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 16: Preparations

"And that's all that has been going on without your knowledge, Your Majesty," Naruto said as he, the members of the Fire Nation, and Earth King Kuei sat inside of his personal office. The others had opted to help make sure Long Feng was securely imprisoned. Better to be safe than sorry.

"I can't believe that I never knew…" Kuei whispered out sadly. "All this time, a war was going on; one that could grow to a global scale!" He then turned to the Fire Nation members and asked, "If it is truly your country that is waging war, then why are you not trying to finish me off?"

Iroh stepped forward and explained, "While it is true that I once dreamed of taking over your city, it is no longer the case. My eyes were opened years ago and now I only seek peace between the nations."

"My uncle has been helping me figure out what he has," Zuko stated as he looked to be in contemplation. "While I still have this voice in my head screaming at me to regain my honor by removing you, I know that helping you is the right choice."

"I'm here because I wish to see someone who I thought was dead," Azula said as she leaned against a wall with her arms crossed. "Naruto promised me and my brother the chance to see her again if we help take down our father. He also helped me see that if this war continues, then something worse will be brought to the nations."

Kuei nodded at the reasonings of the Royal Family and then turned to Ty Lee. She smiled and said, "I'm here because I don't want to see this war go on anymore. I've seen plenty of it and I know that it is definitely wrong. Plus, my friends are here and they want to end it as well. I'll do anything I can to help them."

"I see," Kuei murmured to himself before he turned to the two shinobi. "And what of you two? Why did you go through all of the trouble just to help me open my eyes to the truth?"

Naruto was leaning on a wall much like Azula and didn't answer right away, making Mai and the others turn to him expectantly. He cracked open his natural eye at Kuei and answered, "The only reason I'm here is to stop this world from being plunged into darkness. This war will bring about a being so fearsome and powerful, that I'm not even sure I have the strength to even hold it off for long. This being will not hesitate to rip the earth apart and bring chaos to the nations; the Juubi no Saika (Ten-Tailed Calamity)…"

"Is there a chance that we can prevent it from being brought forth?"

Naruto shook his head slowly and solemnly. "No… It has enough power to break through to the Mortal Plane from the Spiritual and seek a human host. However, seeing as it hasn't done so yet, I can only guess that it is biding its time for a chance to gain more power."

"When do you think that will be, Naruto?" asked Mai in worry as the others now had their full attention on the blonde's words.

"…During the eclipse; the Day of Black Sun. The sun will be directly behind the moon, hitting it fully with its energy. The Juubi of my era was said to be trapped within the lunar sphere, so if it is hit by a direct line from the sun…"

"Then that means that the Juubi in the Spiritual Plane will be able to gain an incredible amount of power; easily enough to leave and search for a host," Iroh finished with wide eyes.

"Exactly… Even if we end this war, we will still be unable to stop the Juubi from arriving on that day. However, we still need to put an end to it so that the Juubi has a much lower amount of negative energy to call upon when it arrives. We also need to be sure that we have enough military strength to have a fighting chance against the beast. However, there is no doubt in my mind that many people will die in holding off the Juubi… And I doubt I will survive either," stated the Uzumaki much to the surprise of the others, save for Mai who looked away sadly.

Kuei then stood up from his seat and began to head back to his throne room. "Then we must act quickly if we are to prepare for the coming trials. Captain!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" said an EarthBender Captain with a salute.

"Summon my four generals at once! And get me a messenger bird! There is much we need to do and we are running out of time the more we wait!"

"At once, My Lord!" he saluted before rushing off to complete his tasks.

Naruto nodded at this and made to leave the room before Kuei called out, "What will you do while I begin preparations?"

Naruto turned back to him and replied, "I'm going to fulfill my promise to Azula and Zuko before I take my student for the final stages of her training. Tell the Avatar when he and his friends return to meet me at the Eastern Air Temple in one week's time."

Kuei nodded while Naruto and the Fire Nation members left the Royal Palace. Summoning two large owls, the group of six took off towards the Earth Kingdom settlement of Hera; the town where Ursa was staying in.

Hera (Three Days Later)

Ursa was preparing tea for her friend Eva who was currently visiting. The two had spent more time together ever since the rescue of the innocent woman by Naruto and Mai months ago. Eva still couldn't get over how safe she felt and how handsome her rescuer was while Ursa kept thinking about how much stronger Mai must be due to being his student.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door and Ursa went to answer it. When she opened it, her eyes widened in shock and tears threatened to spill at the sight of her two children with her brother-in-law, Ty Lee, and the two shinobi right behind them. "Z-Zuko? Azula?" she asked hesitantly as if they would disappear and her eyes would open from another dream.

Instead of a verbal answer, Zuko embraced her while Azula offered a very rare true smile. When Ursa turned her gaze to Naruto, he smiled and nodded as if to confirm to her that the two in front of her were real. Overjoyed, Ursa pulled Azula into the embrace as she cried into her children's' shoulders.

After some time, she was able to recompose herself and usher them all inside. However, Naruto politely declined the offer and told her that he and Mai needed to head out in order to meet Aang on time at the Air Temple. Understanding that what they had to do was important, Ursa thanked them profusely for reuniting her with her family and bid them farewell.

Once the two shinobi left, Ursa turned to the others with a kind and gentle smile. "So, tell me everything about your lives so far."

Easter Air Temple (Three and a Half Days Later)

Upon arriving at the Easter Air Temple, Aang was greeted by a guru named Pathik who introduced himself as a Spiritual Brother of the Air Nomads and a personal friend of Gyatso. This surprised the AirBender, but he was eager to learn from the man.

"Before you begin your journey to bring balance to the world, you must first bring balance to yourself. And the first step is with this," informed the guru before he gave the Avatar a yellow-green liquid.

Aang took a drink before immediately spitting it out in disgust. "Ugh! It tastes like onion and banana juice!"

"That's because it is!" happily declared Pathik before he drank his own dish. "Yum Yum!"

Aang couldn't help but blink at how eccentric the man before him was. Before he could say anything, a screech filled the air and the two turned to see the shinobi duo riding up to the temple on Koyuki. When they landed, Naruto dismissed the snowy owl and bowed to the guru in respect. "It's nice to meet someone so spiritually aware and at peace with himself. I am Naruto Uzumaki and this is my apprentice, Mai Nara."

Pathik smiled at them in greeting and nodded. "The pleasure and honor is all mine, Master Sage. I take it that you're here to train your student in the ways of the Sage as well as keep track of young Aang's progress?"

"That is correct."

"Then I welcome you both to the Eastern Air Temple. Come then, we have much to do and our time window is steadily closing," stated the guru before heading through the temple and leading them to a cavernous area with many pools of water. "I had a vision many years ago about being a guide and teacher for the Avatar on his journey to spiritual enlightenment. To do this, I plan to teach him how to open up and control his chakras; or spiritual limiters."

Naruto nodded in understanding while Aang looked slightly confused and Mai just paid attention. "It almost seems like what you're doing is helping him with his Inner Gates that deal with chakra that shinobi use…"

"In a way, it is like that. However, while the chakra of your era was a balance of spiritual and physical energies, the chakras I speak of refer only to spiritual. The Inner Gates of your era also focused on the physical aspects of the one opening them, which made them so dangerous to open."

"You seem to know quite a bit about my era," commented the Uzumaki with a raised brow.

"I have been around for quite some time, Master Sage. During my travels, I came across old tomes and scrolls concerning your people and learned all that I can from them. I know much more than most, but if I had to guess, then I'd say that I only know about a quarter the amount of information concerning your era."

Naruto nodded and listened to Pathik as he explained to Aang about how chakras needed to be opened and how it was an intense experience. He even warned that once the Avatar began, he could not stop until all seven were opened or else he would be completely blocked off from his spiritual side.

Once Aang agreed to begin, Pathik turned to the other two and said, "You are both welcome to join us as well. Anyone can go on this journey as it helps lead to inner peace of mind and soul."

Naruto shook his head and replied, "As tempting as it is, I need to get started on teaching Mai about Senjutsu. But, I will definitely ask you to help me when I feel she is ready."

"I understand, and I wish young Mai good luck on her training."

"Thank you, Guru Pathik," said the Nara with a bow before Naruto led her back outside. She was surprised when he suddenly left in a plume of smoke, and her surprise grew when she did as well. When her amber eyes opened again, she was taken aback at the site of a dense swamp-like forest with toads of all sizes going about their business.

"Welcome, Mai, to Mt. Myoboku," stated Naruto as many of the toads looked to the two shinobi in surprise.

"This place is…amazing," Mai whispered in awe. "This is the home of the toads?"

Naruto nodded before he stood stock still with his eyes closed. "It is also the safest place for you to learn Senjutsu. I will warn you now, learning this art is a long and trying journey. However," he said as he opened his Sage Eyes at her, "the end result is definitely worth it."

Mai looked to the toad-like eyes in wonder before a smirk came to her face. "Let's get to it then."

Back with Aang and Pathik, the AirBender was currently on his third chakra; the Fire Chakra. It dealt with Willpower but was blocked by Shame.

The first two chakras were Earth and Water. Earth was found at the base of the spine, dealt with Survival, and was blocked by Fear. To overcome this, Aang had to envision what he feared the most, which was Ozai surrounded by darkness and fire. At first, he was afraid that the vision was real, but Pathik informed him that it was not and that he had to clear his mind of his fear. The AirBender was able to do so after some time, opening his first chakra.

The second chakra, Water, was located at the sacrum. It dealt with Pleasure and was blocked by Guilt. When asked what he blamed himself for, Aang reminisced of the day he fled the Southern Air Temple upon finding out that he was the Avatar. On top of this, he remembered the time that he hurt Earth Kingdom soldiers at General Fong's fortress while in the Avatar State. Pathik told Aang to accept that these things happened, and urged him to prevent them from clouding his judgment and poison his energy; he stated that Aang must forgive himself if he wanted to be a positive influence on the world. Aang did so, and successfully opened the second chakra.

Now that he was on the third, he had to lay out all of his shame before him. The biggest shame that Aang felt was when he used FireBending too early and ended up burning Katara.

"I'm never going to use FireBending again; I can't," Aang said sadly.

"You cannot achieve balance if you deny that part of your life. You are the Avatar; therefore you are a FireBender," Pathik stated as Aang finally accepted the fact and opened his chakra. However, something seemed off to the guru. "Hmm… That chakra opened much less like a flowing creek, and more like a…burping bison."

Aang's response was a very loud burp before he smacked his lips. "Tastes like onions and bananas, but strangely something else… Pickles?" he asked as he turned to Pathik who just shrugged unsurely.

"We'll continue this tomorrow, Aang. You need to rest. We'll deal with the next three in the morning and then the last the day after."

Aang nodded at his current teacher and left to go spend time with Appa.

Back with the shinobi, Mai was in the middle of getting a feel for gathering nature chakra with the help of the toad's special oil. So far, her progress was minimal. She couldn't stay still long enough to gather the energy and it resulted in Naruto hitting it out of her with his Senjutsu Staff.

"You need to focus, Mai. This is the final stage of your training before I give you your ultimate task. Remember, you don't control the power; you accept it and allow it to fill you up. In order to do this, you need to relax and let go."

Mai nodded and settled into her meditative position. She opened her senses to the natural energy surrounding her and controlled her chakra to allow the energy to enter her body. The sensation of having nature chakra enter her was bizarre and unfamiliar, but she ignored it in favor of letting her body relax and have the energy fill her.

Naruto looked to her with an analytic gaze, watching for any signs of her becoming a stone toad statue. Senjutsu was incredibly difficult for one to learn, but he had faith in Mai and would guide her through the trials. He then noticed her eyes slowly gaining the orange pigmentation around the lids. 'Amazing… To think she could relax her body and mind so well. Still, it's probably because she had someone to guide her all throughout her time as a shinobi. I didn't have many people help me, so I wasn't as skilled as she is now. Maybe if I did have someone to teach me like I did her, I would have had fewer issues with my training…'

After nearly fifteen minutes of allowing the energy to slowly fill her, Mai opened her eyes and Naruto smirked at the sight of the yellow irises and rounded horizontal pupils.

"How do you feel, Mai?"

Mai slowly looked to her right hand and clenched it, getting a feel for the power flowing through her. She smiled and looked to her sensei/precious person. "I feel great! Better than I ever felt before!"

Naruto chuckled at her enthusiasm and pointed to a large stone frog. "Show me, then."

Mai smirked and stepped up to the stature before she used her newly enhanced strength to heft it over her head and hold it with both hands. "How's that?"

Naruto's smirk grew into a grin and he nodded to her. "Great work! Now, we move on to you learning to do it without the oil. Grab some of those stone tablets behind you and follow me," he stated before he made his way to the mountainous area of Myoboku with Mai in tow. He then looked up to the sun and thought, 'It's a good thing that time moves differently in the summoning realms… It feels like a week has passed, but I bet it's only been a day.'

Back with the Avatar, he had just completed the fifth chakra; the Sound Chakra. Before, he had to handle the Air Chakra, located in the heart. It dealt with Love, but was blocked by Grief. The grief he had was for his people; the Air Nomads. But, Pathik informed him that Love was a form of energy and swirled all around every person. The love his people had that he lost was reformed into new love; his love for Katara. This chakra was the most enlightening for the young AirBender as he opened it with tears of joy coming from his eyes.

The Sound Chakra was located in the throat. It dealt with Truth and was blocked by Lies. When Pathik explained that the fifth chakra was blocked mainly by the lies we tell ourselves, Aang remembered the instance when he concealed his true identity from Sokka and Katara, stating that he did not tell them that he was the Avatar at first, because he never wanted to be. Pathik said that Aang could not lie about his own nature, and that he needed to accept his destiny as the Avatar. With a sigh and a vision of him watching the world from above, Aang accepted this idea, and he successfully opened the Sound Chakra.

"The sixth pool of chakra is the Light Chakra, located in the center of the forehead. It deals with Insight, and is blocked by illusion. The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation."

"You mean like the Four Nations?"

"Yes… We are all one whole world, yet we live as if divided…"

"We're all connected… Everything is connected," Aang said in realization.

"That's correct. Even the illusion of the four elements is a block. The world relies on them all, yet we praise each one in a separate manner and cloud our minds from seeing the truth."

"I get it… It's like learning from only source when there are many others that all lead to the same goal; like how I'm learning about the other nations when I was born an AirBender."

"Exactly. Congratulations, Aang. You have opened the Chakra of Insight. Now, we will deal with the final one tomorrow. Be ready, for it will no doubt be the most difficult for you," he warned before he left the AirBender to his thoughts.

Aang kept his gaze on the setting sun and sighed at how things were going so far. "Just one more to go… I wonder how hard it will be to open it…"

Back with the shinobi, it had been another week for them in comparison to Aang's single day. Naruto was currently sitting perfectly still on his stone tablet that was balanced on a stone spike high above ground. Mai was wobbling slightly as she tried to get herself balanced, which made Naruto smile warmly. Seeing her like this reminded him of when he was in her position. He inwardly chuckled at all of the bumps he had received courtesy of Fukusaku-sensei. 'Still, his teachings paid off in the end and I'm glad to have known him.'

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard his student sigh in relief and close her eyes in mediation. He took note of how still her tablet was and his smile grew. She was so close to reaching her goal. It wouldn't be long now.

Back with Aang and Pathik, they were situated on the highest rooftop under the starry sky. "This is it, Aang. The final chakra, and undoubtedly the most difficult. Are you ready?"

Aang nodded. "I'll do whatever it takes."

"Very well then. The seventh chakra is the Thought Chakra, located at the crown of the head. It deals with Pure Cosmic Energy, and is blocked by Earthly Attachments. I want you to think of everything that attaches you to this world, Aang." The Avatar nodded as thoughts of Katara and his friends came to his mind. "Now, I want you to let them flow down the creek…forgotten."

"What?!" Aang exclaimed in shock. "Why would I let go of Katara?! I-I love her!"

Pathik looked to him sadly and said, "Learn to let her go, or you will never let the Pure Cosmic Energy flow."

"Why would I choose Cosmic Energy over Katara?" asked Aang in slight annoyance. "Three chakras ago, that was a good thing!"

The guru looked to him sternly at that. "You must learn to let her go! Otherwise you will never be able to master the spiritual aspect of yourself."

"I'm sorry, but I can't let her go."

"Aang, in order to master the Avatar State, you must open all the chakras. Surrender yourself to this task."

Aang looked away sadly before he stood up and began walking away. He turned back to see Pathik looking to him in concern and said, "I need to think this over… It's…a hard decision."

As the AirBender left, Pathik sighed in slight disappointment. "He needs to put the world before himself… It is his duty as the Avatar, after all."

"True, but he is still a child, remember?" a voice called out, making Pathik turn to see Naruto and Mai seated Indian-style.

He smiled to them and asked, "I take it that she was successful?"

Naruto's response was a grin while Mai opened her Sage Eyes to the guru. "Of course she was. She's my student after all," the Uzumaki said with pride, making Mai smile.

"That is wonderful news!" Pathik said happily. "What will you have her do now?"

Naruto held up his right hand and had a Rasengan form in it before it started to suck in wind and take on a shuriken shape. "Her final test is to take the Rasengan and make it her own. When she does that, then I will have nothing more to truly teach her. She'll be a fully recognized kunoichi in my eyes."

Pathik nodded and asked, "Do you still wish to open your Spiritual Chakras?" At the Uzumaki's nod, the guru smiled and stated, "Then let us begin. Open your mind and look for your Earth Chakra, located at the base of the spine. It deals with Willpower and is blocked by Fear…"

Naruto sat in his meditative position and allowed his mind to open up and search for his fear. When the vision of Juubi came to mind, he mentally sighed and thought, 'This may take a while…'

(End)

And that was chapter sixteen! 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!

Next Time: Naruto goes down the path of Spiritual Enlightenment while Aang tries to come to terms with his duty to the world! Meanwhile, Ozai begins making plans against Ba-Sing Sei! Stay Tuned!

-pain17ification