Time Skip
Naruto watched as Sokka hopelessly tried to stab the fish, his fishing line having been stolen by Aang to make a necklace for Katara. He had done well, too. A perfectly woven braid with a pink flower in the center. Katara put it on and turned back to the other two.
"So, how do I look?" Katara asked.
Naruto's eyebrow rose as Aang stared at her in awe and adoration, blushing.
"You mean all of you or just your neck?" Aang asked, tugging at his collar. "I mean, both look great."
Finally, Sokka managed to wrap his arms around the fish, the entire thing being as big around as his torso and hanging from his shoulders to his knees.
"Smoochy smoochy," Sokka taunted, holding the fish out like he was planning to kiss it. "Someone's in love."
Suddenly it flipped around, slapping him with its tail and knocking him over. Naruto snorted in amusement, shaking his head. He was right, obviously. Naruto stood, shaking his head, and walked to the water, holding his hand out until the fish came close, then shoving his hand into its mouth, hooking a finger through its gills and lifting it, smirking at Sokka.
"Anything else you need me to teach you?" Naruto asked, Sokka grumbling something in annoyance just as a roar reached their ears. "What was that?"
Aang jumped to the top of a rock and reported that a platypus bear was attacking someone, then took off. Naruto and the others followed, finding an older man skillfully dodging the animal's attempts to maim him. Naruto gave him points for being a spry old man. He walked forward, whistling, and the platypus bear turned, sniffing. Naruto tossed the fish to it, and it caught it in its mouth, turning and lumbering away.
"Our lunch!" Sokka gaped before turning on him. "What the heck, man?"
"You would have preferred he ate the poor old traveler?" Naruto said, raising an eyebrow, Sokka again grumbling under his breath.
"Thank you for your help, but everything was under control," the man said, bowing. "Aunt Wu had already predicted my safe journey home."
"Aunt who?" Aang asked, confused.
"No, Aunt Wu," the man corrected. "She's the fortune teller from my village. Awful nice knowing your future."
"Wow, that must be why you were so calm," Katara said, now realizing why the old man wasn't scared of the bear.
"But she was wrong!" Sokka countered with annoyance. "You didn't have a safe journey. You were almost killed!" He almost shouted at the end.
"But I wasn't," the man pointed out. "Alright, have a nice trip!" He began to walk away only to stop, pulling the object he was carrying on his back off and holding it out to Naruto. "By the way, I was told to give this to any travelers I met."
Naruto accepted the object. It was a long, thin, round object, like a collapsed umbrella. He unwrapped it and pulled out a collapsed orange umbrella.
"Maybe we should go see her," Katara suggested with a smile.
"Are you crazy? That's just a bunch of crap." Sokka crossed his arms, huffing.
Naruto handed the umbrella to Aang.
"An umbrella?" Aang said, opening it and holding it up just as thunder rumbled overhead, rain beginning to fall instantly.
"That proves it!" Katara said, blocking the rain with her water bending and stepping under the umbrella, Naruto staring up at the sky, crossing his arms across his diaphragm, hands under his elbows.
"Give me a break; there's no way you can really predict the future."
"I guess you're not really getting wet then," Katara said with a smirk.
Sokka crossed his arms and huffed in annoyance as he turned, walking along the path, Aang and Katara following with their umbrella and Naruto trailing after them, alongside Appa, the sky bison they flew around on. Rainwater ran into his eyes constantly, and his clothes felt like they weighed a hundred pounds, but he ignored it. He ignored the uncomfortable squelching in his shoes too. His blades were safely packed away in the water-proof tarp on Appa's saddle, so he didn't need to worry about them rusting. And his clothes and his body would dry.
Finally, the rain let up, and Appa shook the water out of his fur, splattering it over Naruto, only for the blonde to wipe his eye, pat Appa's side, and continue walking. At long last, they reached the town the old man had been heading toward and headed into it. It was nestled into the side of a mountain and looked very peaceful. They walked through town until they reached a building with a round door where a man was waiting. He bowed as they neared him, gesturing to the door.
A young girl with black hair in a pair of stiff, unruly ponytails on the sides of her head and a pink kimono met them and smiled.
"Welcome. I'm Mang. Please take a seat while you wait. Could I interest you in some tea? Or some of Aunt Wu's famous bean curd puffs?"
The four of them sat down, with Mang standing in front of Aang.
"I'll take a bean curd puff," Sokka said, smiling.
"Just a second," Mang said, one hand extended. "And what's your name?"
"I'm Aang," Aang responded, oblivious to Mang's obvious crush on him.
Mang gasped. "That rhymes with Mang! And you have some pretty big ears, don't you?"
"Um, I guess?" Aang more asked than said.
"Don't be modest; they're ginormous!" Sokka teased, smirking.
"Well, Aang, it's very nice to meet you," Mang said, standing and walking toward the door. "Very nice."
"Likewise," Aang said politely, Mang glancing back at him from the corner of her eye.
"I can't believe we're here in this house of nonsense," Sokka complained, annoyed; they should be hunting for food, not listening to some crazy lady.
"Try to keep an open mind Sokka," Katara said. "There are things in this world that just can't be explained."
"And then there are people who talk to spirits to see the future," Naruto said. "And then there are fakes like that, Jet," he added with a dark tone.
"Will you stop mentioning him! I was a fool, I know," Katara said, looking down on her lap; when they had met him, Naruto and Sokka were the first ones to point out that something was wrong, especially Naruto, but in the end, Naruto and Sokka's predictions came true.
Jet saw his plan fail; his body tightened against a large tree; tree branches were around his arms and legs, not letting him move not even an inch. Naruto saw Sokka had saved the people of the village before his eyes turned to look at Jet with fury.
"Any last words, Jet," Naruto asked with rage; Katara flinched slightly at his tone; she had never seen him so angry.
Jet clenched his teeth before shaking his head. There was nothing left to say, and maybe, this is for the better, he thought with closed eyes. Naruto simply scoffed before the trees with pointy ends rushed towards Jet, ready to kill him.
"Stop Now," Aang suddenly shouted as he jumped between Naruto and Jet; the blonde turned and glared at the Avatar.
"Aang move out of the way; this piece of shit deserves to Die," Naruto spat out the words with venom, a tree slowly growing with a sharp end, big enough to create a giant hole in someone's chest.
"No, I won't let you kill him, he did bad things, but that doesn't mean you have to kill him. Look, he's Defeated. This will be a good lesson for him not to do bad anymore. Let's just leave," Aang stated, pointing at Jet, who had bruises all over his face from Naruto punching repeatedly. His lips were bleeding, and his right eye was black.
"You're a Fool, Aang; people don't just become good out of nowhere; no bad guy will ever turn good just because you said a few words at him. It doesn't work like that, not mentioning who knows what he will do if we leave him alive," Naruto stated; Aang, despite everything, stood his ground standing in front of Jet, who looked down in shame.
Silence took over; Katara was afraid that Naruto might try something...
"Let's just leave," Katara whispered softly at him; Naruto briefly glanced at her, sighing in defeat, as the trees sunk to the ground.
The gang quickly returned back to Appa without anyone saying anything to each other.
While Aang thought of that day, they suddenly heard footsteps coming toward them.
"Aunt Wu is expecting you,"
"Really?" Katara asked excitedly, opening the door and hurrying inside, the others following.
Sokka took a bite out of a bean curd puff and looked amazed.
"Not bad! Not bad!" Sokka said cheerfully. Sokka offered some to Aang.
"I-I'm good on puffs," Aang replied. Sokka then offered some to Naruto.
"Heck yeah, I'll get some! I'm hungry!" Naruto replied as he started to eat the puffs with Sokka.
"Wow... you're right! These things are pretty good!" Naruto said in excitement.
"Right?!" Sokka cheerfully replied after he swallowed the curd puffs he had in his mouth.
"So, what do you think they're talking about back there?" Aang asked curiously but hoping they wouldn't notice the real reason.
"Boring stuff, I'm sure. Love, who she's going to marry, how many babies she's going to have." Sokka replied with a bored tone. Aang looked surprised and a little hopeful.
"Yeah, dumb stuff like that. Well, I gotta find a bathroom." Aang said before he got up and walked towards the back, planning to eavesdrop on Katara and Aunt Wu. As Naruto and Sokka continued to eat, Naruto passed some to Momo, knowing that Momo would probably try to steal the bowl if he didn't.
When Aang came back from listening in on Katara and Aunt Wu's discussion, he had a joyful smile on his face.
"Looks like someone had a pretty good bathroom break." Sokka teased, knowing where Aang had been.
"Y-yeah, while I was in there..." Aang started to explain nervously.
"We don't need to hear that, Aang," Naruto interrupted him, not wanting to know the details.
"Who's next?" Aunt Wu asked as she and Katara returned to the waiting room. Sokka stood up.
"Ok, let's get this over with." Sokka groaned.
"Your future is full of struggle and anguish. Most of it, self-inflicted." Aunt Wu revealed.
"But, you didn't read my palms or anything." Sokka pointed out with a deadpanned look on his face.
"I don't need to. It's written all over your face." Aunt Wu replied, not bothering herself with him before looking over his shoulder.
"Who's next?"
"I'll go," Naruto said, standing.
Aunt Wu nodded, smiling and leading him through the shutters. He closed them behind himself and sat down beside her, a small fire in front of them.
"I'm sorry," Aunt Wu said as they sat there. "Just from seeing your face, I can see your past. I'm sorry for what happened to your family."
Naruto's hand clenched at the mention of his family; how does this old woman even know it?
"What would you like me to read first?" Aunt Wu asked.
"Well, since you can see my past, let's start with my life," Naruto said. "Will I have the same fate as my family?"
Aunt Wu held out her hand, and Naruto set his own on top of it, palm up. She stared at it for a long while before pulling her own back, face carefully wiped clean of emotion. She picked up several bones, tossing them onto the fire. Several cracks appeared in the bones before she pulled them out with tongs, staring at the cracks.
"It depends," Aunt Wu said. "You're hiding what you truly are, a Past forgotten, keeping your true memories hidden."
"What do you mean? What do you mean by my true self?" Naruto asked, not understanding what she was trying to say.
"You will understand when the time comes, and the time will come when you have to make a decision, which will shape your future," Aunt Wu said.
"I see," Naruto nodded.
Aunt Wu retook his hand, and a small smile spread on her face, reaching her eyes. "You will find love. Sooner than you'd expect, she will be blind to it; it is up to you to show her the way."
"Who is she?" Naruto asked; he wondered who she could be; from her words, it meant he hadn't met her yet.
"I'm sorry," Aunt Wu said. "I can't tell you who she is. Only that you will be the light of her darkness."
"It's alright," Naruto said. "It's more than I had hoped. Is there any advice you can give me about the problem?"
"Only what you've been given before," Aunt Wu said. "It is and has always been your choice. One day, you'll have to choose. And for your sake, I hope you choose correctly. The bones say that there is a chance for you to make it through without losing anything. A way to fix the problem before it grows beyond your control. But I can't tell what it is."
"I see something else, blue flames dancing with dark flames, over a large field of flowers, but the flames are not bringing destruction; they're healing the land," she revealed with a sad smile on her face.
The blonde was confused, he knew he could use black flames somehow, but he didn't know anyone who could use blue flames.
Naruto nodded, standing and bowing before turning and walking away, leaving the building in silence.
Naruto sat on the platform's edge overlooking the village and the road leading up to it. It was a beautiful view. Though, Naruto wasn't really paying it much mind. His mind was, as it had been ever since speaking with Aunt Wu, on his future.
"My true self," Naruto murmured, still not understanding where she was going with that. The blonde suddenly remembered what King Bumi had told him before he left.
He wondered whenever the crazy king was right; despite being crazy, Naruto knew he wasn't stupid, well, not mad maybe...
"Hey Naruto, we're planning to head up the mountain," Sokka called. "Wanna come?"
"Huh?" Naruto asked. "Oh, yeah, sure."
He stood, walking over to him and Aang and following them out of the village, the three of them heading up the mountain. For some time, it was a nice easy path. Then, the path turned into a wall of boulders and ledges. Sokka and Naruto exchanged knowing looks before beginning to scale the rocks as quickly as they could, Aang simply jumping from one to the next. Oh, how Naruto wished he could air bend. So many things would be easier.
"I can't believe you're dragging me up this mountain for a stupid flower," Sokka complained.
"Not just any flower, a panda lily," Aang said brightly; the blonde just gave him a deadpan look. Did that make any difference? "I've seen it in action, and boy does it work."
"Why don't you just tell her that you like her," Naruto asked. "You know when she's actually paying attention."
"Yeah, I agree with Naruto," Sokka said. "A flower's fine when you're married, but at this stage, you need to maintain maximum aloofness."
"Don't listen to any advice Sokka gives you," Naruto said with a smirk when Sokka glared at him.
"Hey, I know exactly what I'm talking about!" Sokka said with annoyance.
"How many girlfriends have you had?" Naruto asked with a deadpanned look.
"Well...none, but I did grow up with mostly girls," Sokka said in defeat; sure, maybe he should mention that one time that Suki kissed his cheek but does that count?
"Weren't you and Katara the oldest people in the village who weren't adults?" Aang asked, still remembering the water tribe and how small it was.
Sokka stuck his tongue out at Aang and looked back to Naruto. "How many have you had?"
"One," Naruto said. "Granted it... it was mostly just wanting to have pleasure, but Still, though. The best thing to do is be honest. If they can't accept you for who you are, they don't deserve you."
Aang shrugged, looking up. "There, on the rim!"
He leaped the rest of the way up to the volcano's rim; he picked a flower only to straighten up, the flower falling away.
"Oh no, Aunt Wu was wrong," Aang breathed, Sokka and Naruto climbing up beside him and staring down at the lava below them.
"We need to warn the villagers," Sokka said/shouted.
"They won't listen," Naruto said, knowing the village trusted the old hag a bit too much. "The only way that we get them to listen is for Aunt Wu to tell them that the village is going to be destroyed," Naruto added, immediately thinking of what to do if the worst came.
"How do we do that?" Sokka asked, looking at Naruto.
"Clouds," Naruto said, staring up at them. "The clouds are basically what, water and air, right? So Aang and Katara could bend the clouds into the shape of whatever means fiery death, or exploding volcano, or whatever."
"How do we even know what shape that is?" Aang asked, hoping for a solution.
"The book," Sokka said. "Aunt Wu had a book with pictures of clouds to help her with her cloud readings. If we could steal that, you'd know exactly what to make."
"I'll get the book," Naruto immediately said.
"You sure?" Sokka asked. "Maybe you should leave stealing to the guy who can move silently."
"I can get that book. And once I do, I'll meet you three at the square."
Sokka nodded, and Aang grabbed Naruto, slinging him on his back before spinning his staff, a set of orange wings extending from the front and another set from the back. Then, he leaped into the air, Naruto shouting in fear as they shot through the air. Finally, Aang landed lightly in front of Aunt Wu's house.
"Good Luck," Aang said.
Naruto nodded; he left Aang just as Katara arrived. He silently made his way to the back, jumping up and lifting himself onto the roof, walking up the slant to a small window up where the rafters would be. He silently pulled the window open, peeking in and seeing that the room was empty and there was a rafter directly in front of him. He slipped through the window onto the rafter, silently walking along it and over the sliding door separating Aunt Wu's room from the rest of the building. Inside, he found the fire burning, but Aunt Wu wasn't present. He silently dropped down into the room, quickly walking to a table where the cloud book was sitting and grabbed it.
As he did, he heard voices approaching the door and leaped back to the rafters, keeping himself low and scrambling back along it to the wall, jumping to the rafter he started on and slipping back out the window, closing it behind himself. He slid down and off the roof, hurrying to the square and handing the book to Aang.
"Man, you are good," Aang said. "Alright, when you see the clouds start to move, run and get Aunt Wu."
Sokka nodded, and Aang and Katara ran off to find Appa. While they did, Naruto sat down on the ledge, yawning and staring again at the view.
"You okay?" Sokka asked. "You've seemed depressed ever since you talked to Aunt Wu."
"I'm fine," Naruto said, looking up. "Looks like it's starting."
Sokka looked up, seeing the clouds moving, rapidly swirling and weaving together. He turned, jogging to Aunt Wu's house. Naruto stood, walking to the square and waiting. A few minutes later, Aunt Wu arrived just as a massive cloud with a skull in the center finished forming overhead.
"You've got to be kidding me," Naruto snorted, shaking his head. "That's the sign for a volcanic eruption? A skull?"
After a moment, Aunt Wu announced that the village would be destroyed, just in time for Aang and Katara to arrive. Aang, Katara, and Sokka stepped up to the platform in the center of the square, and Aang spoke up.
"We can still save the village if we act fast!" Aang shouted at everyone. "Sokka has a plan!"
"Lava is going to flow downhill to this spot," Sokka said. "If we can dig a deep enough trench, we might be able to divert the lava around the village."
"If any of you are earth benders, come with me!" Aang shouted, leaving with a handful of benders, including one of two twins.
"Everyone else, grab a shovel!" Sokka said, holding one up.
They all scrambled to do as instructed, Sokka tossing Some of them a few shovels as they headed to the high side of the village where the Earth Benders were already a little more than waist-deep.
Naruto slammed his hands as he grew multiple trees; he knew they would burn almost immediately; the temperature of lava when it first ejected from a volcano can be from 700 to 1.2K degrees C.
Multiple trees grew where lava was going, slowing it down.
The rest of the village joined in, earth benders making relatively short work of the trench, though not fast enough. Hours passed. Finally, Aang announced that time was up, and everyone began to evacuate. Naruto scrambled up the side of the trench, standing beside Aang and the others as they watched lava flow toward the trench. It passed a stone gate, melting it as it did. Then, it began to flow into the trench. It wasn't fast, but the trench filled quickly.
"It's too much," Katara said. "It's going to overflow."
"The volcano hasn't even blown its top yet," Naruto said, with a hint of fear.
"Blown its top?" Sokka asked.
"They explode," Naruto said. "This is barely anything compared to what's about to come."
Suddenly, the volcano exploded, the ground lurching violently as it did, a wall of lava nearly five feet high flooding down the volcano at them. Massive chunks of stone began to crash down into the lava. One crashed down just short of the trench, and a wall of lava began to shoot toward them. Aang leaped into the air, gathering as much air as he could bend at once before dropping, slamming it into the lava before blowing even more at it, the lava cooling and solidifying into a wall instantly. Naruto stared at the wall, thoroughly impressed.
"Not bad," Naruto said. "That should do it, as long as no boulders hit it."
Aang nodded, and they remained at the wall, waiting in silence. Hours later, as the sun began to rise, the lava that remained began to cool, finally solidifying and leaving the village finally safe. Naruto sat down hard, groaning and rubbing his eyes.
"I hate staying up all night," Naruto groaned.
Aang nodded in agreement, and they walked down to the square.
After the incident was over, Aang and the people were in the center of the village again.
"By the way, we kinda borrowed your book," Aang said as he gave the book back to Aunt Wu.
"So you messed with the clouds, did you?" Aunt Wu asked, sounding angry. Naruto was about to jump to Aang's defense when Aunt Wu laughed.
"Very clever!" Aunt Wu said, very impressed by Team Avatar's creativity.
"No offense, but I hope this caught everyone a valuable lesson about not relying too much on fortune-telling," Sokka stated.
"But Aunt Wu predicted that the village wouldn't be destroyed, and it wasn't. She was right after all." The calm man pointed out.
"THAT'S BECAUSE WE SAVED YOU AGAIN!" Naruto yelled, losing his cool.
"I hate you!" Sokka told the calm man.
"It's ok, Sokka, Naruto. Everything is going to be all right." Katara assured them as she started pushing them towards Appa so they could leave. As Naruto sat on Appa's saddle, he smiled when Aunt Wu told Aang that he had the power to shape his own destiny.
"Goodbye, everyone. It was nice to meet all of you. Take care, Meng." Katara said as goodbye.
"Take care," Meng replied as she cheerfully waved goodbye to Team Avatar. As Appa took off and flew away, Meng's face turned to one of annoyance.
"Floozy," Meng said as a secret insult to Katara.