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! Stupid lawsuit...

Poll Notice: The poll concerning new stories is over! Final Fantasy XIII won by a small margin of a single vote! So, I will be doing a Naruto and FF XIII Xover as soon as I can! However, I have a new poll concerning this story (Mai's Teacher)! Please check out my profile for it and vote!

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Higher Being Speech"

'Higher Being Thoughts'

"Jutsu"

(Technique Translations)

Scene Shift

Chapter 13: Path to Impenetrable City

Making their way through the hot desert on foot was not the best plan Naruto had ever come up with. However, seeing that Sokka, Katara, and Toph needed to wait for Aang to find them, it was the best he could do. After all, the bald monk shouldn't be able to miss a dome of air moving across the sands.

"Spirits, it is hot!" complained Sokka even under protection from the air dome. "Hey, does anyone have any water?"

Naruto and Mai stayed silent as they walked while Katara gave Sokka and Toph some water from her pouch. "Here, this is all we have."

Sokka smacked his lips after swallowing and asked, "We're drinking your Bending water?" He smacked his lips some more before his eyes widened. "You used this on the swamp guys!"

While he desperately tried to remove the taste of swamp on his tongue, Toph commented, "It does taste a bit swampy…"

"I'm sorry, but it's all we have… So, we'll have to make due," Katara replied.

"Wait, there's another water source!" Sokka exclaimed as he pointed at a cactus. He sliced a piece off with his machete and drank some of the juices inside. "Ah… Man, that is very thirst quenching," he said with a smile before he began to act strange…well, stranger.

"And that is why we don't just randomly drink or eat anything nearby," Naruto said to his apprentice who nodded and watched Sokka move his body across the ground like a worm.

Suddenly, a loud boom was heard in the distance followed by a rising cloud that took the form of…

"A giant mushroom! Maybe it's friendly!" Sokka exclaimed drunkenly while making strange movements to 'appease' the cloud.

Naruto sighed before he had a clone carry the drunken warrior over his shoulder while the rest of the group continued on. It wasn't until near nightfall that Aang finally found them. When he landed, Naruto felt anger, sadness, and self loathing coming off of the AirBender and the Uzumaki knew that he would have a serious change to his current childish personality.

'While it is a shame that he lost his friend, maybe this will make him finally take things seriously and have him focus on the task at hand,' thought the blonde as he watched Katara try and comfort the boy.

Naruto then summoned two large owls for the group to travel on and had the birds take them to the borders of the desert. They had a job to do and that job depended on them getting to Ba-Sing Sei.

Full Moon Bay (Two Days Later)

Naruto's eye was twitching a mile a minute at the woman looking for passports for tickets for the ferry that would lead people safely to Ba-Sing Sei. The Gaang had met a small family of three, with one of them being a pregnant woman, and they told the group about the ferry rides after Sokka decided that they should take a thin passage called "The Serpent's Pass".

The idea of riding a ferry relieved the younger members of the group, but Naruto and Mai could've easily just flown into the city. They would have if it weren't for Katara begging them to stay with them since Aang's mood was still negative and she felt safer with the two shinobi around. At first, he wanted to decline immediately, but he looked to the family who told them of the ferry and couldn't help but see how desperate they were. He reluctantly agreed to go with them, but only for the family's sake since they asked to travel with Aang and the others.

He was really starting to regret that decision after seeing the old bat get in peoples' faces about having their passports, ferry regulations, and fake Avatars trying to get free rides. It wasn't until Toph showed her status as a Beifong Family member and the woman easily gave them four tickets, leaving him and Mai to get their own somehow.

Before he could even come up with a way to get them, the pregnant woman, Ying, ran up to Aang and begged him to help her after she, her husband, and sister-in-law had their possessions stolen. Aang tried to talk to the woman handling the tickets, but she was being unreasonable, so he decided to lead them through the Serpent's Pass; their last resort.

Naruto would have offered owls, but then his limited medical training over the years kicked in and he decided not to. While it would get them to the city faster and safer, the baby in Ying's womb wouldn't be safe on the slightly bumpy flight; especially since the air current that day was enough to make flight irritating for the owls. So, he and Mai decided to assist the Gaang in escorting the family; Suki, who was working as security at the bay, also decided to go with them.

"Look at this sign… How awful," Ying commented.

The others took a look and saw it read: Abandon All Hope.

'Cheery…' Naruto thought sarcastically before his senses picked up a large life source moving beneath the water. He narrowed his eyes at the bay before he decided to leave it alone for now.

"Hope isn't going to get us across here," Naruto heard Aang comment when he turned his attention back to the others. "We need to focus on the here and now and not worry about hoping for a better outcome. It's like the monks told me: hope is an illusion for the weak of heart."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Aang's words and clenched his fist in anger. Hope was what gave him the strength to fight every single day, and hearing this boy talk bad about it really got under his skin.

The group of ten made their way through the narrow pass and was making decent time…until some rocks gave way under the male refugee, Tahn. Toph was able to save him in time before he fell to the water below, but the rocks hitting the water alerted patrolling Fire Navy ships in the bay and they launched a fireball at them. Naruto wasted no time and used Gian to destroy the flaming sphere. The smoke from the resulting explosion allowed the group to move behind cover and stay out of view of the ships.

It wasn't much longer before they reached a part of the pass that was completely submerged in water, leaving at least thirty yards between the land they stood on and the land they were trying to reach. The two shinobi wasted no time stepping on top of the water and taking a few steps towards their destination. Naruto also had three clones formed to carry the refugees across, leaving the other five to figure a way across on their own.

"Are you sure it's alright to leave them back there?" asked Ying while she was being carried bridal style. Due to her pregnancy, being carried any other way would be harmful to the baby in her womb.

"They're resourceful," Naruto assured her. "Not the best with plan making, but resourceful."

The woman hesitantly nodded and turned her attention back to the Gaang as they made their way across by going underwater. Katara and Aang used WaterBending to manipulate the water surrounding them and create enough space to breathe and walk freely.

Unfortunately for them, a giant green serpent attacked them and forced Toph to raise the earth on the waterbed up and form a small island.

"I think I just figured out why they call it the Serpent's Pass!" exclaimed Sokka as the serpent roared at them.

The others, who were now safely on the other side, turned their attention to the trapped group and the two shinobi sighed in annoyance at the terrible luck they seemed to have.

'Honestly, even baa-chan didn't have this kind of shitty luck…' Naruto mentally groaned before he turned to Mai. "Keep an eye on these three while I go help them out…again."

She nodded while he disappeared in a blur of speed and reappeared just as the serpent's jaws were about to clamp down on the Gaang. Using a single hand, he gripped the serpent's snout and held back the beast's charge. It tried to push through the Uzumaki, but he held strong and looked into the beast's eyes with his Sharingan.

"Be still," he ordered in a calm voice while the serpent's golden eyes changed into the Sharingan, showing that it was under Naruto's control. The beast then calmed down and looked to the blonde for further instruction, surprising the others save for Mai. "Alright then, I want you to deal with any Fire Navy ships you see patrolling these waters. Make it safe for other refugees to travel through on the ferries."

The serpent growled in acknowledgement before it sank back into the water. Naruto then moved himself so that he stood on the water between the land the refugees and Mai stood on and the island that Toph had made. He slowly went through handseals and placed his right palm on the water he stood on.

"Hyōton: Kōribashi (Ice Release: Ice Bridge)," he said calmly while the water froze into a walkway wide enough for five people to walk across side-by-side. It took some persuading to get Toph to move across, but the Gaang and Suki still made it safely.

It wasn't much longer before Sokka called out, "There's the wall! Now it's nothing but smooth sailing to-"

He was interrupted by Ying crying out in pain while water pooled by her feet. "The baby's coming!"

"What?! Now?! Can't you just hold it in, or something?!" Sokka asked frantically.

"Sokka, calm down. I've helped Gran-Gran deliver plenty of baby's before," Katara tried reassuring her brother.

"This isn't the same as delivering an arctic seal! This is a real…human…thing!"

Katara rolled her eyes. "It's called a 'baby', and I've helped her deliver plenty of those too."

"Was it in a prepared environment?" asked Naruto, surprising the WaterBender.

"Well…yes, it was."

"Then you won't be much help." He then turned to Toph and said, "Make an earth tent big enough to fit at least eight people. We need plenty of room for this. Sokka, get me some water, Aang use any spare clothing for rags, and you two," he pointed to Suki and Mai, "make sure that Tahn and his sister stay outside of the tent. Katara, you'll be helping me with this since you have experience."

The group quickly got to work and Ying was immediately put into the most comfortable position that she was limited to at the moment. Naruto used healing chakra to help open up the pathway for the baby to be pulled out of. Sokka and Aang were able to bring the water and rags fast enough so that they wouldn't be in the way while the blonde and Katara focused on helping Ying.

"Okay Ying, this is going to hurt you quite a bit, but I need you to push!" ordered Naruto before Ying complied and she cried out in pain at having her womb opened up for the baby to move out of. "It's crowning! Just a bit more!" urged the Uzumaki before Ying gave one final push and he was able to successfully take the baby out. Ying panted in exhaustion while Katara used WaterBending to clean up the blood on the baby and on the new mother. "Congratulations," said the shinobi softly, "it's a beautiful baby girl."

He handed the woman her child and stepped out, nodding at the others and letting them know it was okay to see her. As they went to see the new baby, Naruto made his way to a nearby boulder and sat down tiredly.

"Nice work, Naruto. This is your second successful delivery."

'Yea… Good thing I've only done two deliveries myself and haven't had any mistakes. Shion's kid was a lot harder to deliver than this one, though…'

"That's only because it was your first time. This time, you were ready and prepared enough to do it successfully and efficiently."

Naruto smiled at that and looked to the happy family with their newest member; Hope, if he heard right. It was a very fitting name for the new life form. She represented the refugee family's unwavering faith and hope for the future.

'For the people to have moments like these… That is why I continue to fight. I fight for a hopeful future.'

Mai walked up to her teacher/love interest and sat down next to him with a smile. "It's amazing…seeing childbirth, isn't it?"

"Have you ever seen it?"

"When my baby brother was born, I was with my mom and watched after my father fainted. It was…disgusting at first, but then I saw just how beautiful it really was."

"…Seeing life begin is always beautiful, just as seeing it end is always devastating. It's a cycle that cannot be changed; nor should it be."

She nodded before she informed him, "Aang's gonna fly ahead and try to find Appa in the city before he meets up with the rest of the group. The others are gonna make their way to the wall and enter the city legally."

"Hmm… That might be a problem…"

"Why's that?"

"…Because I sense a lot of energy signatures making their way to the wall… And two of them belong to Ty Lee and Azula."

Mai tensed before she palmed her face and groaned in annoyance. "Great… Just what we needed…"

"That's not all… I sense panic from the wall; as if the force Azula is leading towards the city has a real chance of getting through the walls." Mai raised a brow while Naruto shrugged and said, "There's only one real way to see what's going on. We'll let the others escort the refugees while we move on ahead and see what's going on."

Mai nodded while Naruto summoned Koyuki and the owl carried them towards the walls.

Outer Wall of Ba-Sing Sei

"Well, I wasn't expecting the Fire Nation to be able to pull this off," commented Mai as she and Naruto watched a huge drill tank make its way to the walls of the city.

"Yea, and the General in charge here is too stubborn to see that his 'Terra Team' has no chance at stopping this thing. It's a good thing that Aang and the others decided to take matters into their own hands and take it down from the inside."

"So, what do we do then, sensei?"

"Simple," he started before he jerked his head to the drill, "we distract Azula and buy them some time to take it down. Plus, we can do some addition external damage to the thing." He then wrapped his arm around her waist and jumped off the wall towards the ground below. Mai clung to him as they picked up speed while Naruto smirked at the feeling of the freefall. He then stopped their descent with his Kazepo just as they were twenty feet from the ground. He lowered Mai to the ground before he launched himself into the air. "Mai, do what you can from the ground while I strike from above!" he ordered as he shot up skyward and stood in the air above the drill.

She nodded to herself before she rushed to the drill and flew through handseals. Lightning covered her hands and she cupped them together before thrusting them forward and releasing the pent up lightning. "Raiton: Kaminari no Taihō (Thunder Cannon)!" she cried as the lightning raced toward the drill and hit the side of it, causing the lightning to conduct through the metal plates making up the machine.

From above, Naruto went through his own handseals and held his hand to his lips before he released a wave of molten earth at his target. "Yōton: Yōkai no Jutsu (Lava Release: Melting Apparition)!" The lava fell on top of the drill and began to corrode and melt the metal shell, weakening it. He followed up with, "Ranton: Reizā Sākasu (Storm Release: Laser Circus)!"

From his fingertips, many beams of light flew towards the drill and struck it from various positions, making it shake and disturb the people inside. At the same time, Naruto saw Aang exit the tank from a hatch on the top and make his way closer to the front of it. The Avatar then began to use the water from Katara's water pouch to slice into the metal and make an opening.

Naruto landed next to him and gently moved him aside. "Let me," he said simply before he shoved a Rasengan where Aang was making his hole. When the opening was ready, Aang nodded to Naruto in thanks and prepared to deliver the final blow to the tank.

Unfortunately, Azula had made her way to them and fire a blue fireball at the monk, making him dodge to avoid getting scorched. "Sorry Avatar, but you're not going to stop the Fire Nation from entering Ba-Sing Sei."

"Aang, do what you need to. Let me handle Azula."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, now hurry up!" he yelled, making the AirBender quickly look for a boulder to shape into a pike to stab into the metal frame. Naruto looked back to Azula, who was glaring at him hatefully. 'She is so much like Sasuke that I could honestly mistake her for being the female version of the teme…'

"So, you betray the Fire Nation once again, Naruto."

"Like I told your father: the Fire Nation isn't my home; Hi no Kuni and Uzu no Kuni are!" he retorted before he released a volley of shuriken at her, which she batted aside with a wave of fire.

"The Fire Nation was birthed in Hi no Kuni… That makes it your home! And you betray it every day you go against my father!" she yelled as she launched wave after wave of flames at her prey.

Naruto held up a Hiraishin kunai and had it absorb the flames before he moved them to the part of the drill behind the princess. The flames licked away at the metal and blocked off any means of escape for her. "You're father is nothing more than an idealistic fool who will fall long before his 'ambition' can be fulfilled. Whether it is by my hand or by another's is for the future to tell."

Azula narrowed her eyes at the threat to her father and prepared to blast the Uzumaki with lightning. Naruto merely watched her prepare with a stoic look and held up his right hand, palm facing the princess. When she launched the lightning, it met the blonde's hand in an instant before it was absorbed into his hand. Her eyes widened in surprise while Naruto pointed his finger at her, the tip sparking with raging electricity.

"My turn," he said before he released the lightning and it pierced the girl through her right shoulder, making her scream in pain and her arm go limp. As she clutched her shoulder, Naruto made his way to her and grabbed her chin before making her look at him. "It's over, Azula. You lost this time," he said before she saw his red eye change form. She then saw and felt a distortion in the air surrounding her before she was absorbed into Naruto's Kamui.

When she was fully 'removed' from the 'normal' plane, he rolled his head to get the kinks out of his neck before he saw Aang pile drive the earth-made pike into the drill and cause the slurry plugged up in the pipes to burst free and damage the drill completely from the inside out. Aang was covered in the gunk but still had a smile on his face at the successful halt of the drill. "We did it!" he cheered while Naruto shook his head in amusement.

'Well, I can't blame the kid for being excited over his victory. Plus, I'm in a good mood myself since I was able to get Azula out of the game. Now, I just need to deal with her carefully since she is so obsessed with making her father pleased with her. If I can sway her to go against him, then that makes our eventual victory against Ozai all the more guaranteed… I just need to be patient.'

(End)

And that was chapter thirteen! Definitely my shortest one, but I hope you guys still enjoyed this chapter and the future chapters to come! If you have any questions or concerns, PM me!

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Next Time: The first impression of Ba-Sing Sei and meeting Long Feng! Stay Tuned!

-pain17ification