Hello FanFiction! This is pain17ification posting the next chapter of "Mai's Teacher"!
Please note: pain17ification doesn't own Naruto or Avatar the Last AirBender
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Higher Being Speech"
'Higher Being Thoughts'
"Jutsu"
(Technique Translations)
Scene or Time Change/Chapter Name
Chapter 6: Search for the Avatar
The winds howled and stirred up the already raging blizzard as Naruto and Mai made their way towards the Southern Water Tribe. Naruto was able to walk through the frigid air with little difficulty due to his knowledge in Katon manipulation.
Mai on the other hand…
"Ah-choo!" sneezed the Nara descendant for the fifth time making Naruto mentally curse himself once again for not giving Mai the proper time to prepare for the trip. Mai was constantly rubbing her arms in order to keep them warm while Naruto used his chakra to warm up his body. An idea came to him and he took off his Sennin haori and draped it over Mai. She immediately drew it closer to her in order to stave off the cold while Naruto focused chakra into his pointer finger and made a seal on the back of the haori.
As soon as the seal was made and activated, Mai felt warmth flood her body and drive away the coldness surrounding her. She turned to Naruto for an explanation and he elaborated, "I made a temporary seal and placed it on the coat so that you could stay warm. The seal releases a constant emission of Katon chakra to warm up your body, but it will only last about three hours. We better find the Southern Tribe soon."
The duo continued their trek through the raging snowstorm before Naruto spotted a cave for them to take a rest in. Once they made it there, the Uzumaki wasted no time in unsealing a couple of blankets for them and handed them both to his student. She gratefully took them and leaned against the cavern wall while Naruto focused his gaze on the blizzard outside. "Is the Avatar even at the South Pole, sensei?"
"I'm positive that they are… I sensed their power originating from here, but we can't get any closer due to this storm. Not to mention that Shun got a pretty serious skin condition from the salt water of the ocean. I can't believe I forgot that toads hate salt water…"
Mai gave a small smile at Naruto's blunder and slowly felt her eyelids droop before she tried to shake herself awake. Naruto watched his student fight against her need for sleep and saw that sleep ended up being the victor this time. Mai was out like a light, leaving Naruto to his thoughts. He leaned his head back against the cavern wall and closed his eyes in meditation. It wasn't much longer before a strange, yet also comforting, sight entered his mind.
The vision he saw was of two faceless figures; both of them feminine in shape. The first figure was a woman with long black hair and red robes sitting on a small field watching the second figure. The second figure was smaller than the first; almost child sized. The girl had dark red hair that reached her shoulders and black clothes while having an air of innocence and purity. She was seen running around the field in happiness before she turned her faceless gaze to him and waved. Seeing the girl waving made the woman turn her gaze to him as well. She stood up and pulled the girl, who Naruto now assumed was her daughter, close to her before he heard his name whispered through the air.
"Naruto!" called out Mai as she shook Naruto awake. He sat up quickly and looked at their surroundings with a shocked look on his face, concerning Mai. "Are you alright? You were mumbling in your sleep and your face is covered in sweat…"
Naruto took slow breaths to calm himself while the last scene of the vision swam through his mind. 'Who were those two? And why do they seem so familiar to me?' He wiped the sweat from his face before he turned to Mai. "Yea, I'll be fine. I just had a…strange dream."
Mai looked to him in concern before she hesitantly relented and packed away the blankets into a storage scroll. "The winds have calmed down slightly… We should be able to move on, sensei," she said to him as she made her way out of the cave.
Naruto sighed before he followed her. Unknown to him, Kurama was reviewing the dream Naruto had and could only sigh at what it meant. 'If he ever uncovers the truth of this, no doubt he'll forget what he must do for the world… Naruto, I hope that when you eventually come to the realization of who those two were that you'll do what must be done when the time comes.'
The two shinobi trekked through the knee-deep snow as they tried to locate the Southern Tribe. They were getting closer since Naruto had sensed a small group of people around ten miles from their location.
Suddenly, Naruto tensed and turned his gaze skyward just in time to see a white-furred creature in the distance followed by a ball of fire. He lifted the hair away from his Sharingan just in time to get a glimpse of a figure in orange and red clothing swing a staff at the flaming sphere and redirect it into the frozen Cliffside. He got a better feel for the figure's energy signature and sighed before turning to Mai. "It looks like we just missed them… The Avatar, along with two others, is riding out of here on a flying white creature."
Mai sighed as well and muttered, "Troublesome…" She then looked to the partly cloudy sky and asked, "So what now? We can't ask Shun to help us since the salt water isn't good for him… What do we do?"
Naruto responded by turning away from her and crouching down with his arms in a position meant for carrying a person. "Get on," he ordered.
"You're gonna carry us across the water after the Avatar?" she deadpanned.
"Not across the water; over it. Get on and I'll show you." He heard her sigh again before she climbed onto his back. He felt her get slightly embarrassed by it, but checked it off as not wanting to be carried by her teacher. Once he had her secured, he pumped chakra into his legs and rocketed into the air resulting in Mai clinging to him out of surprise. Once they began to descend back to the ground, Naruto used Fuuton chakra to create a solid surface of wind underneath his feet before he kicked off of it. This was the peak of Naruto's Fuuton Manipulation; a jutsu he called Kazepo (Wind Step) that allowed him to travel through the air as if he were moving through treetops.
Mai was in awe at the view from the air. She saw clouds pass by as well as small islands far down beneath them. It amazed her that her sensei was able to actually move through the air as if he were standing on solid ground. "This is amazing…"
Naruto chuckled at her comment. "Yea, it took me quite a while to figure out this jutsu. Even with all of the clones I used to help me, it took over five years to complete."
"Why didn't you use this when we left the Fire Nation?"
"Even though this jutsu is complete, it takes a lot of chakra and concentration to use. Using it while under fire wouldn't have been wise, so I had Shun take us instead. Unfortunately, I forgot about the toads' dislike for salt water…" In the distance, Naruto spotted the flying creature carrying the Avatar. "We're catching up to them."
"Are we going to talk to them right away, or are we going to wait and observe them first?"
"It would be best to see what their made of before I tell them of future threats… For now, we'll keep a safe distance before we talk to them."
With Aang
On the head of Appa, his flying bison, sat the last AirBender and the Avatar, Aang. While being actually 112yrs old, the AirBender was still physically 12 and incredibly naïve to the time he was in now compared to 100yrs ago. With him were two members of the Southern Water Tribe; Katara, a novice WaterBender who went with Aang in hopes of mastering WaterBending, and Sokka, Katara's older brother who was a warrior of the tribe. He went with Aang to keep close to his younger sister and protect her; something their father ordered him to do before he left to join the war effort.
The trio was flying towards the Southern Air Temple in hopes of finding any Air Nomads or anything left behind by them. Katara and Sokka were skeptical of any survivors of the AirBender Genocide, but they did not want to shatter the young Avatar's hope.
It was about ten minutes later before they arrived at the temple, only to see it devoid of life and slowly falling apart. Aang, clinging on to that small shred of hope, decided to check the Air Temple Sanctuary where his old teacher Monk Gyatso told him that someone would meet him and teach him how to be a better Avatar. After opening the doors, the trio found the inside to be not what they were expecting.
"Statues; that's it?! Where's the meat?" complained Sokka.
Katara rolled her eyes at her brother's antics before she turned her attention to the statues filling up the room. "These people must have been very important to have statues made after them."
"Yea… Hey, that one's a WaterBender!" pointed out Aang.
"And that one's an AirBender…" Katara then looked closer at the statues before stating, "They're put into a cycle. Look; Air, Water, Earth, and Fire."
"That's the Avatar Cycle."
"Of course… These are all Avatars. All of these people are your past lives, Aang."
"Wow… There's so many…" he commented in awe of it all.
"Katara, you don't really believe in that 'past lives' fable, do you?" asked Sokka.
"It's true. When the Avatar dies, they're reincarnated into the next Nation in the Cycle." She then turned her attention back to Aang, only to see him in a trance in front of a Fire Nation Avatar. "Who is that?"
Broken from the trance, Aang answered, "That's Avatar Roku, the Avatar before me."
"You were a FireBender? No wonder I didn't trust you before," commented Sokka.
"There's no nameplate on the statue… How do you know his name?" asked Katara.
"I'm not sure; it just feels like I know him somehow."
Sokka groaned at the AirBender's answer. "You know, you just couldn't get any weirder…"
Suddenly, they heard some footsteps and turned to see a small lemur in the doorway. Aang was excited to see another remnant of his people while Sokka was happy to find food. This initiated a race between the two of them to get to the lemur first.
Fire Nation Controlled Port
Prince Zuko and his uncle Iroh were making their way to an arena where Zuko was to have an Agni Kai with Commander Zhao, a high ranking FireBender who had riled up the prince. Once they reached the arena, Zuko and Zhao had their backs to one another in kneeled positions.
"Remember your FireBending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons," advised Iroh.
"I refuse to let him win…" Zuko stated as he turned to face Zhao.
Zhao rose as well and turned to Zuko. "This will be over quickly…"
Immediately after the gong initiating the match rang, Zhao proved to be more than a match for Zuko, effortlessly avoiding and nullifying all of the Prince's fire blasts. As Zuko caught his breath, Iroh continued to advise Zuko to remember his basics while Zhao proceeded to throw his own volley of fire blasts. Zuko was able to block each, but was slowly forced back with every parry. For the final blast, Zhao used both fists, forming a blast that connected and knocked Zuko to the ground. Pressing the attack, Zhao leapt into the air, covered the distance between him and Zuko, and prepared a finishing fire blast aimed directly for the Prince's face. An instant before contact, Zuko rolled out of the way, rose with a kicking flourish, and knocked Zhao out of his stance.
With new-found vigor, Zuko released a series of low attacks that caused Zhao to retreat, and finished him with a jet of fire from a full body kick. As the Prince stood ready to strike Zhao a final time, Zhao yelled out, "Do it!" To Zhao's surprise, the strike meant to mark Zuko's victory was aimed past his face instead. Looking to the scorched ground, Zhao questioned, "That's it? Your father raised a coward."
"Next time you get in my way, I promise…I won't hold back," Zuko declared as he walked away from his defeated opponent.
Zhao, full of anger and embarrassment, made to strike Zuko's unguarded back, but was stopped by Iroh. As Zuko made to engage Zhao again, Iroh held him back and stated, "No Prince Zuko… Do not taint your victory." He then turned back to Zhao while commenting, "So this is how the 'great' Commander Zhao acts in defeat? Disgraceful… Even in exile, my nephew is far more 'honorable' than you are." The duo then made their way back to their ship with Zuko feeling grateful to his uncle for his words.
Air Temple
After chasing the lemur for a while, Aang came across the skeletal remains of Gyatso. Seeing his teacher and father figure's remains caused him to weep before rage took over at the sight of aged Fire Nation uniforms.
In his rage, Aang called upon the power of his past lives, making his AirBender tattoos glow along with his eyes. A dome of wind surrounded him, pushing back everything and whipping up the air into a hurricane.
Naruto, who was hidden out of sight with Mai, felt the power Aang was calling upon reach near Kage level in strength. 'Damn it. At this rate, the kid will destroy the mountain in his rage. I have to do something.'
The last Uzumaki was about to step in before he heard Katara say to Aang, "I know you're upset, and I know what it's like to lose the people you love. I went through the same thing when I lost my mom… Monk Gyatso and the other Air Nomads may be gone, but you still have a family. Sokka and I; we're you're family now."
Her words reached Aang as the winds slowly died down, but his features will still glowing. The Water Tribe siblings walked up to him and placed reassuring hands on the boy's shoulders. "Katara and I aren't going to let anything happen to you, we promise," declared Sokka as Aang finally released the energy and collapsed into Katara's arms.
"I'm sorry…"
"It's okay… You weren't yourself," reassured the WaterBender.
"But you were right… And if the Fire Nation found this temple, they must have found the other ones too… I really am the last AirBender…" he said sadly as Katara comforted him.
Naruto sighed at how Aang was dealing with the loss of his people before he turned to leave with Mai in tow. "Do you think he's ready, sensei?"
"No, he isn't… He lets his emotions take control of him so easily, making him lose focus and have to rely on the power of his past lives… He needs to be able to call upon and use his own power or else he will never be ready."
After reuniting with the lemur, who Aang had decided to name Momo, the Gaang left the Air Temple and began making their way north once again while Naruto and Mai followed close behind.
Three Days Later (Kyoshi Island)
Naruto had to resist the urge to go and rip Aang a new one at the sight of the boy wasting his time riding giant koi fish. The boy had no sense of urgency or a real want to fulfill his duty to the world. Instead, he was only interested in showing off for his friends and behaving like a child. The Uzumaki had to constantly remind himself that Aang technically was still a child, but even he knew when the time was right to have fun and perform your duties.
Mai merely laid down against the tree her sensei was residing in and gazed at the clouds. It was a beautiful day and the masses of air and water were lazily drifting through the sky above them.
The two perked up when a giant eel rose up from the water and tried to devour Aang. The boy would have been fish food, but he was able to get out of danger by using AirBending to run across the water and back to shore.
From his position in the tree, Naruto saw a group of around eight women dressed in armored robes waiting in the trees while watching the Avatar. The Gaang was blissfully unaware of their observers until the women dropped down from the trees and swiftly bound and blindfolded them. After taking them to the entrance of their village and tying them to the post of a statue of Avatar Kyoshi, they removed the blindfolds.
"Who are you and where are the men who ambushed us?" asked Sokka.
"There were no men; we ambushed you," answered the lead member of the women.
"Yea right… Seriously, there's no way a bunch of girls took us down."
"'A bunch of girls', huh? The unagi is going to eat well tonight," she retorted while grasping the collar of his shirt.
"Wait! Please, he didn't mean it! My brother is just an idiot sometimes," pleaded Katara.
The leader of the village stepped forward and questioned, "Why are you here? If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you three were Fire Nation spies."
"We're not spies! We were just making a stop while on our way to the North Pole," answered Aang.
"A likely story… Know this: Kyoshi Island has peacefully stayed out of this war, and we intend to keep it that way!"
"This island was named after Avatar Kyoshi? I know her!"
"Ha! How could you know her when she's been dead for centuries?"
"I know her because I'm the Avatar."
"That's impossible," stated the head warrior, "The last Avatar was an AirBender who disappeared from the world 100yrs ago."
"That's me!" Aang said with a small smile.
The village leader had heard enough and ordered the trio to be sent to the unagi. However, Aang proved his claim as the Avatar by AirBending out of his bindings and floating to the ground. Left in awe at the sight of the Avatar, the villagers graciously welcomed Aang and his friends into their village and began to provide him with a charitable feast.
With Zuko
As the news of the Avatar's arrival to Kyoshi Island spread throughout the island, it was passed on to local fishermen who passed it on to a customer who passed it on to Prince Zuko as they served him a fried fish. "The Avatar's on Kyoshi Island?! Uncle, ready the rhinos! He's not getting away from me this time…"
"Are you going to finish that?" asked the retired general while pointing to the fish.
Zuko took the plate away and yelled, "I was saving it for later!"
Kyoshi Village
As Aang showed off for the villagers and basked in the limelight, Sokka swallowed his pride and asked to be taught by the Kyoshi Warriors led by Suki. Katara on the other hand was packing supplies for the trip.
Next to her, as she bought vegetables and meats, was Naruto who was also purchasing some food for his journey with Mai. He and Mai had entered the village easily and Mai was in another part of the village while he decided to get some supplies and observe the Avatar's friends.
Katara was about to reach for a zucchini but was stopped by Naruto who advised, "You don't want that one; it isn't ripe yet."
The WaterBender got a better look at the Uzumaki and was confused at the style of clothing, the hair color, and why he was helping out a total stranger like her. "Thanks," she said hesitantly as she reached for a different one.
"It amazes me that the so-called 'Master of All Elements' is nothing more than a child who prefers to show off instead of fulfilling his duty."
Katara sighed in disappointment at the truth of his words. "Yea, I would have thought he would be more focused on getting ready to move on…"
"He is a child," Naruto reminded her. "But still, he should be putting his duty to the world before anything else…"
Katara turned to him with a raised brow. "Why are you so concerned about what Aang should be doing? The rest of the village seems fine just meeting him…"
"True… However, I do not live here. I'm merely passing through with my student as we travel north. I heard the rumors of the Avatar's return and began wondering why we have just found out about it now. Why hasn't he performed the duties he is responsible for instead of parading around this village with young women chasing him out of adoration?"
"I wish I knew…" Katara sadly agreed. "I mean, I know he doesn't know any other element but air, but he really should be more focused on learning the other elements and helping the world."
'The kid doesn't even know the other elements?!' Naruto thought in shock. "That's…unsettling," he commented. "An Avatar who only knows one element in a time where the world needs them most…" He shook his head in disappointment before he paid for his supplies and walked away. "This world is doomed," Katara heard him say.
Katara sighed sadly before she paid for her own supplies and put them in the Gaang's apartment room. After that, she made her way to where Aang said he was going to ride the unagi for the girls' entertainment. She walked past many of them before she spotted him out alone in the water.
"Katara, you showed up!" he exclaimed happily.
"I wanted to make sure you were alright! You had me worried!" she called out to him.
"Yea… I'm sorry. I was acting like a spoiled jerk."
"Well get out of the water before you catch a cold, you big jerk!" she ordered playfully making him smile.
As he made his way to the shore, he was once again caught by surprise when the unagi appeared and tried to eat him. He was able to grab a hold of one of its whiskers before it tossed him into the air. He landed painfully in the water and was rendered unconscious and floating out at sea. Katara quickly made her way to him and bent the water around them to quickly reach the shore once again.
Once she made sure Aang was alright, she looked up from her position behind some rocks on the shore and saw Zuko and his men heading for the island village. It wasn't long before they began to set fire to it in hopes of Aang coming out to face him. As the rooftops burned, the Kyoshi Warriors and Sokka, who was dressed in a Kyoshi Warrior uniform, began to engage them in hope of driving them back. However, Zuko and his men proved to be too much for them and they were easily knocked aside.
Suddenly, the wind picked up around the village and a cry of "Fuuton: Kaze no Hassan (Wind's Divergence)" was heard. The wind began to extinguish the flames and Zuko gaped in surprise at the sight of Naruto and Mai walking out from one of the buildings.
"Zuko… Good to see you again after over two years," Naruto greeted.
"What are you two doing here?" asked the prince.
"We are searching for the Avatar, just like you are. Only, we are not searching to capture him."
"What do you mean? I need to capture him and take him back to my father!"
Naruto sighed in disappointment at Zuko's objective. "Your father isn't interested in restoring your honor, Zuko… How can a man restore another man's honor? It isn't possible!"
Zuko glared at the Uzumaki and got in a ready stance while Mai reluctantly got in one in front of her teacher. "If you won't let me get the Avatar, then you are a traitor to the Fire Nation!"
"How could I betray a nation I was not a part of? Besides, do you really think that burning a village just to find the Avatar is the right thing to do, Zuko?"
"Hey, over here!" called out Aang as he stood a fair distance away from them in determination.
Zuko gave a small smirk and answered, "Does that answer your question?"
"No, it doesn't. You never told me if you believed that it was right and I wasn't asking if it was convenient or a decent tactic."
Zuko chose to ignore him and fired a volley of fire at the AirBender who batted them aside with his staff. Aang then spun his staff in a helicopter fashion, allowing him to glide over to his opponent. Zuko batted away Aang's staff and pushed him back before the AirBender picked up two dropped battle fans and used them to blast a great amount of air pressure at Zuko. The strike landed and knocked the prince through a wall and into a building.
The Avatar turned to where he saw Naruto and Mai and was surprised to see that they had disappeared. Shaking it off, he retrieved his staff and met up with his friends on Appa to leave the village, hoping Zuko would follow and spare it from any further damage. As they were flying away from it, Aang saw that the buildings had caught fire again as the FireBenders made their way back to the ship. He shocked his friends by jumping off of Appa and into the water below before he resurfaced on top of the unagi and manipulated it into spitting water onto the flames. Once he saw that the village was no longer aflame, he allowed the giant eel to fling him into the air where he was caught by Appa and put back onto the passenger saddle.
"I know, I know that was stupid and dangerous," Aang stated before Katara could scold him.
"Yes, it was…" she agreed.
"Incredibly so…" came Naruto's voice, making the Gaang turn to see him laying down on one of Appa's horns while Mai sat on the bison's head.
"Who are you?" asked Aang. "You helped put out the flames before my fight with Zuko…"
"And I talked to you in the marketplace," Katara added.
Naruto turned his gaze to Aang and answered, "I am the predecessor of you and all of the Avatars before you."
Aang looked surprised at that while Katara asked, "What do you mean?"
"Before the time of Bending and the Avatar, I was known as the world's peacekeeper before I felt as if the duty and responsibility was too much and that someone like me was not needed in my time. I was known as the 'Child of Prophecy' during my time and after I sealed myself away, I was known as the 'Hero of the Flame'. The Avatar was made by the Spirits to act as my 'replacement' in maintaining peace in the world."
"How do we know that you aren't lying? For all we know, you could just be another person after Aang," stated Sokka.
Naruto turned his gaze to Aang again and ordered, "Look me in the eye, Avatar. The truth will reveal itself to you…"
Aang was unsure at the order and kept his gaze averted before he unconsciously entered the Avatar State and met Naruto's blue eyes with his glowing ones. Visions filled the AirBender's mind of a golden-haired man fighting against many opponents, beasts of incredible size and power, and speaking to a giant canine-like creature that was resting within a cage. The voices of his past lives rang in his mind, stating that the man before him was as ancient as Bending itself before he released the power and left his Avatar State.
"You really are my predecessor…"
"Of course I am, and I have something very important to tell you concerning the world."
"Why? What's going on?"
Naruto closed his eyes and slowly stated, "The world will be destroyed soon by something on a spiritual level. You need to prepare, Avatar, or else the world will fall into darkness and chaos."
"Why? What is the threat?" asked Katara while Aang was digesting the info and Sokka was surprisingly quiet through it all. Mai was also paying attention since Naruto had not told her of this oncoming threat to the world.
Naruto sighed before he moved to sit next to his student and gazed at the trio before him. "Let me tell you about the great beast known as the Juubi…"
(End)
And that was chapter six! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the future chapters to come! If you have any questions or concerns, PM me!
Now please: Review! Review! Review!
Current ages:
Naruto: (physical) 26; (actual) 5116
Mai: 17
Aang: (physical) 12; (actual) 112
Ozai: 45
Ursa: 42
Iroh: 64
Zuko: 18
Azula: 17
Ty Lee: 17
Lo and Li: 81
Katara: 16
Sokka: 17
Suki: 17
Next Time: Naruto tells the Gaang of the Juubi and urges Aang to prepare! Stay Tuned!
-pain17ification