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 Shift

Chapter 15: Raised Curtain

"What have the Avatar and his friends been doing lately, Hiroshi?" asked Long Feng as he walked down a dimly lit hallway with his second in command.

"Not much to be honest, sir. The Avatar helped out the local zookeeper with his animals and their small habitats, the WaterBender and EarthBender mainly checked out the city and the various sites, and the Water Tribe male asked around for the bison but didn't find anything."

"What of Uzumaki and his student?"

"They haven't left the house at all, sir. Not once during the week did they leave. I assume that they're planning something against you, sir."

Long Feng hummed in thought concerning the lack of activity from Naruto and Mai. It was unnerving wondering what the two could possibly be up to in the home. 'My men can't get too close or else the Uzumaki and his student will sense them. What could they possibly be doing?'

Upper Ring Home

"So, do you think this will work? I mean, based on what you told us, we're up against a literal army of EarthBenders that could go to the Earth King should we screw up…" stated Azula as she and Ty Lee sat before Naruto and Mai.

During the week, Naruto had been asked by Azula to be let out of the Kamui Dimension. The princess had decided to help out the Uzumaki in taking a stand against her father and preventing the coming of Juubi; a decision that made Naruto thank her for.

As for Ty Lee, Naruto knew that the Dai Li were constantly watching their every move. So, the blonde had used Henge to change himself into a random and unassuming bird that flew throughout the city and found the bubbly teen. She had been able to get into the city under the guise of another refugee and was hoping to find Azula. Apparently, Ty Lee thought that Azula had been able to get in and didn't have enough time to take anyone else with her.

One Shunshin later, she was in the fancy home and reunited with her friends.

"Yes, I know what the odds are. However, I also know that those Dai Li are far too young to be a threat to me. The biggest issue for us is finding out where their base of operations is. Once we find that, we expose him for the city to see," informed the Uzumaki.

"It sounds like it could work, but where would we start our search?" asked Ty Lee with a finger on her lip in thought.

Mai had her eyes closed in thought and thought of possible locations in the city big enough to hold a base. "Maybe…it isn't directly in the city. Maybe it's still within the main wall, but not in very populated areas…"

Naruto nodded. "That's usually where bases big enough to hold armies are held; hidden among the populace, yet also not among them."

Azula sighed in slight frustration. "That could be anywhere in the fields or lakes that are within the walls. We'd be searching for days, or even weeks, before we ever found it."

"Maybe not," Naruto said with a smirk. "All we need are extra eyes and ears, and I know where we can get them."

Ty Lee and Azula looked to him in confusion while Mai matched his smirk.

The Next Day

The city of Ba-Sing Sei saw nothing new within its walls except for the immigrating refugees and an occasional toad or owl at random parts of the city. What the citizens didn't know about the animals was that they were summons from Naruto and were looking around for anything suspicious within the city.

"Anything yet?" asked Yuki as she and her friend Tetsu as they searched a place called Lake Laogai.

"Nothing visible on the surface… There could be something beneath the lake. But, wouldn't they need a WaterBender to help them out, according to Naruto-sama?"

Yuki looked to the lake suspiciously as the waters rippled with the breeze. "Hmm… Maybe we should tell Naruto-sama about this. He should be able to see if anything unusual is there."

Tetsu nodded. "Alright, I'll go get him while you keep looking. We both know that I'm the faster one of the both of us."

"Okay, but be careful. Those Dai Li that Naruto-sama told us about may know that we're summons for him."

"Understood," said Tetsu as he disappeared in a plume of smoke.

Yuki turned her attention back to the lake and narrowed her amphibious eyes at the surface. Without any hesitation, she dove into the water and began to swim deeper and deeper in hopes of finding anything.

With Naruto

The blonde was busy meditating alongside Mai while Ty Lee was going over the scroll that Naruto gave her three years ago. He wanted the princess to have something else besides her Bending at her disposal; especially since Fire was naturally weaker to Earth.

Within his mind, Naruto stood before Kurama and they both had their eyes closed in thought. "What if you just killed Ozai and end the war?"

"It wouldn't work… We both know that Ozai isn't the only FireBender who believes that the Fire Nation is meant to rule. If we killed him now, all it would do to them is put a dent in their plans that could easily be fixed."

"This war is nowhere near close to ending though… And the Juubi just need a little more before it breaks out of the Spirit Realm. Your outburst with my power back at the North Pole gave it enough of my youki to start forming. Luckily for us, even if it successfully merges all of the Bijuu youki into a single energy, it still needs a host; a physical host."

Naruto nodded with a relieved look on his face. "Thank Kami that it doesn't have one yet."

"But there's another problem; that Solar Eclipse."

"What about it?"

"The sun will be behind the moon and all of its solar energy will hit the moon directly. The Juubi is a mass of energy… The Rikudo Sennin never specified what energy, or energies, it couldn't use."

Naruto's eyes widened in worry and he asked, "Is there anything we can do?"

"Not this time… We can't interfere with a natural occurrence; we don't have the power. We'll just have to be prepared for anything on the Day of Black Sun."

Naruto nodded as he left his mindscape. When he opened his eyes he saw Gamatetsu jump in through the window and turn to him. "Naruto-sama, we think we found something!"

Lake Laogai

Naruto and the girls all appeared in front of the large lake in a distorted swirl. Immediately, the Uzumaki sensed many sources of energy deep beneath the lake and he smirked.

"So, an underwater base… Clever, Long Feng; very clever…"

"How will we get down there?" asked Ty Lee. "If the base in beneath the lake, there should be an entrance that only the Dai Li know of."

"Most likely, the entrance can only be found with Bending," Azula added with a thoughtful look on her face.

"That's true," Mai agreed. "Which means that we're gonna need to ask Aang and the others to help us."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the water and saw ripples forming in a slightly erratic manner before the surface splashed and Yuki landed on the shore in front of him. "Man… That was a waste of time," she grumbled before she saw the blonde. "Oh, Naruto-sama! There's a base beneath the lake, but I couldn't find a way inside."

"Yea, we figured there wouldn't be. You did well, Yuki; you too Tetsu. Go back and let the others know that we found it. Let the owls know too."

The two toads nodded while Naruto summoned two clones that transformed into ravens. With but a nod, the first clone flew off to find the Gaang and inform them of the situation while the other flew off to get Zuko and Iroh.

Half an Hour Later

It was very tense on the shore of Lake Laogai as the Gaang stared down the members of the Fire Nation. Zuko seemed to be seriously restraining himself from going after either Aang or Azula while the princess looked indifferent.

Naruto stood between them all should any side make a move. "Listen up, I know that you all have been on opposing sides in the past, but I want you to put those feelings aside for now. Aang, Zuko and the others are helping me, so I won't tolerate you or your friends attacking them. As for you Zuko, you know that Aang is needed for the world's future, so I won't allow you to attack him either." He gave them both hard looks. "Is that clear?"

The two narrowed their eyes at one another before they both nodded slowly. "Fine, I won't go after the Avatar," Zuko said.

"And I won't try to fight Zuko."

"Good. Now, Toph or Katara, I need one of you to see if there's a way to enter the base using your Bending. And will someone please tell me why three civilians are here?"

The "civilians" in question were three "freedom fighters" by the names Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot. A few months back, when the Gaang didn't have Toph on their team yet and when the shinobi duo were searching for Wan's Library, the Trio had met Jet and helped him "liberate" some small towns near the forest that the "freedom fighters" were living in. however, Sokka had discovered the truth and tried to tell his friends, but they were too trusting of Jet.

It wasn't until Aang and Katara saw for themselves that they finally understood that Jet's methods were wrong and they put a stop to them.

"Jet was brainwashed by Long Feng and he had a feeling about Lake Laogai. Smellerbee and Longshot came with him to help him out since they're his friends," explained Sokka.

"Okay, but this isn't a place for civilians," Naruto said as he stared them down. Longshot quickly fired an arrow in retaliation but it was easily caught by the Uzumaki. He then ducked under a knife strike from Smellerbee and knocked the wind out of her with a palm strike. Jet hooked his twin hook swords together and went in for a strike, but Naruto lazily threw a senbon in the space between the two conjoined weapons and made them lock in place. "Do you see now? I can see the drive and determination within you, but I also know that at least one of you will die if you come with us. Do you really want to risk your lives so needlessly?"

The three looked to him in determination while Jet said, "We've been risking our lives for years, so this isn't anything new to us."

The blonde looked to them for a few seconds before he sighed and relented. "Fine, but make sure to run for it should things get out of hand." He then turned to Toph and Katara and nodded.

Toph stomped her foot on the ground and used her seismic sense to look for an entrance while Katara prepared to split the water should her friend not find one. Toph then smirked and raised her fist, bringing up an earthen walkway that led to what looked like the opening of a manhole.

The group of 13 made their way down and entered a cavern like base with many different rooms. Naruto peeked into one and saw many women with dead looking eyes standing before a Dai Li agent.

"I am Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba-Sing Sei," said the agent in a hypnotic voice.

"I am Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba-Sing Sei," repeated the women in a dazed tone.

'Dear Kami, it's basically Danzo's ROOT reborn,' Naruto mentally raged. He then turned to the others and motioned them forward. "You all go on ahead. I'll get their attention and hold them off. Look for Appa and anything connecting Long Feng to the acts performed in this base."

The others nodded and left while Mai gave him a worried look. She quickly ran back to him and kissed him, shocking the others besides the Gaang. When they separated, she said, "Be careful."

"You too, Mai. Now go."

She nodded and the others went deeper into the base while Naruto gathered chakra into his fist. With a roar, he slammed it into the ground beneath him and shook the base with its impact. Within seconds, Dai Li agents filled the halls and surrounded the Uzumaki, making him smirk at how easily he got their attention.

"Uzumaki… What a surprise seeing you here," said Long Feng as he walked between his men and stood before Naruto. "You do realize that I can't exactly let you leave now that you've discovered my hidden base, right?"

Naruto shrugged before smirking at Danzo's descendant. "Yea, I figured that would happen." He then unsealed his Sennin Staff and Gaara's gourd and assumed a battle stance. "Good thing I'm prepared then, ne?"

"Kill him," ordered the Dai Li leader as his men sprang into action.

Half of them jumped up and clung to the walls and ceiling for different points of attack while the other half stayed on the ground and fired multiple pieces of earth at him. With one hand, Naruto used the staff to expertly block the rubble while the other commanded the sand to attack. Tendrils of the mineralized earth snatched various agents and flung them into one another. Some of the agents decided to get in close to deal with the Uzumaki, but they were turned to stone by the Senjutsu powered staff.

It wasn't even two minutes later that the agents had lost over a quarter of their numbers. "Come now, this can't possibly all that you have," Naruto taunted. He then smirked and resealed his two items. "There, now I don't have my weapons with me. Think you can get a hit on me now?"

The agents bristled at the taunt and attacked with more vigor, making Naruto's smirk grow at the fact that they weren't robbed of their emotions like Danzo's ROOT were. The blonde ducked under an earth shot, spun around some earth finger bullets, and back-flipped over a Dai Li agent trying to tackle him from behind. As soon as he landed, he spread his arms outwards and exploded his chakra.

"Fuuton: Kaze Kyozetsu (Wind Repulse)!" he cried as a shockwave of razor wind exploded from him and pushed the agents nearest to him away with many cuts bleeding as they landed. The ones further away used their Bending to raise walls of earth to black the wind. Long Feng, who was furthest back, didn't need to and he saw the wind return to the Uzumaki before it surrounded him. "Fuuton: Kaze no Yoroi (Wind Armor)," he whispered as the wind surrounded his limbs like small hurricanes and also formed a "wing" of wind on his left side.

The next thing Long Feng knew was that he blinked and saw the rest of his men on the ground bleeding and groaning in pain. As for Naruto himself; he was standing right behind the Dai Li leader.

"It's over Long Feng. Your men are taken care of and the Avatar and his friends are searching your base as we speak." The two then heard a loud groaning roar which made Naruto smirk and Long Feng scowl. "And by the sound of things, it looks like they found Appa."

"You think you've won? You think that just because you found this base it means that I've lost? I have other bases, more agents, and other people who could easily take my place if you dispose of me. You haven't beaten me; not even close."

Naruto scoffed before he struck the leader in the back of his neck and knocked him out. "I may not have beaten you, but at least I can raise the curtain you've thrown over the eyes of this city," he said as he absorbed the leader with his Sharingan.

Earth King's Throne Room; One Hour Later

Earth King Kuei, the 52nd Ruler of Ba-Sing Sei, gazed down at the group of 13 before him while the Uzumaki held a chained up Long Feng next to him. Appa stood behind them with Aang sitting atop his head. It was a happy reunion for the two when the others found the bison and freed him.

"You honestly expect me to believe that my most trusted advisor was conspiring against me and hiding a war from me; a war that has been going on for 100 years?" asked the man.

"That's exactly what we expect you to believe, your Majesty," said Naruto as Mai stepped forward and handed Kuei the documents found in Long Feng's office. "Those hold records of almost everything that Long Feng has done; including the people he took and hypnotized in his base beneath Lake Laogai. If you look closely, you will also see that he had plans to replace the four generals under your command and further control the city with you as nothing more than a public face; a figurehead."

Kuei read through the documents, his eyes widening with every turn of the page and he looked to Long Feng in betrayal. "After all this time… After everything I trusted you with… You wish to betray my people and force them to live under you regulations! How could you do this to Ba-Sing Sei?!"

"I did it so that the city could be seen as the last utopia in the world; a place where everyone could live without the fear of war. You just can't see how good my intentions were," stated the Dai Li leader.

"Yea right," said Toph with a scoff. "You don't want to make a utopia. You want to make a city under your thumb and control. Why else would you go so far with your plans and not include the Earth King?"

"Your actions are that of a conspirator and nothing less," Iroh added. "I've seen plenty of men like you in my years. The 'peace' you seek will be nothing more than an illusion (1)."

"And what would you know of peace?" seethed Long Feng. "Most of you have lived lives of luxury and happiness while others, like me, started out from the bottom and were forced to claw our way to the top."

"Maybe they don't, but I do," Naruto said. "But what you went through is nothing compared to my beginnings. You may have lied and ruined peoples' lives to get to where you are… But you have no idea what it's like to fight, and steal, and kill just to survive! You don't know what it's like to take back your life with your own hands and not have to rely on others to do it for you!"

"Regardless, my intentions were pure," Long Feng said stubbornly.

Mai looked to him with narrowed eyes and asked, "Ever heard the phrase 'The road to Hell is paved with good intentions'?"

"Enough!" Kuei called out as he stood from his throne. "Guards, I want you to lock up Long Feng and make sure he has no chance of escaping! I'll speak to him when I'm ready." Once the guards removed the Dai Li leader, Kuei turned to the others and said, "As for the rest of you, I want you to tell me exactly what has happened while my eyes were hidden behind a veil of lies."

Naruto and Mai stepped forward. "Allow us to tell you, your Highness."

(End)

1~ Seem familiar to anyone?

And that was chapter fifteen! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the future chapters to come! If you have any questions or concerns, PM me!

I know I gave you all times that I would update, but I've been thinking of working on stories that I still have on hold (Bloody Guardian and Spiritual Bonds) as well. So, updating will still be on the weekends. HOWEVER, I will have NO set stories that I will update. For all you know, next weekend will have only one update, or maybe even a new story idea! Please stay tuned to my updates though! I love reading your reviews and seeing how you guys like my stories!

Now please: Review! Review! Review!

Next Time: Plans are made for the Day of Black Sun! Meanwhile, the Gaang separates and meets people both known and unknown! Stay Tuned!

-pain17ification