Uzumaki's Wrath
Chapter 8
I am really debating if I should do another one shot. After watching Summer Wars by the same guy who made The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, I am reminded of that one digimon movie and it has sparked the creative wheels in my head. Question is….will any of you read it? Vote in the reviews please.
The gang, thanks to the idiot sand benders, was able to make their way out of the desert, which Naruto was over joyed about because he hated the desert heat with a passion.
After that, Aang changed a bit. He became cold, fearing what he almost did in the desert, he made himself not feel much of anything and that worried not only Katara, but Naruto as well because he was not sure if he acted like that when he lost that caravan.
Also, Naruto had managed to open the Final Scroll with that small piece of paper and some of his own chakra. He could not believe how easy it was because he had tried a lot of things to try and open the thing.
Afterwards, he took a look inside the scroll to find that it was actually the combined forbidden scroll for each of the old villages and that a man named Iruka was the one who did it.
To who ever finds this scroll, take good care of it because this is one of the last thing connected to our time. The Akatsuki have nearly won thanks to their new revealed true leader and we thought that Pain was evil, Madara is even worse! If only that kid was still around, I think we might have had a chance because I never hated him…
Naruto felt sorry for his old village but what's done is done. He was here now and he could make a difference in this time. So after that, he looked through the jutsu to find a lot of earth jutsu that he was not impressed with. Hell, he and Toph could do most of those with normal earth bending! However, the lightning jutsu really caught his eye and Sokka learned the hard way how powerful they were when he dispelled on of his lightning clones. The boy had to be dragged most of the away with Kyuubi constantly making fun of the water tribe boy.
Currently, the gang was resting near a small spring with waterfall. Sokka was currently looking over a map he had 'acquired' from the spirit library on a large rock while Toph was splashing her feet in the water. Aang was swimming in the water before he did some water bending, freezing the water around him, trapping in the ice. If Toph could see that, she would have laughed her ass off. Her 'gaze' went to the two animals. Momo hopped around like he usually did while Kyuubi was resting next to Sokka. Despite the fox always calling the water tribe boy an idiot, the two got along well.
She then switched her attention to Katara, who was on top of the waterfall. The water tribe girl laughed happily before she hopped off the edge, screaming out, "WATER BENDING BOMB!" The resulting splash drove mostly all the water out of the small pond, drenching Toph, Sokka, and the animals. Aang, who has been in the ice, was thrown out of the water, making the ice brake off of him. It all made them laugh, well except for Sokka.
"Sure, five thousand year old maps from the spirit library, just splash some water on them." The water tribe boy sarcastically said as he held them up. Katara smile sheepishly before she used her water bending skills to the take the water of the map.
"Sorry." She said, wringing out her hair.
Before they could do anything else, they heard the loud chirping of a thousand birds. Turning their attention to the fifth human of the group, they saw Toph's oldest friend and crush, Naruto. Surprisingly, Katara also had gained a crush on the boy, but since he was oblivious to it, Aang said nothing because he too liked the water tribe girl.
What they saw made their jaws drop, well, except for Toph. The blond's right hand was covered in violent sparking lightning that was emitting that high pitched noise. He smirked, sure he liked the attention he was getting, he was more happy that he got the thing working. It seemed that while trying to use chakra for it, it was harder to use, so he used lightning bending to do it and it FINALLY worked after the umpteenth time!
He ran forward at high speeds thanks to the effects of the attack and dove into a large boulder, cutting it cleanly in half…before it exploded in his face. "Ugh….still needs work." He weakly said before Toph came over to help him up.
"I'll say!" Toph said with snicker, but she was worried for him.
"Yeah….but I think I can do it." Naruto said as she helped him over to the others. "But you know, this has sparked another attack I could probably try and created."
Sokka was chuckling at that because of the explosion, Naruto gained another attack idea. "Ok and what has this idea 'sparked'?"
"Well, I figured that if the ionic energy in lightning can create my Ionic Vortex and the Kirin, I plan on combing in with chakra."
"What is that going to do?" asked Aang.
"Take my Rasengan to the next level." stated the blond. Getting confused looks, he chuckled. "Heh, I guess I have not used that attack around you guys yet. Here, let me show you." He created a small ball of spinning energy that instantly reminded Aang of his air scooter. With one move, he plunged that sphere into a nearby rock, completely destroying it. When he looked back, he saw that they all had gob smacked expressions.
Sokka recovered first and said, "And you want to make THAT to a new level!"
"Of course," Naruto said with a smile. "If I want to help Aang protect and fight with you guys, I want to get stronger."
The gang smiled at that with girls blushing a bit at the sincerity in his voice. Seeing this, Aang quickly tried to change the subject. "So Sokka, did you figure out which route we are going to take?"
"Ok, we just got out of the desert, so we must be around here." Sokka said, pointing to a part of land on the map. "We need to go to Ba Sing Se, which is here. It looks like the only passage connecting the south to the north is this sliver of land called the Serpent's Pass."
"You're sure that's the best way to go?" Toph asked with crossed arms.
Naruto rolled his eyes. Sokka…I don't think you are ready to go there.
"It's the only way. I mean it is not like we have Appa to fly us there." He said nonchalantly.
"Shush up about Appa." Katara said with a frown. "Can't you at least try to be sensitive?"
They looked to Aang, who just looked at them with a dead panned expression. "Katara it is ok."
Naruto inwardly sighed. He knew that Aang was still hurting but the boy was just hiding behind an emotionless façade. Still Aang continued, "I know I was upset about losing Appa before, but I just want to focus on getting to Ba Sing Se and telling the Earth King about the Solar Eclipse."
"Oh." Katara said a little shocked. "Well ok. I'm glad you are going better."
"Then to Ba Sing Se we go; no more distractions!" Sokka said as he rolled up the map.
"Hello there fellow refugees!" A happy male voice called out to them. The gang turned to see a small family walking towards them. They wore Earth Kingdom clothes, which was no surprise to them. The man was a happy guy as he was the one who called out to them, while waving. His wife seemed to be pregnant and his daughter looked to be a nice person with her smile. She was probably in her late teens as well. However, when she saw Naruto, she blushed, not that they could see from this distance.
XXX
"So are you guys headed to Ba Sing Se too?" asked Aang.
"Sure are." The man said before he put a hand on his wife's shoulder, "We are trying to get there before my wife Ying has her baby."
"Great!" Katara said. "We can travel through the Serpent's Pass together."
"The Serpent's Pass!" Ying said with her whole family having a freaked out expression. "Only the truly desperate take that deadly route!"
"Deadly route." Toph muttered before she punched in in the side of the arm, sending him on the ground. "Great pick Sokka!"
"Well we are desperate." Sokka said as he got back up and rubbed his arms.
"You should come with us to Full Moon Bay." The man said. "Ferries take refugees across the lake. It's the fastest way to Ba Sing Se."
"And it's hidden, so the Fire Nation can't find it." Ying added.
"Hmm, peaceful ferry ride or deadly pass?" Katara said sarcastically while her brother gave her a dirty look. With that, the group made their decision, heading for Full Moon Bay.
While on their way, Kyuubi snoozed on Naruto's head as he walked next to Toph and the others. The teen girl that was travelling with the couple made her way next to the blond. "Hi, I am Lin, Tahn's sister."
"Oh, I am Naruto." The blond said with a smile, making her blush. "You know, I thought you were also their kid."
Lin laughed, happy that he thought that she was that young….even though she was only a few years older than him. "No, I am just his younger sister."
"Well it is nice to know he has such a cute sister." Naruto commented with a smile, which made her giggle and blush. The mood for the group changed at that. Tahn's eyebrow twitched. He was a brother after all. His wife just laughed.
Aang and Sokka shook their heads. They had forgotten that he blond was flirty, but they did think it was funny. Toph and Katara, however, where not amused. Katara narrowed her eyes and put a frown on her face…not that anyone saw it. Toph growled a bit, scaring Sokka as she too narrowed her eyes.
Sokka and Aang looked at each other in worry. Things might turn bad. Lin, however, continued. "You know, you didn't seem all that bothered when Ying mentioned that the Serpent's Pass was dangerous."
"That's because I have been there before." Naruto said.
"What? Why didn't you say anything?" Sokka shouted.
"You didn't ask." Was the simple response that made them all sweat drop.
"What was it like?" Lin asked.
"Heh, let's just say there is a reason they call it the Serpent's Pass."
XXX
Once they were there, Naruto noticed that the inside of the cave like bay was huge and there were a lot of refugees trying to get in to Ba Sing Se by way of Ferry. "I can't believe how many people's lives have been uprooted by the Fire Nation." Katare said in awe.
"We are all looking for a better life. Safe behind the walls of Ba Sing Se." Tahn replied as they watch one of the boats take off.
XXX
Iroh was on the boat with Prince Zuko. He looked onto the horizon and said, "Who would have thought, that after all these years, I would return to the place of my great military disgrace…as tourist." He then put in a straw hat as grinned at his nephew.
"Look around, we're not tourists. We're refugees." Zuko grumbled as he drank some of the slop they had given in a bowl. It was so nasty that he was gagging every time he took a sip. "Ah! I am sick of eating rotten food, sleeping in the dirt. I am tired of living like this!"
"Aren't we all." A voice said next to them. Zuko turned his head to see a dark skinned teen in strange armor and some sort of wheat plant stuck in his mouth. "My name's Jet and these are my freedom fighters, Long Shot and Smeller Bee." The two odd teens nodded to the banished prince, not actually knowing who he was.
"Hello." Zuko said in his usual sad monotone.
"Here's the deal." Jet continued. "I hear the captain's eating like a king while us refugees have feed off his scraps. Doesn't seem fair does it?"
"What sort of king he eating like?" Iroh asked in curiosity.
"The fat happy kind." Jet replied, making the old man salivate. "You want to help us liberate some food?"
Zuko looked to his bowl as he thought about it and many other things. Since he was not going after the Avatar at the moment, he could use his skills to help this Jet person out. Besides, if he went after the avatar now, he was not sure if he would survive with the infamous Golden Fox helping the kid out. He was not stupid, even he and his crew knew about him. Now who he was, but what he had done. Closing his eyes, he snapped them pen before he threw the bowl of slop into the water. "I'm in."
XXX
"I told you already! No vegetables on the ferry!" a cranky old woman, who was in charge of sending people on the ferry, screamed at a younger man. "One cabbage slug could destroy the entire ecosystem of Ba Sing Se! Security!" With that, a bear like creature came up and destroyed the small cart of cabbages.
"AH! MY CABBAGES!" a poor man shouted as he was hauled off.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at this. He felt like he had met that man before. He then had it, he had accidently destroyed that cart in one of the Earth Kingdom cities. He then saw the crazy cabbage man again when the gang he was traveling with were running for pirates. Huh, small world.
"Next!"
Aang walked up to the old crone's podium and said, "Um, five tickets for the ferry to Ba Sing Se please."
"Passports!"
"Uh, no one told us that we had to have passports." Aang said, a bit confused.
"Don't you know who this is? He's the Avatar!" Sokka interjected.
"Ah! I see fifty Avatars a day and by the way, it is not a very impressive costume." The old crone said as she pointed to a group of wanna be Aangs. The young air bender looked at the group before smiling.
"Heh, someone has a fan club." Naruto said with a chuckle.
"Besides, no animals aloud." She barked while looking to Momo and Kyuubi. "Do I need to call security?" she was referring to the bear like creature that was still mauling the cabbages.
"That won't be necessary." Aang said with his hands up in defense while Momo hid behind his shirt.
"NEXT!"
"I'll take care of this." Toph said as she passed Aang. She put a piece of paper on the old crone's podium that had her family seal on it. "My name is Toph Be Fong and I'll need five tickets."
"OH! The golden seal of the fly boar!" The old hag said in awe. "It is my pleasure to help anyone of the Be Fong Family."
"It is you pleasure." Toph said a bit arrogantly. "As you can see I am blind and these three imbeciles are my vales and the yellow haired one is my personal servant."
"But the animals-"
"Are my seeing eye lemur and fox. My lemur gets distracted sometimes so I have my fox to help me." During that conversation, Momo had jumped onto Toph's shoulder while Kyuubi jumped onto her head. He was so tempted to saying something just to freak out the old hag.
"Well normally it is only one ticket per passport, but this document is so official….i guess it worth five tickets!" She said before she stamped all five before Toph took them.
"Thank you very much." Toph said before she passed the tickets to her friends.
Katara made her way next to the blind girl as they walked away. "What was that about Naruto being your personal servant?"
Naruto decided to answer that for her since both Aang and Sokka were interested in knowing as well. "It is because I was when we were younger. However, the term servant is used very loosely."
"Why is that?" Sokka asked.
"Because he didn't do much of anything to 'serve' me. I requested it so that I could have a friend around all the time." Toph said with a smile. "Fun times."
"Very." The blond smiled as well, reminiscing. That just made the others smile as well.
"Well anyway…" Sokka began. "We scammed that lady good!" However a hand grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him back.
"Tickets and passports please." A serious looking girl asked with her hand out waiting for the said items. She was dress in a sort of guard like costume.
"Is there a problem?" Sokka asked, hoping there wasn't.
"Yeah! I got a problem with you!" She said, pointing at his chest, making the boy nervous. "I've seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you hilarious, and let me guess, you're traveling with that Avatar."
"Do I know you?" Sokka asked.
"You don't remember? Maybe you remember this." The girl said before she kissed him on the cheek.
The water tribe boy instantly remembered. "SUKI!" he cheered as he hugged the girl.
"Sokka it is good to see you!" she said happily.
"My my Sokka." Naruto teased, "I didn't know you were familiar with this beauty."
"Oh shut it Naruto!" Sokka shouted with a pint tint to his face that made both the girl and his friend laugh before patting him on the back, going back to Aang and the others.
XXX
The group moved their small reunion to a small terrace like structure near the water. "You look so different without your make up and the new outfit." Katara observed as she sat on a bench.
"That crabby lady makes all the security guards wear them." Suki replied. "And look at you sleeveless guy, been working out?"
Sokka put on a goofy smile as he spins his arm around. "Eh I'll grab a tree branch and do a few chin touches every once and a while. Nothing major." This made Katara look at her brother with a dead panned expression.
"Are the other Kyoshi Warriors around?" asked Aang.
"Yeah. After you left Kyoshi, we wanted to find a way to help people. We ended up escorting some refugees and we have been here ever since." Suki said before Momo jumped onto the railing she was leaning on to 'say' hi. "Hi Momo! Good to see you too!"
Her gaze then went to the blond of the group and she finally recognized the clothes he was wearing. "Good to see you again, Golden Fox. Glad to see you have lightened up some."
Naruto laughed. "That I have."
"Wait, you know Naruto?" Sokka asked with a surprised look on his face that was similar to the others' reactions.
"Yep, we meet a few years ago when the Fire Nation tried to attack our village. He came and quickly demolished the remaining Fire Nation soldiers that we missed. It was quite a display of power." Suki said.
"Wait, what do you mean, 'lightened up'?" Toph asked. "As far as I know, he has always been a happy person."
"Well, when we met he had a look in his eyes that reminded me of a person hell bent on revenge." Suki replied, shocking the group.
""I'll tell you guys later." Naruto replied.
"Yeah, it is not that great of story anyway." Kyuubi said in a lazy tone a top Toph's head, but she could tell the fox was lying.
"Good to see you too Kyu." Suki said with a smile.
"Likewise paint face!" Kyuubi laughed, making the girl's eyebrow twitch. Yep, same old Kyuubi.
Suki then switched the topic seeing that Naruto was a bit uncomfortable. "So why are you getting tickets for the ferry? Wouldn't you just fly across on Appa?"
The group went silent at that with sad looks. This worried Suki as Katara said, "Appa is missing. We hope find him in Ba Sing Se."
"So sorry to hear that." Suki said, before she turned to Aang and asked, "Are you doing ok?"
Aang looked at the group, who as sad looks on their faces as they stared at him. That made him a bit angry. "I am doing fine! Would everybody stop worrying about me?"
"Avatar Aang!" cried Ying from down below with all the other refuges. "You have to help us! Someone took all of our belongings! Our passports, our tickets, everything is gone!"
"I'll talk to the lady for you." Replied Aang.
XXX
"No passports, no tickets!" the old crone screamed as he stamped Aang on the forehead.
"But she is pregnant and all their stuff was stolen! You have to make an exception" Aang argued.
"No exceptions! If just gave away tickets wily nily to anyone, there would be no more order! And you know what that means? NO MORE CIVILIZATION!"
"What if we gave them our tickets?" Aang asked.
"NO!"
"But-"
"NEXT!" the old crone spat in his face…literally.
Kyuubi had enough of this old hag. He jumped from Toph's head to the old crone's podium and spoke. "You know, normally I am the cold heartless one, but you just take the cake. You really need to lighten up."
The lady just stared at the multi tailed fox in shock like a lot of other people did before she screamed and fell on her back, making the fox laugh. "Oh man, that never gets old!"
Aang smiled gratefully at him before he turned back to the family. "Don't worry, you get to the city safely, I'll lead you through the Serpent's Pass." Aang declared.
Naruto smiled as he put a hand the boy's shoulder. "And since I have been there before, I will do my best to help. Besides, with the Avatar and the Golden Fox on your side, not much could go wrong."
At that last statement, the small family, along with anyone else who was in range to hear that, all had their jaws on the ground. However, Lin recovered first and smiled at the blond teen. If the stories about him were true, then they had nothing to fear.
XXX
As they were walking out of the cave like bay, Sokka began his complaining. "I can't believe we gave up out tickets and now we are going through the Serpent's Pass."
"I can't believe your still complaining about it." Toph replied, making the blond chuckle.
"I'm coming too!" Suki said as she ran up to them in her Kyoshi Warrior uniform.
That's what she said! Naruto thought with a smirk.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Sokka asked, a bit concerned for the girl.
"Sokka, I thought you'd want me to come." Suki replied.
"I do, its just-"
"Just what?"
"Nothing, I'm glad you're coming." Sokka replied as she walked past him, confused by his behavior. Sokka just looked at her sadly, not wanting to lose her too.
XXX
"This is the Serpent's Pass?" Sokka asked as he stared that rising stretch of land in front of them. "I thought it would be more windy, like a serpent. Huh, I guess that miss named it."
"Looks can be deceiving Sokka." Naruto replied. "Sometimes you have to look underneath the underneath."
"Wait what?" Sokka asked.
"Never mind, you find out soon enough." Naruto said.
Ying went to one of the poles that held up a Chinese like sign that stood before them. There was etching on the wooden pole. "Look at this writing! How awful!"
"What does it say?" Toph asked.
Katara walked right up to it and read, "It says: Abandon Hope."
"How can we abandon Hope? That's all we have left!" Ying cried as she held onto her husband.
"I don't know." Aang said. "The monks use to say that hope is just a distraction. So maybe we do need to abandon it."
"What are you talking about?" asked Katara.
"Hope isn't going to get us into Ba Sing Se." Aang replied. "And it's not going to find Appa. We need to focus on what we are doing right now and that is getting across this pass."
"Ok." said Katara, a bit sad at her bald friend's logic. "If you say so."
"Naruto, how should be start?" asked Aang.
"Once we get to the top, get into a single file line…this path becomes a bit narrow." Naruto replied as Aang nodded before he lead the group into the Serpent's Pass. Naruto made his way next to Ying and said, "There is nothing wrong with holding on to hope. That writing was just to scare people."
Ying smiled at the blond before she nodded her thanks, her husband and sister in law smiling at him for comforting her."
XXX
As they were walking, Toph was getting a bit bored, so she asked, "Hey Naruto. You mind telling us what happened to make you of all people all broody?"
"Fine." Naruto said with a sigh. He knew he was going to have to tell them eventually. "This is connected to my rise as the Golden Fox, so listen up."
Everyone in the group was eager here this story, even the small family. Suki was just curious. "Toph, when I left that day, it was because I heard that a caravan was making their way to my old home, the Ruins of the Konoha." Now this surprised Suki.
"Wait, what do you mean? Why would you live some ruins?" Suki asked.
"We didn't live in the ruins." Kyuubi interjected. "We lived in the past." That made the small family and Suki raised an eyebrow, but they believed him none the less because the Avatar lived in a frozen block of ice for 100 years.
"Anyway, while I travel with this caravan, I became…attached to them, especially their elder, who reminded me of the old man from back home. They were like a second family to me." Naruto said with a sad smile. "When we reached the ruins, he said he had fulfilled his dream of seeing the origin of the Fire Nation and the old Hokage Mountain. However, that happiness was not to last. After we found what we wanted, with me finding out who my parents were and finding the lightning bending style, I…decided to take a nap on top of the caravan. When I woke, everyone was dead."
Naruto swallowed his rage as the group gasped. "Everyone except the old man, a Fire Nation soldier was yelling him. He wanted to know why the old man and everyone else came here. He thought we were spies sent to collect info. No…we were just there to learn about the past! Yet the soldier wouldn't take that for answer! So he sent a fire ball straight to his face, killing him instantly!"
Toph heard the rage and hurt in his voice, so backed up to him and held on to his wrist since it was clenched into a fist. She didn't see the blood.
"I couldn't take it; I snapped and killed those murders with lethal earth bending!" Naruto spat, he was still sore about it all, even today. "When I go to their leader, the one who killed the old man, we fought and I was knocked out. He left a scar on me that day, both mental and physical. Kyuubi made to get to me after that and we left our mark by transforming into the Golden Fox."
"Wait, you transform?" Suki asked.
"Yes, Kyuubi and I combine." Naruto said. I am not going to transform now because it will cause too much attention. Now, when we combine, so does our bending and we created Magma and encased that bastard."
They all stared at the blond in shock. The boy they were traveling with was indeed powerful, Naruto cut his eyes to Aang and saw that was shaking. "Aang, I am sorry you had to heard about the killing. I figure the monks taught you not to kill."
"Yes. Killing is wrong!" Aang said.
"And I agree with you." Naruto said. "I don't expect you to forgive me either. There is not a day that goes by that I regret killing those men, even though they deserved it!"
Aang sighed. "I'll forgive you, but please, don't kill any more people while you are with us."
"I promise." Naruto said. Toph smiled as he hand slid down to hold hands with him, ignoring the blood. Lin smiled at that. Katara saw it and felt a bit jealous, only because she was not the one to do that, however, she too smiled. She really didn't expect Toph to do that.
"So…what brought back your happy attitude?" Toph asked.
Naruto gave off a sad smile as he looked to the sky. Kyuubi gave a Naruto a sad look, something they all noticed, but they were not expecting the answer he was going to give them. "The Circus."
"THE CIRCUS?" they all asked with a large sweat drop.
"Yeah, but that did bring out my flirtatious personality that you all know me by now." He said, further confusing them.
XXX
A little while later, they finally got over their shock and confusion to speak normally again. Katara really wondered how a circus could help the blond get over his grief. "So Toph, you and Naruto never picked a mini vacation. Is there any place you want to go to next time we do those again.
Toph chuckled nervously. "Well I don't think I want to go to the circus. If I can't see Aang when he fights, I really don't think I'll enjoy it when people flip in the air where i can't see them. So right now I am not sure."
Naruto chuckled at that, "I really don't know either. So anywhere but the Circus." He said, confusing them even more.
Kyuubi, who was on Sokka's head, sighed. "Poor kid." Both Aang and Sokka heard this but were completely confused.
XXX
While they were walking, they saw a Fire Nation ship in the water below them. Suki decided to inform them about it. "The Fire Nation controls the western lake. Rumor has it that their working on something big and they don't want anyone to find out what it is."
Aang just stared at the ship before moving on on the path. Naruto rose an eyebrow and said, "That is never a good sign."
A few minutes later, the ground underneath Tahn gave away and he almost fell to his death, but thanks to Toph quick thinking, she used earth bending to save him before flipping him back to the others.
"I am ok!" Tahn said happily.
However, the rocks that gave away, plunged into the water below and alerted that Fire Nation boat that was near by. Sokka narrowed his eyes at it before he yelled, "They spotted us! Let's go! Let's go!"
Aang used air bending to jump off the cliff as the boat launched a fire ball. He used air bending blow away the fiery projectile. However, they launched two more, with one hitting right above Suki. Boulders began to fall on top of her but Sokka pushed her out of the way, but they never got to him because Toph used earth bending to create a ramp, letting them harmlessly fall to the waters below.
"You are you ok!" Sokka asked, very concerned for the girl. "You have to be more careful! Come on!" They then ran to a curve in the pass, completely hidden.
"Thanks for saving my life Toph. Hey no problem Sokka." Toph grumbled.
Naruto put a hand on the girl's shoulder and said, "You did good."
"Thanks." The earth girl said grateful with a small blush.
Naruto then cut his eyes to the boat which launched another rock at them. As if that work, because only one hit near them last time, however this one was coming right to them! Naruto narrowed his eyes before he sent off a bolt of lightning to completely destroy the fiery projectile. If it shocked the fire benders on the boat, the duo didn't see it because they quickly got out of there.
If they had stayed a bit longer, they would have noticed the sea suddenly swallow up the boat and a teen in green clothing looking at where they were.
XXX
It was now almost night time and they still had quite a quite a ways to go, so Naruto told them it was time to rest, which they all seemed happy about as they found a small clearing and made a campfire.
While Tahn was rubbing the feet of his pregnant wife and Lin was sleeping, Sokka was doting over Suki, annoying the girl. "Suki! You shouldn't sleep there. This ledge could give away at any moment, you should sleep over here." He said, referring the edge. So he took her sleeping bag and put it next to his.
"Sokka I am fine! Stop worrying!"
"You're right, you're right. You're perfectly capable taking care of yourself." However, when she stepped onto her sleeping bag, he jumped in front of her, "WAIT!" He paused, "Oh never mind, I thought I saw a spider. You're fine." Suki just gave him a dead panned look.
XXX
Katara walked up to a ridge to see Aang staring impassively at the setting sun. "You know, its ok to miss Appa." When he didn't respond, she continued, "What's going on with you? In the desert all you cared about was finding Appa and now it's like you don't care about him at all."
"You saw what I did out there. I was so angry about losing Appa that I couldn't control myself, I hated feeling like that." He said.
"But no you are not letting yourself feel anything." Katara said. "I know it sometimes hurts more to hope and it hurts more to care. But you have to promise me you won't stop caring." She said with a smile. "And besides, you have not found your…circus yet."
Aang looked at her sadly. He was hurting because of Appa, but Naruto went through something similar, but he was not ready just yet. Katara smiled as she held out her arms. "Come on, you need a hug."
Aang turned to her before he bowed to her. "Thank you for your concern Katara." He said before walking, making Katara just stare at the boy with a sad look.
XXX
Sokka stared at the moon above him. He would do this every night, not forgiving himself for letting Princess Yue die and become the new moon spirit. He didn't notice that Naruto and Kyuubi were above him on a half circle outcropping.
"It's a beautiful moon." Suki said as she walked up next to him.
"Yeah, it really is." He said sadly.
Suki sat down next to him and said, "Look, I know you are just trying to help, but I can take care of myself."
"I know you can."
"Then why are you acting to over protective?" Suki asked.
"It's so hard to loose someone you care about." Sokka replied as he switched his gaze back to the moon. "Something happened at the North Pole and I couldn't protect someone. I don't want anything like that to happen again."
"I lost someone I cared about, he didn't die, he just went away. I only had a few days to get to know him, but he was smart and brave and funny." She said.
Sokka's eyebrow rose, thinking it could be Naruto. "Who is this guy?" he said standing up. "Is he taller than me?"
"No, he's about your height." Suki said with a smirk and a shrug.
"Is he better looking?"
"it is you stupid!" Suki laughed.
"Oh!" Sokka said with a smile. "Oh thank god it is not Naruto, he has enough girls chasing after him. The two looked at each other before their face slowly came together in a kiss, but he pulled away at the last second. "I can't."
"I'm sorry." Suki said, feeling embarrassed.
"No, you shouldn't be." Sokka said sadly before he walked away, leaving Suki there.
Naruto sighed, So I guess the story I heard about the North Pole is true, but he should not beat himself up about it. He thought before jumping away to his sleeping spot to go and stare at the stars. Kyuubi, however, stayed because it seemed that someone else was coming.
Toph walked up to Suki, who was surprised to see the young girl, and sat down. "Suki, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it?" the warrior asked.
"Um…don't tell anyone we had this conversation, you either Kyu."
The fox jumped down from his position onto to Toph's head. "You got it kid."
"You have my word." Suki said with a smile.
"Do….Do you think I am an attractive person?" the young girl asked hesitantly.
"Um, I think you might be asking the wrong person." Suki joked. "But, I do. You are a beautiful young girl. Don't think otherwise."
"Yeah, for a human you are pretty cute." The fox replied.
"Why do you ask, Toph?" Suki asked.
"Well…I like Naruto, but he doesn't seem interested in me." Toph said sadly. "I have known him since we were kids and well…"
"You have feelings for him." Suki deduced, making the blind girl nod.
"Kyu, you've been with him all this time, does he feel the same way?" Toph asked the fox hopefully.
The fox sighed, he knew this question was going to pop up sometime. "More than you know." This made the girl widen her eyes and smile. "But, he doesn't feel that he is worthy for you."
"What do you mean?"
"You are born from a rich family and he is an orphan boy from the past." Kyuubi explained. "He thought you could do better than him, so he tried his luck with a girl he saved in the circus. He became a very flirtatious person because of her, but after a few weeks, he still could not help but think of you. He feared that he would never be able to see you again and keep his promise."
By this time, Toph actually had tears in her eyes. The blond cared for her a lot but didn't think he was worthy. Even though he dated another girl at one point, she didn't care. He will always be worthy. Sure she didn't know what he looked like but she didn't care!
"So, one day, he made some bullshit excuse saying that his cover had been blown, oh and by the way, we were in the edge of the Fire Nation. So he thought if he went deeper, he would never be able to see you again if he got killed. Anyway, we fire the edge of Fire Nation and made our way back to the Earth Kingdom, but the excuse turned to truth because someone spotted the Golden Fox that day." Kyuubi said with a sigh. "He still beats himself up about that as well."
"He really is a good person." Suki said with a smile.
"Yeah, he is." Toph said softly before he walked off to where Naruto was.
Kyuubi raised an eyebrow before he turned to Suki and said, "Well, good night!" He quickly made his way over to Katara to see that she was a bit down. "Hey, you ok?"
"Yeah, just a bit down that I could not help Aang. It is like he also pushing us away." The water tribe girl said.
"I am sure he will be fine, he just needs to find his circus." The fox replied, which got a smile form the girl.
"Yeah, thanks." Katara said before he grabbed the fox and hugged him. "Come on Kyu, you can sleep with me tonight." She then laid down while hugging the small fox to herself. She never saw the shit eating grin he was giving off.
Suki saw this before rolling her eyes and going off to sleep. Perverted Fox
XXX
Toph walked up to her blond crush to him lying on the ground, looking up, probably at the stars. "Hey Naruto, you mind if I sleep with you tonight?"
"Not at all, it would be just like old times." Naruto said with a smile as she laid down next to him, while he put an arm around her. After a bit of silence he said, "It won't be long now."
"What won't be long?" asked Toph, a bit confused.
"Until I come through on my promise." Naruto said with pride.
Toph was shocked, Kyuubi was right. She brought an arm around him, to embrace him as they slept. She let a few tears fall from her eyes. The blond had such a good heart that he remembered her wish from when they were younger.
To be able to see him.
XXXXXXX
And cut! This was a very long chapter and I thank you all for waiting. We have a little bonding in this chapter and we get a glimps on what will happen next chapter. Anyone care to guess who he saved at the circus, lol. Now, I have few things to announce.
I plan on doing an Abridged series on Youtube that will lead into a spin off/sequel to Time is an Ocean in a Storm. If I do this, I need a picture done for this and is anyone willing to add their voice to it?
I have been getting a lot of reviews saying that they want a sequel to Prince of the Underworld. I can do that, but I will have to take a brake on one of my stories and that would most likely be Guardian of the Sea.
Review and tell me what you all think.