I don't own Naruto or Avatar the Last Airbender

Chapter 3

Naruto and the gang were riding on Appa after a couple weeks since they brought Toph into the group. They came across a village that had been taken over by the Fire Nation and had taken all the Earthbenders prisoner except for one who was around their age. They dealt with the Earthbender's prison after the kid who was named Haru had been sold out by an old man that he and Katara had helped. Naruto "talked" to him not long after learning this. They went to the prison and set them free. Naruto had been impressed with Katara's and Suki's determination to get them to believe in themselves again. After they had left the prison with boats so they could get back to their families, they had gone back on their trail to the North Pole.

"Those clouds look so soft, don't they?" Katara asked, causing Naruto to look over at her, stopping from what he was doing. He sees that she is on her stomach and waving her feet back and forth while watching the clouds pass by. "Like you could just jump down and you'd land in a big, soft, cottony heap" Katara said, seemingly daydreaming.

"It really does look comfortable." Suki said, taking a look for herself at the clouds that passed by them.

"Maybe you should give it a try?" Sokka asked sarcastically with a smirk.

"You're hilarious." Suki said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at her friend.

"I wouldn't say tha-" Naruto was cut off by Aang who jumped to his feet.

"I'll try it!" Aang said excitedly before jumping off of Appa and down into the clouds below. Katara, Suki, and Sokka quickly looked over the edge, worried for what was to happen to Aang. Naruto just sighed and chuckled while Toph merely shook her head at his antics. She didn't need to see to know what he did and crossed her arms over her large chest while Naruto continued writing on a paper that was in his hands, knowing that Aang would be fine.

Katara, Suki, and Sokka turn around to see Aang fly back up with his glider and land back on Appa with water dripping from his clothes. "Turns out clouds are made of water." Aang said before creating an air bubble around him, drying himself off.

"I could've told you that. You're lucky you had your airbending or else that could've ended badly for you." Suki said with a frown.

"Idiot." Toph muttered under her breath while shaking her head. She knew what he did and while it would've been fun to do, she wasn't that stupid.

"Hey, what is that?" Katara asked, pointing down to the ground where there is just a huge area of black.

"It's like a scar." Sokka said in a depressing manner while the others weren't feeling any better themselves.

Naruto frowned at seeing nature destroyed like this. It was a shame to see life snuffed out like this.

They decide to land on the giant area of blackness where they get off and start to look around. Naruto looked around and saw that all the trees within miles destroyed. "Listen, it's so quiet. There's no life anywhere" Sokka said depressingly.

"It's sad to see the forest that was filled with life, burned down to nothing." Suki said with a frown as she clenched her fist.

"To see nature being destroyed like this." Naruto sighed in sadness at seeing the state the forest was in. He looked around with a look of sadness, not liking how it was treated.

"Aang, are you okay?" Katara asked the boy who was being nothing but quiet since they landed.

"Fire Nation!" Sokka yelled, seeing footprints of Komodo rhinos which are exclusively used by Fire Nation soldiers. "Those evil savages make me sick! They have no respect for-" Sokka started to yell before being shh'd by Katara while Suki and Toph leaned on Naruto's shoulders for comfort at the horrible site.

"What, I'm not allowed to be angry?" Sokka was annoyed before realizing that Katara was looking at Aang who fell to the ground and ran his hands across the ash and dirt.

"Why would anyone do this? How could I let this happen?" Aang asked, blaming himself for what had happened.

"Aang, you didn't let this happen. It has nothing to do with you." Katara said, trying to comfort the monk.

"Sugar Queen is right, you couldn't have known about this. So shape up Twinkle Toes." Toph said, hoping to encourage him.

"Yes it does. It's the avatar's job to protect nature, but I don't know how to do my job" Aang said dejectedly as he felt like he was failing.

"You may be the Avatar Aang, but even you can't always be there to stop something from happening or being everywhere at once. You're still trying to get a hold of things, so don't be so hard on yourself." Naruto said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave a smile.

"Thanks Naruto." Aang smiled at the Shinobi who gave a firm nod while the others smiled at his encouraging words.

"That's why we're going to the north pole, to find you a teacher." Katara said with a smile, hoping to encourage him.

"Yeah, a water bending teacher. But there's no one who can teach me how to be the Avatar. Monk Gyatsu told me that Avatar Roku would help me" Aang stated.

"The avatar before you? He died over a hundred years ago. How are you supposed to talk to him?" Sokka said, not understanding.

"I don't know." Aang said, also not knowing what to do.

"Well, have you tried contacting him by mediating?" Naruto asked, getting their attention.

"What do you mean?" Aang asked with confusion.

"You can meditate to speak with him, right or any of the previous Avatars? I remember reading how the avatar could speak with their past reincarnations for advice and I figured you could do the same in this instance." Naruto said with a shrug as the young avatar blinked for a moment before his eyes widened at his words.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that! How could I forget something so important?!" The airbender shouted as he smacked his head as if he was chastising himself before giving the blonde a grateful smile.

"Once we find a place to rest and eat, you can begin meditating and I can get this place restored and filled with life again." Naruto said with a smirk as the others looked at him questioningly until it clicked what he meant.

Aang and Sokka had finally been included in his origins and where he came from. It just took them constantly asking how he can "bend" more than one element and it was getting annoying to a certain point, so he just decided to tell them, so they could stop bothering him about it.

"Thanks, Naruto." Aang smiled along with the others at the blonde who nodded with his own. Katara, Suki, and Toph's hearts fluttered seeing him care so much, even if Toph would never admit it, her pride after all being there. Katara and Suki had smiles on their faces and small blushes when they saw how he brought the forest back to life and how much he helped Aang feel better like a brother. Sokka gave Naruto a thumbs up who smirked at the Shinobi.

An older man approached them and looked in awe at the returned forest. "Are you the Avatar?" He asked Aang with hope in his eyes.

"I am." Aang nodded at the man as he stepped a little closer to signify this action.

"Thank the spirits, we have a problem only you can solve." The man said.

"I'm more than happy to help you and your village." Aang said quickly with a bright smile that made everyone else smile at the Avatar's words.

The man led them to a building in the back of the village.

"Where are all the people?" Suki asked as the village looked barren.

"They are hiding inside their homes." Toph said as she scanned for everyone nearby, having sensed through the vibrations she felt through her bending.

"A terrible spirit has been tormenting us, taking members of our village never to be seen again." The man said in fear and panic

"A spirit?" Suki asked curious as to why a spirit would do this.

"It is called Hei Bai, it just appeared one day." The man said in fear from saying the name.

"Well the Avatar is the bridge between the spirit world and the human world." Katara said remembering what gran gran told her as a kid.

"Do you have food you can give us?" Sokka asked, only to be smacked on the back of the head by his sister who gave a look of disapproval.

"Of course! we will give you a feast before sunset so you are ready for when Hei Bai returns." The man nodded with a smile on his face.

"Feast? Hell yeah." Toph said grinning.

"We aren't taking away from your people are we?" Katara asked.

Naruto smiled at the fact that Katara was so caring.

"I will not lie, this year's harvest has been slow ever since the fire nation burned down that forest." The man said to them sadly.

"Wait did Hei Bai show up before or after the fire nation burned down the forest?" Naruto asked curiously.

"A few days after, yes." The old man nodded at the question.

"I think I have a idea what pissed off this spirit." Naruto said as spirits usually were kind and didn't do anything unless provoked.

Aang thought about it and his eyes widened "He's a forest spirit." He said in realization while the others caught onto what that meant.

"Burning his forest must've caused him to go mad. Now he's attacking any human he sees." Sokka said as he realized that Hei Bai must think all people were responsible.

"How do you calm down a pissed off spirit?" Toph asked, wondering how one did that.

"We'll find that out. Let's trust Aang to do this as his first step into being the Avatar." Naruto said as he gave Aang a confident nod. Aang smiled and nodded in thanks to believing in him.

After eating Aang sat in a kneeling position at the village's gateway, closing his eyes as they waited for Hei Bai and hope to get into contact with the Avatar before him.

"What do we do while we're waiting?" Suki asked, sitting down on the porch next to Naruto and Katara who were watching Aang.

Sokka shrugged his shoulders and decided to speak up. "For now, why don't we do a check on what supplies we have left? We stopped only when we saw the destruction and wanted to check it out." Sokka said to everyone who nodded.

"I'll go see what we still have." Suki stood up from her spot and made her way towards Appa.

"I'll go with her. I've got nothing else to do." Toph said with a bored look while the others nodded as she followed the Kyoshi warrior.

"And now it's just us two. Sokka is resting from a long day. Maybe you should get some rest too." Naruto suggested as the female waterbender beside him shook her head slowly.

"I'm fine. I want to make sure that Aang will be okay when Hei Bai does come back." Katara said with narrowed eyes.

"Ahh I see, you worrying over the kid?" Naruto teased with a smirk.

Katara smacked his shoulder while glaring at him with mirth.

"Nothing like that. He's more along the lines of a little brother and besides, I have an interest in someone else." Katara looked at Naruto as she said these words, making him blink before shaking his head with a sigh.

"Really? The guy must be pretty lucky." Naruto said with a smile as he was glad that she had someone close to her like that.

"Oh he would be if he knew of course, but he's acting like a dense idiot for some reason." Katara said blandly as she never once took her eyes off him, making him sigh again, already knowing what she meant.

"It's complicated." Naruto told her, but from the look on her face, she wasn't buying it in the least.

"Why is it so complicated?" Katara further questioned, not backing down so easily.

"Home." Naruto told her with an impassive look while her eyes narrowed.

"What do you-" She started to say, but realized what he meant and her eyes widened and softened slightly. "You're wanting to go home that badly even when you aren't even sure you'll be able to get home?" She asked, sad that he wasn't giving her a chance.

"I can't bring myself to get that close to you or the others if I did find a means to get home." Naruto shook his head at her. His words made her frown even more.

"So what's the point of spending time with us if you're going to just leave?" Katara asked with gritted teeth.

"..."

"You're thinking too much about it. You really don't know if you'll ever find a way back, so why not give them a chance?" Kurama asked.

'And if I do find a way back, I won't want to bring them from their families and friends just to be with me. That would be selfish and wrong of me to do.' Naruto argued back.

"You need to look at the reality Naruto and see that you may be stuck here forever. And besides, do you think that your family would want you to not be happy? You know I'm right on that one." Isobu said, not getting an answer back, but he nodded knowing that was true with them, especially his mother.

"I get it okay, I know there might not be a way for me to go home, but I won't give up until I know for certain. Space-time is extremely tricky, so I know it would be difficult." Naruto said to himself as he realized that it could be years for him before anything could happen which got the two Biju to grin at their host.

"They'd want you to not skip out on you finding happiness just to get back to them and besides you know how Kushina would react if you didn't get with Katara, Toph, or Suki, she'd consider killing you for hurting them." Kurama grinned at the blonde.

Said blonde paled as he realized he was right and his mom would make him suffer for hurting them like this. She would kick his ass without remorse and even threaten to neuter him if it came down to it.

Yeah, he wasn't wanting to be facing her wrath again.

"Really think about it and don't just avoid them and miss out on being happy and for them to be happy." Isobu sagely said with a nod.

"...Fine, I'll think about it. I can see both of your points." Naruto grumbled as he exited his mindscape when he saw Katara was staring at him expectantly.

"What were you doing? You had this glazed look in your eyes for a moment." Katara said with a raised brow.

"Getting my ass handed to me vocally by Isobu and Kurama." Naruto said with a twitch eyebrow.

"What did they have to say?" Katara had a small smirk on her face at the thought of the Biju giving their host words.

"They're more against me ignoring mine and your feelings and want me to give you girls a chance." Naruto said with sigh while Katara was smirking and laughing internally.

"They were able to knock some sense into you huh? They do seem very wise." Katara said, her smirk still on her face.

"That and they threatened me through my mom if she learned how I had been acting and she is terrifying. Very much so." Naruto said, getting a chuckle from Katara.

"What's so funny over here?" Suki asked, having gotten their supplies counted and had heard Katara chuckling about something.

"He's basically getting handled by his "tenants" and to get off his butt." Katara said, getting a smirk from Suki, but a confused expression from Toph.

"Tenants?" Toph asked with furrowed brows.

"Oh, that's right you don't know about them, hehe. Why don't I show you?" Naruto asked as he put his fist out in front of them as they looked at him in confusion. "Bump my fist with yours. Trust me." He said as the three girls nodded and did as told.

Naruto's Mindscape

Kurama sees them come in their plane and smirks at them. "Well, well, look what the brat brought in. "Kurama said, amused by them coming in here.

"I am Isobu the three-tailed Turtle. It's nice to finally meet you three." Isobu said with a nod.

"I'm Kurama the mighty 9 tailed Fox and you will all bow before my might." Puffing is chest out with pride.

"Kurama cool it with the provado. You don't need to act like this just because everyone used to be afraid of you." Naruto said to his lifelong friend with him rolling his eyes before his face met the ground, courtesy of one of Kurama's tails smacking him over the head.

"Tch fine brat ruin my fun won't you. It's about time I get to meet the brat's friends." Kurama said with a scoff, but had a smirk on his face.

"Oh wow, they're huge!" Suki shouted as she looked at the towering Tailed Beasts in front of them.

"They look so badass, but how am I able to see and who are they?" Toph asked with a confused expression.

"We're inside my mindscape and in here anything is possible as long as I permit it, including you being able to see even if it's only temporary. And as for who they are, that's part of the reason for who I am." Naruto told her who grinned at him and punched him in the shoulder playfully.

"Thanks Whiskers. Even if it's only for now, I get to see incredible things." Toph replied with a large smile as he nodded while shaking his head at her.

Katara and Suki smiled warmly at them and bowed her head to them. They could trust them with how close they were to Naruto, even if they could easily beat them.

"It's great to finally meet two that Naruto considers important to him. I wasn't expecting to meet you face to face like this, but this is amazing." Katara said in awe of the towering chakra creatures.

"So how tough are you guys aside from being huge?" Toph bluntly asked, while she cracked her knuckles with a grin, but grimaced when Naruto flicked her in the forehead.

"Toph, no, bad Toph. No fighting them." Naruto said with a deadpan while the blind woman pouted.

"We can destroy mountains with our tails, to put it simply. We can level villages and cities if we wanted to." Kurama said, much to Toph's growing awe while Suki and Katara blanched at the thought.

"They wouldn't do anything of the sort unless they were attacked. They've always retaliated and never attacked first unless someone tried capturing them and it's sad that they were in the end and treated as nothing, but weapons and monsters." Naruto said sadly as the girls grew angry at the thought of someone being treated like that, but now that made them wonder.

Just who had the power to do something like that?! It was hard to think about since it would take a lot to do it and they'd have to be monsters in their own right. That scared Suki and Katara in coming across someone like that. Toph on the other hand wanted to fight them still and even if she lost, it would be exciting.

"I have so many questions I want to ask you, but why did you bring us here?" Katara asked the blonde.

"To talk about the conversation we just had. Don't tell me you forgot already." Naruto said in mock hurt as she narrowed her eyes playfully at him and smacked him in the shoulder.

"Right, right." Katara said with a smile.

"What are you two talking about?" Suki asked curiously, wondering what it was where he brought them into Naruto's mindscape of all places.

"Ahh, I take it has to do with something that you don't want Sokka and Twinkle Toes knowing, right?" Toph asked, getting nods from them.

"What is it?" Suki asked, hoping nothing was wrong.

"It's why he's been so distant the last few weeks towards us." Katara said, getting them to look at Naruto who gulped at the sudden attention from them and the looks they were giving him didn't look so friendly.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself, Whiskers?" Toph tapped her foot impatiently, wanting to hear what he'd say.

She had developed feelings for the blonde Jinchuriki that had started out as a crush for him when they first met and had only grown to something more as time went by. Even after he left, those feelings didn't disappear, but only grew.

The same could be said for Suki as she had developed a crush on him since they met. It was easy to feel something for him. Not only did he not discriminate against women, but he also encouraged her to grow as a warrior. He was kind and a selfless person who would put his friends and family above himself.

"What do you want me to say, that I am not wanting to get close to any of you in case I find a way home and then leaving you behind while hurting you in the process?" Naruto asked with a slight growl, but turned away with saddened eyes.

The trio of girls looked at Naruto for a moment before towards each other and nodded to themselves. They approached the blonde who was looking away from them. He never noticed their approach when he felt three hits on his person, one slap to the back of the head, one punch to his right shoulder, and a punch on top of his head. He stumbled forward from the surprising hits and turned to them with a twitching eye.

"What the hell was that for?" Naruto asked with annoyance as he wondered what's gotten into them.

"For being stupid." Suki said with a glare.

"Did you even think about if we'd even want to go with you?" Katara asked with a glare of her own.

"And take you away from your homes and families? Yeah, that wasn't going to happen at all." Naruto said in a frustrated tone, as he ran his hand through his blonde spikes.

"And who decides what we do or don't do?" Toph scoffed, not liking the idea of her choices taken from her before looking at him with a grin. "You're not getting away from us that easily."

"I'd rather you stay where you have a home and families rather than go somewhere entirely new and unfamiliar. I wouldn't want you to miss your homes that you all have." Naruto stood firmly in decision while he stared at the three women.

"So, what you were just going to leave us after everything we'd been through? Why not just leave us to ourselves if you were going to avoid us anyway?!" Katara yelled, frustrated with him and his stubbornness.

Naruto looked away from them and sighed after a moment. He had no answer to that question. He didn't expect to care for them as much as he did and now he was cursing himself for not sticking to traveling by himself. Things could've been avoided if he had just turned down her offer for a ride.

"They have a point kit and the answer to her question is you were tired of traveling alone and wanted company outside of us." Kurama said as he laid on his paws with a knowing smirk.

"At least Kurama has the brains between you two." Suki retorted with a roll of her eyes at his stubbornness.

"I still think you should give them a chance, I mean you're happier when you're with them and it's not hard to notice how you react when you are with them." Kurama smirked at his red face.

"We're not saying to stop looking for a way to get home. We also want you to enjoy yourself and do what makes you happy and obviously being with them does that for you." Isobu added his own thoughts much to the growing flush on his cheeks.

"Even if what you're saying is true, it still doesn't make it right for them to leave everything they know and have here or be with someone that's as selfish as me." Naruto argued with the large Biju who didn't say anything else, but shook their heads at his stubbornness.

"And who says you're selfish? You've done so much in the war before meeting us and helped so many people." Suki questioned with disbelief in her tone.

"Not only that, but if you were as selfish as you claim Whiskers, then you wouldn't have taught me anything." Toph pointed out with a knowing smirk at the blonde.

"We understand you miss your family and home. All we're asking is for a chance is all, is that so wrong?" Katara asked and sighed at seeing his unsure expression.

"That still doesn't-" He was cut off as Katara smashed her lips against his to shut him up. She figured if he wouldn't listen to their words, but rather their actions instead she'd show that she didn't care about his reasoning and get him to see reason.

His eyes widened at the action and attempted to pull away, but she put her arms around his neck to keep him close. It wasn't long before they separated and both had blushes on their faces, but she had a small smirk on her face.

"That's one way of shutting him up." Toph smirked while her eye twitched as she watched the waterbender kiss "her" blonde. Suki was of the same mind as she was twitching as well and decided to put herself out there. She marched up to him and did the same thing as Katara when she saw them separate completely. She brought her lips to his as she wrapped her arms around his neck much like Katara had done and was passionate. Before he could do anything she pulled away with a large blush on her face like Naruto who was sputtering at what was happening.

"Oi, what the hell?!" Naruto shouted in embarrassment, but was silenced again this time by Toph who couldn't take it anymore and wasn't going to let these two get ahead of her and made her own move. She slammed her lips against his and moaned into the kiss when she felt his tongue brush against her mouth. She started grinding against him out of instinct.

Katara and Suki saw this and growled at her while Kurama and Isobu were trying not to laugh, seeing the drama already.

"As entertaining as this is, we should get finish this conversation before clothes start getting tossed." Kurama grinned as they separated and all four blushed at the foxes words.

"I also sense something approaching the village and it isn't the airbender or the other one." Isobu added with one eye narrowed, getting everyone to look at the crab-turtle.

"It might be Hei-Bai coming back to get another villager, we gotta go than." Katara said, not wanting another person to be abducted again.

"And you don't have a choice anymore with us now that we've shown that we want you. You may not even find a way home, so why not give us a shot." Toph stated with her first on her hip.

"We aren't asking for you to marry us right now, but to give us a chance at least while you continue to find a way home. We understand how important this is to you and want to support you in it." Suki said as she gave him a pleading look.

"Toph and Suki are both right. It wouldn't be wrong to give us a chance, right?" Katara asked with a similar look as Suki.

Naruto sighed at them for being so stubborn, but he couldn't fault them for being at their wits end with how he was acting. He had been not only distant, but also a bit of a bastard to them by thinking that he could get out of this by just avoiding them to a degree. That didn't work out so well, he should've known that they'd try something to sit him down and talk to him.

God he was being such an asshole to them.

"I hear you loud and clear girls. It would be horrible of me to try to avoid this, especially after what you three just did. I won't fight it anymore, but I do hope that you girls don't regret this because I'm not stopping on looking for a way home." Naruto told them who nodded with determined looks as they approached him. Katara took one of his arms in hers with Suki doing the same with his other as Toph pressed her well developed chest on his back as they each kissed him.

They all nodded and left the mindscape, leaving the two Biju who felt satisfied that they were making progress with their stubborn host. Hopefully he would actually start realizing how much of an idiot he had been acting. They could only hope and if not, they shrugged knowing that they'd kick his ass to get him to see reason.

Back in the real world, they opened their eyes and saw that they were now back outside and saw that Sokka was in the house too and Aang was still sitting at the entrance of the village.

"It's about to get here." Kurama said as he sensed the spirit approaching them.

Suddenly a large black and white four armed creature just appeared out of nowhere walking out of the forest

"Huh black and white, must be some kind of panda." Naruto said taking notice of its color thinking of that particular forest land animal.

"When it's not pissed off." Kurama said.

"It's upset at what happened to the forest. And until you can reason with it, it will be hostile towards humans." Isobu said with Naruto nodding his head in agreement, having sensed how angry and sad it felt.

Aang got up off the ground and approached Hei Bai who started to growl at her

"I know why you're mad but these people are innocent." Aang said while he raised his hands in a non-threatening manner.

Hei Bai roared, unleashing some kind of light from its mouth ready to attack. Naruto made his way towards them making sure he would appear non-threatening too.

"I know humans have destroyed what's yours, but it can live again." Naruto said as he held up am acorn in his hand.

"If you release the people you have taken, Naruto can restore the forest to what it was before." Aang said with a small smile towards the spirit.

Hei Bai tilted his head looking at Naruto curiously in how he could do that. It was thanks to his wood release that he had unlocked years ago that he would be able to bring it back.

Hei Bai looked at Naruto and Aang and nodded as he took the form of a panda and turned around and left behind fresh bamboo which shook as people started to walk out of it.

"Now, to do what I promised." Naruto said as he began walking towards the part of the destroyed forest with the spirit and Aang following him.

"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!" He clapped his hands together as the ground began shaking and it wasn't long before trees began appearing out of the ground, but it was way more than they were expecting and growing before everyone's eyes. It astonished everyone what Naruto was capable of. They had learned that he may be efficient in all five chakra natures including some sub-elements, but his wood, earth, and water releases were his forte with wind following right after, then lightning, and fire.

He smiled as he looked at the newly rebuilt forest, happy that he was able to fix what had happened. "May your forest remain untouched for all days and bring you happiness my friend." Naruto said as the panda disappeared like it wasn't even there.

Hei Bai looked at Naruto, then at Aang and nodded as he took the form of a panda and turned around and left leaving behind fresh bamboo which shook as people started to walk out of it much to their relief.

"Glad to see that the villagers are returning and with the forest restored, we should get moving in the morning." Sokka said as the others nodded in agreement.

"It's getting late too, so we should get some sleep." Suki said as they started making their way back to the main building.

"Yeah, there's also something I need to tell you guys." Aang said in a serious tone that made them look at the young Avatar in curiosity, but noted how serious he was. They nodded at him and headed inside to get settled in for the night, wondering what he wanted to tell them.

"During my meditation, I was visited by Avatar Roku's dragon and he showed me a vision, but it didn't make a lot of sense, but told me where I needed to go to get my answers.

"And where is that exactly?" Suki asked with a raised brow as she met up with them.

"The Fire Nation." Aang said, getting shocked looks from Sokka, Katara, and Suki while Naruto looked more intrigued than anything.

"WHAT?!" Sokka shouted while waving his arms around frantically at what he just said.

"Well this is certainly interesting." Naruto muttered, while he is a little concerned about going into an enemy nation with everyone, he was also excited as it would be fun for him. The same couldn't be said for the others though who were shocked and freaking out about going into the enemy's home.

"I need to go to the Fire Nation Temple by the crescent shaped island and I need to get there by the solstice to be able to speak with him" Aang said with a nervous smile.

"But the solstice is tomorrow." Katara said with wide eyes.

"I know, but what other choice do I have?" Aang asked in a resigned tone.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Naruto who was giving him a smirk. "And you'll get there, but you won't be going alone for sure kid. It wouldn't be the first time I snuck into the Fire Nation." He grinned in anticipation while everyone else gave him incredulous or disbelieving stares from what he just admitted.

Sokka shook his head and slapped his forehead once he got over his shock at what he heard, but it didn't deter him from giving the young Avatar a light punch to the shoulder.

"He's right, we got your back." He said with a confident smirk on his face.

Aang opened his mouth to object, but loud groaning was heard from the biso. Aang turned his head towards his longtime friend to tell him otherwise, but was nudged by said bison that basically sounded like he wouldn't leave without them making him sigh in defeat, but he had a small smile on his face when he saw this his friends all gave him nods and looks that said they were going with him.

"Alright. We better get going then, we don't have a lot of time before the solstice starts." Aang said with everyone nodding as everyone left to get ready to go.

It was going to be a long ride and he just hoped that they could make it without trouble for once.


They were back in the air, having left the village early in the morning. Aang had told them what he had discovered when he had accidentally gone into the spirit world where he was approached by Avatar Roku's dragon and telling him that he had to go to a temple in the Fire Nation and meet with Avatar Roku.

"How long will it take us to get there?" Toph asked with curiosity.

"It will take us all day to get there if we keep up this pace. I wonder what it is that Roku has to tell me is so important though?" Aang asked no one in particular, but the others were curious themselves.

"We'll need to be ready once we enter Fire Nation waters as it'll most likely be flooded with ships." Naruto told them seriously.

"So what should we do in the meantime?" Katara asked.

"Get some rest as you're going to need it for what's to come in the next few hours, trust me on that." Naruto said to them as they nodded except for Aang who had was on Appa's head as he held the reins.

"Sounds good to me." Sokka said as he got comfortable in his spot and was instantly out of it and snoring.

"Okay, but you should rest also. You need as much rest as anyone else does." Katara told him firmly.

Naruto opened his mouth to argue against her, but was met with a death glare from the water bender which shut him up. He nodded, knowing not to go against her when she's set on something. He laid down next to her with Suki taking his right while Toph was already out.

They kissed his cheeks as Naruto blushed, but was smiling at them as he pulled them closer and allowed them to lay their heads on his shoulders as they fell asleep.

"Sweet dreams girls." Naruto whispered to them as he closed his eyes to get some much needed rest himself.


While they were travelling to the temple, they never noticed several miles away, they were being followed by two ships, one that held the banished Prince Zuko and his Uncle Iroh, the Dragon of the West and a retired general of the Fire Nation who were in pursuit of Aang, not aware of Naruto having joined them.

The other ship held the familiar Princess Azula who wasn't alone now like last time. She had two people with her with one being known to Naruto having met her at the circus. Ty lee had been brought into the ordeal by Azula after their encounter and she wanted to see him again even if they were enemies. The other person was another female who had black hair that was in twin buns with two strands down her jaw going past her shoulders. This was Mai, a long time friend of Azula who grew up with her and Tylee.

"So, Foxy is heading towards the Fire Nation, but why?" Ty lee asked confused on why he'd be heading there.

"I'm not sure, but I do know that he's mine to capture and I will get him this time. He won't get away from me again." Azula smiled in slight excitement as he was a challenge for her and wasn't afraid of her.

"You said, he was the Red Eyed Demon, but how is that possible if he has blue eyes like you said?" Mai asked in confusion and intrigue.

"He can probably change the color of his eyes which makes him look more dangerous." Ty lee gave her opinion as she remembered him having blue eyes.

"That's true, but I get a feeling that it's something else and it only adds more to our mysterious blonde. It makes the hunt so much more fun." Azula's smile widened at the thought of fighting him again.

"It'll be nice to see him again. He's really cute and his pets are adorable." Ty lee said with a bright smile.

This piece of information caught the other two attention.

"Pets?" Azula asked with a raised brow in curiosity.

"Oh when I met him, there were two of them, but they were nothing like I'd ever seen before." The acrobat furrowed her brow as she thought about the two tailed beasts.

"How so?" Mai asked in a bored tone, but was wondering what made them so odd.

"One was a turtle of sorts, it had only one eye with the other being covered, but that wasn't the odd thing, it had three tails though, but they looked like shrimp tails. The other one was an orange fox with large bunny-like ears and had nine tails instead of one." Tylee said, as they grew more interested.

"Interesting. We've seen different mixes of hybrid animals, but having multiple tails is new. Curious." Azula stated with the blonde becoming more interesting by the minute.

At this point a random fire bender came rushing out of the door and bowed in front of them.

"Princess, we're coming up to a blockade that's being led by Commander Zhao." He said with his head bowed still.

"I see. Push forward lieutenant. Our targets are heading into Fire Nation waters and if we're delayed by that idiot to capture them, I will not be happy. Contact the Commander and let him know that our target is going to be passing by and we'll need to get through." Azula said with a glare at the sweating soldier who nodded and left.

"I've never seen you this focused on a person Azula. Could it be that Foxy has your eye? He is certainly cute, I can say that he is unique since his whisker marks are adorable." Tylee giggled out as Azula's eye twitches, but the grin didn't leave her face much to the the acrobat's amusement and Mai's curiosity being piqued at this piece of information.

"Shut up. Let's go get ready girls, we have an Avatar and a whiskered man to catch." Azula ordered as they nodded.

And that's the end of the chapter, what did you think? Was it to your liking, I hope it was. I'll be spending more time with this story since it's been over a year since I last updated this story and I would like to continue it, especially now that I found my notes for the story. I had thought I lost them, so I couldn't remember what they all entailed. I am sorry, it took so long again to update the story. Stay safe everyone, Killerssg out!

Harem: Katara, Suki, Toph, Azula, Mai, Yue, and Ty lee