?" Naruto asked as she began blushing again.
"I've…wanted to tell you this…for years, Naruto-kun…" Hinata started as she looked down. "I've just been…too scared to tell you…"
"Scared of what?" Naruto asked as he put his hand on her shoulder. She gulped, and willed herself not to faint. "Tell me, Hinata-chan."
"…I…love you…" Hinata said quietly, but he heard her. His eyes widened and she willed up the courage. "I love you…with all my heart Naruto-kun. I always have…"
Naruto tried to find a reply, his mind processing what Hinata had told him. He had…absolutely no idea she felt this way about him. Sure…he started to think she was a really great friend after she kissed him on the cheek…but…she loved him?
"Y-You do?" Naruto stammered. He…actually stammered.
"Y-Yes…I know I can't compared to Sakura-chan…but…you needed to know, Naruto-kun. I love you with all my heart," Hinata stated as she looked down at the ground.
Naruto then…wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "…thanks for telling me…Hinata-chan…I've started…to feel the same way…I couldn't bear losing you down there…and I know why now…"
Hinata looked up at the jinchuuriki, who was smiling. She had one last burst of courage, and she leaned up…and kissed him on the lips. His eyes widened and he slowly returned the kiss, and their eyes closed before they pulled away. He smiled and rubbed his forehead against hers.
"I love you, Hinata-chan," Naruto whispered and she smiled.
"I love you too, Naruto-kun. With all my heart…" Hinata said as the two of them hugged.
After embracing for a few minutes, the two of them stood up, and Naruto grabbed her hand. The two of them walked back to the rest of their team, with smiles on their faces.
To be continued…