Naruto leaned against the wall, watching as Aang sat unnoticed at the back of the room.
"Lonely, isn't it?" Naruto asked. "Don't worry. They're just excited to see family after years of them being away at war. You'll be the center of attention again soon."
Aang rested his face on his arms, remaining silent. Naruto sighed. Earlier that day, they had found a southern water tribe weapon, which had led them to a beach where there was a water tribe ship. Shortly after that, they were found by Bato, a friend of Sokka and Katara's family. He had led them to this abbey where the three southerners were catching up. In doing so, they were accidentally neglecting to acknowledge Aang's existence. Naruto could sympathize with them. Now Aang didn't feel welcome with Katara or Sokka. Simply tolerated.
Naruto stood, walking out of the room to the main courtyard where the women that ran the abbey made perfumes. After a moment, Aang joined him. They left the abbey and walked to the beach and to the ship, where Aang jumped up to the top of the front.
"What happened?" Naruto asked. "Beside them ignoring you."
"They...Bato offered to take them to see their father," Aang said. "I can't believe they'd leave me."
"They won't," Naruto said. "They may want to see their father, but they wouldn't just leave you. You just have to have faith in them."
Aang sighed just as a bird's cry caught their attention, both turning to see an ostrich running over with a man wearing Earth Nation military clothes riding on its back.
"I'm looking for Bato of the Water Nation," he announced. "Do you know where to find him?"
"I know, Bato," Aang said.
"Can you give him this message?" the man asked, holding a scroll up to Aang, who accepted it. "It must get to him as soon as possible."
Aang nodded, and the man rode off, Aang opening the scroll, eyes widening. "It's the map to Sokka and Katara's dad."
"Let me see," Naruto said, holding his hand up.
Aang held it down to him, and Naruto accepted it, staring at the map before rolling it up and tucking it into his pocket.
"We need to tell them," Naruto said.
"No," Aang said. "They'll leave."
"Aang, you have to have faith in your friends," Naruto said. "You want them to forsake seeing their father for the first time in years, but in order for them to do that, you have to prove that you can be trusted. You have to tell them."
"You don't understand!" Aang said. "They found me after a hundred years of being frozen! All of my other friends died years ago! Those two are all I have!"
"And I left mine to join you," Naruto said, Aang blinking in surprise. "I could have decided not to join you guys, but I came along to help you defeat the Firelord, don't let yourself fall down so easily."
Aang looked down; he knew what Naruto was saying was true.
"It's fine, Aang," Naruto said, tossing him the scroll. "If you don't want to tell them, that's on you. I'll just keep my mouth shut and pretend I didn't see or hear anything ."
He turned, walking away and leaving Aang to stare at the ground. Naruto returned to the abbey, climbing to the top of the wall around it and staring out at the forest surrounding it. After a while, Aang returned, walking into the building. Naruto turned back to the front and eventually drifted off. A few hours later, the first rays of the sun woke him, so he dropped down, walking to Appa and pulling his weapons out of the saddle. He sat down with a wet stone, cleaning and sharpening them. Once finished, he tucked the knives away. A few women running the abbey watched while they worked, but most ignored him.
Finally, he stopped as Aang, and the others walked out, Sokka and Katara grinning from ear to ear.
"Hey, we're going to go ice dodging," Sokka said. "We'll be back in a bit."
Then, the four of them walked out of the abbey, and Naruto simply stared down at his sword. "Okay. I guess I'll just...stay here."
He returned to practice with his sword, but eventually, he stopped, sighing. Swinging a sword around and killing imaginary foes was all well and good, but it was pointless if there was no one there to correct his mistakes. Perfect practice makes perfect, but practicing a mistake makes it permanent. At the very least, he wished he could have something to practice on besides the air.
He sat down against the wall, closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing. He hadn't meditated in a very long time. Maybe it was time he tried again. Before long, the others returned, and Naruto watched as Katara and Sokka hugged Bato.
"Tell our dad we said hello, okay?" Sokka asked.
"I will," Bato nodded.
Aang and the others turned to get on Appa just as a large mole-looking creature burst through the front doors. It roared, tongue lashing out and striking Katara and Sokka. Both crashed to the ground, unmoving, and Appa responded by ramming the thing, sending it, its female rider, along with Zuko and a larger man with grey hair and a long grey beard, crashing into the wall of the abbey. Zuko was up almost instantly, attacking Aang with his fire bending, Aang defending himself with air bending.
As he did, Naruto turned to the massive animal and its rider. She was attractive, with pale skin, tight dark clothing, a red tattoo on each shoulder, long black hair, bangs covering half her face, and a whip in her hand. She snapped the whip at her pet, a Shirshu if Naruto remembered correctly, and it sent its tongue out at Naruto. He ducked under the tongue, drawing his knives and shooting forward. The thing sent its tongue out again, and Naruto leaped to the side, rolling past the rider's whip before standing just as there was an explosion off to the side. Naruto turned to look as the rider and her pet both did the same, only for Appa to slam his tail down, a blast of air crashing into the Shirshu and relaunching them.
Off to one side, Zuko leaped onto the abbey wall where Aang was still reeling from being blown up. He charged at Aang, fire streaming behind him. Naruto sprinted forward, leaping onto the wall, stepping off of it as Zuko swung his hand forward, hand encased in flames. Naruto flipped over Zuko, catching his forearm, causing the blast of flame to explode into the ground harmlessly.
"You," Zuko snarled.
"Hello there, your majesty, long time no see," Naruto said, spinning and hurling Zuko off the wall, grabbing the Southern Water Tribe necklace Zuko had tucked into his belt as he did. He tossed it to Aang, whose eyes widened before he grinned, tucking it safely into his shirt.
"Go and deal with the shirshu and the girl," Naruto said. "They see with their noses. Use the perfume to blind it."
Aang nodded, leaping off the wall, and Naruto turned back to Zuko, who clenched his fists, readying himself.
"I'll deal with you first then," Zuko snarled.
"Why fight? We can just discuss this over a good cup of tea," Naruto said, pretending he was drinking tea, causing Zuko to almost burst in flames.
"That's actually a good idea," Uncle Iroh suddenly said; Zuko immediately turned to him with a glare. "No Tea," he shouted; Iroh pretended he started crying for insulting his precious tea.
"Now, let's start," Zuko said.
"See what you just did, you just insulted tea, and that's something I can't forgive," Naruto said with a smirk.
"Who don't you use your Woodbending?" Zuko asked, ignoring his stupid comment about tea.
"Nah, if I did that, you will die; there will be no entertainment left for me," Naruto replied mockingly; that was it for Zuko as he charged blindly towards Naruto.
Naruto flipped over it, landing on his feet and sprinting forward, slashing at Zuko. Zuko caught his arm, but Naruto simply rolled him around before throwing him to the ground.
"Will you get serious?" Zuko asked, forming a pair of small streams of flame from the bottom of each hand like a pair of knives in a reverse grip.
"Truthfully, no," Naruto said. "What I can say, I'm an honest man."
Zuko charged forward, Naruto slashing at him, only for Zuko to block it with the flames, which seemed to be solid from the force they put out.
"Neat trick," Naruto said. "Solid blades made of fire. I bet they cauterize the wounds instantly, too."
"Depends on the heat," Zuko said. "Sometimes they just cut."
"It's fire," Naruto said. "How cold could it be!"
He shoved against Zuko's knife, and Zuko spun, slashing at Naruto, Naruto narrowly avoiding it. He slashed at Zuko again, and the prince spun around it, smashing his elbow into Naruto's head as he took Naruto's sword, melting the blade. Then, he burned the hilt and smirked, punching and sending a blast of fire at Naruto. Naruto rolled under it, standing and glancing back, seeing Katara and Sokka lying behind him. Off to his left, Appa was lying on the ground, paralyzed from the Shirshu, while Aang tried to corral it toward the perfume pots. He turned back to Zuko, who grinned.
"Well, let's see now," Zuko said. "Dodge this, and they get burned. Stand still, and you shield them, but you get burned. What's it going to be!?"
He swung his arm, sending a wall of flames at Naruto. Naruto's head fell, his fists clenching.
"I'm sorry," Naruto muttered.
Then, he stepped forward, swinging his own arm, a matching wall of flames shooting out of his hand, exploding against Zuko's fire; Katara and Sokka all stared in shock, Naruto adopting a combat stance, flames dancing from his hands.
"You're a fire bender?" Sokka gaped.
"This isn't how I wanted you to find out," Naruto said. "I'll deal with Zuko. Then I can explain."
He stepped forward, sending a blast of flames at Zuko, who swung his arm across his body, his own flames blocking them before he punched three times, sending three blasts of flame at Naruto. The blonde flipped, flames following one foot in a circle before blocking Zuko's attacks. Then, Naruto flipped his feet under his body, kicking outward with the other, sending a blast of his own at Zuko, who swung a hand upward, blocking the blast.
Naruto sprinted to his right, closing in as he circled Zuko, who fired at him repeatedly. Finally, he turned, heading straight for Zuko, twin streams of flame trailing from his hands. Then, he stopped, swinging his hands forward, the flames shooting past him at Zuko. The prince held his hands out, flames shooting out of them to block Naruto's, only for the resulting explosion to launch him backward into the wall.
Naruto sighed as Zuko began to stand again.
"You really don't give up, do you?" Naruto asked.
"You annoying little..." he shot forward, flame knives forming again.
Naruto darted forward, ducking under Zuko's slash and standing from below, flames flying out of his elbow, launching his fist into the underside of Zuko's jaw, flipping him backward onto his head, knocking him unconscious. Then, he sighed, stumbling backward and falling to the ground, groaning and clutching his sides, pain searing through him. After several minutes, the pain faded. He pushed himself up, looking to Aang as he held a small perfume bottle under Katara and Sokka's noses, the perfume seeming to counter the Shirshu's toxin as both pushed themselves up instantly, staring at Naruto suspiciously.
"Are you okay?" Aang asked.
"Yes," Naruto said as he noticed the suspicious looks he was getting from both Katara and Sokka.
"We should go," Aang said.
Katara and Sokka nodded, Aang waving the perfume bottle under Appa's nose, all three climbing on. Naruto turned to walk away.
"You coming?" Aang called out.
Naruto turned, looking back at them, eyes widening before nodding, smiling, and climbing onto Appa's back as well. He sat at the back in silence.
"How can you firebend?" Sokka finally asked, looking at Naruto, who simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't know, King Bumi told me I could firebend, and then Avatar Kyoshi confirmed it," Naruto said, looking up at the sky.
"Wait, Kyoshi!? How did you meet her?" Aang asked, astonished and confused as hell, he was the avatar, and even he hadn't met her yet. So how did Naruto meet her?
Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know, she just showed up in my dream and told me about my past, that's it," He said before turning around, putting his back to the others.
"Is no problem that you're a firebender; you are still our friend," Aang said, smiling, knowing what his friend might think.
Naruto was surprised to hear that before he turned around to see the gang. He arched an eyebrow as he asked. "Really? And you two are fine with it?" He asked, looking at Katara and Sokka.
"Of course, Aang will need a firebending master after all," Sokka said, not caring about the whole thing; Katara, on the other hand, looked insecure.
"I'm fine too," she reluctantly said, avoiding Naruto's gaze. The blonde said, soon deciding to sleep.
Aang nodded, putting Katara's necklace on himself and clearing his throat. "Hey, Katara, does this match my shirt?"
Katara turned, gasping as she saw it, Aang taking it off and holding it out to her. She took it, put it on, and threw her hands around him. Then, she pulled back and smiled.
"How'd you get it?" Katara asked, Naruto raising a hand to his lips.
"Zuko made me swear I'd get it to you," Aang said.
"Oh, how thoughtful of Zuko," Katara said. "Can you give him a kiss for me if you see him again."
"Sure thing," Aang smiled, Katara kissing him on the cheek.
Naruto smiled, hearing them talking.
*****
Naruto yawned, stretching as they walked through the trees, stopping at a small building with a poster on the side.
"Oh hey, it's the days festival," Naruto said, reading the poster.
"Fire Nation cultural exhibits, jugglers, benders, magicians, this could be a great place for me to study some real fire benders!" Aang said. "At least, since Naruto is still not that good at it."
"I know," Naruto said. "It depresses me too." He said mockingly; he didn't care if he couldn't use firebending; Woodbending was more than enough to beat anyone's ass.
"You might wanna rethink going here," Sokka said, standing on the opposite side. "Look at this."
"Hey, a poster of me!" Aang said.
"It's a wanted poster," Naruto said, slightly impressed. "There's going to be Fire Nation troops in the area."
"I think we should keep moving," Katara said, slightly nervous as she glanced around.
"I have to learn fire bending at some point, and this could be my only chance to study the masters up close," Aang said with resolve.
"I guess we could go check it out," Katara said.
"What!?" Sokka shouted in shock, looking at them as if they were crazy. "You want to walk into a Fire Nation town where they're all fired up with all their...ya know, fire?"
"We'll wear disguises," Katara said with a deadpan look. "And if it looks like trouble, we'll leave."
"Yeah," Sokka grumbled. "Because we always leave before we get into trouble."
"Don't worry, Sokka," Naruto said. "Usually, everyone wears masks. Besides, I know how to disguise. I can help you all hide."
Sokka and Katara got a pair o black cloaks. Naruto had talked them into getting out of the saddle, pulling them on as they walked to a cliff overlooking the town. There, both pulled their hoods up, Aang pulling his poncho up over his head.
"It's like you, a whole different person," Sokka said as Katara giggled.
"You idiot," Naruto sighed, yanking his poncho back down for him. "You hang out in the trees while I get you a mask, alright? Otherwise, you attract even more attention than a bald kid with an arrow on his head does."
Aang nodded, and they walked down to the town; Katara, Sokka, and Naruto walked into town and bought four masks before Naruto walked back to Aang, giving his to him and walking back into town with him. Aang was wearing a red mask with a crying face, Sokka was wearing a blue mask with a grinning face and straw all the way around, Katara had a mask with a china-doll-like face, and Naruto mainly had a white mask with a red circle taking up most of the forehead. Katara quickly switched Sokka and Aang's masks, and Naruto chuckled.
"Much more fitting," Naruto nodded.
They walked into town, looking around. Katara pointed out a food vender, and Sokka sprinted over.
"What've ya got?" Sokka asked.
"Flaming Fire Flakes," the man said.
"I'll take 'em," Sokka said, paying him and shoving almost the entire pouch in his mouth.
Naruto snorted in amusement just before Sokka began to scream about it being hot and pulled his mask up to fan his mouth.
"Flaming Fire Flakes. Hot. Whataya knows," Katara said sarcastically.
"Hey, look at this," Aang said, walking toward a puppet show booth, Naruto groaning, resting his face in his hand.
"That puppet show is for children," Naruto said.
After watching ten seconds of the puppet show, in which a puppet of the fire lord lit a puppet of an earth bender on fire, they walked away, finding a large crowd in front of a stage and walking over, Naruto steering Aang through the crowd.
"This is a fire-bending display," Naruto said. "Watch closely."
Aang nodded as they reached the front, Katara and Sokka catching up and stopping to watch. As they did, the fire bender on stage took a fireball from three separate torches, flinging them around the stage for a moment before they crashed into each other, bursting and then fading as several doves flew away. Aang pulled his mask up, eyes wide with amazement, only for Naruto to shove it back down.
"Keep your mask on, you idiot!" Naruto hissed.
"Sorry," Aang apologized while rubbing his neck.
"For my next trick, I need a volunteer from the audience," the man said, Aang's hand shooting into the air as he bounced on his feet, offering to be the volunteer.
Naruto shoved his hand back down. "He wants a girl Aang. I've seen this routine before. Just watch from here. Trust me, getting closer to a fire bender doesn't help you learn; it makes it harder to avoid getting burned."
"How about you, little lady?" the man asked, pointing at Katara.
She backed away, and he smiled.
"Aw, she's shy," he said. "Let's give her some encouragement, folks!"
The crowd began to cheer as someone pushed Katara to the stage, and the performer pulled her up onto it.
"This next trick is called taming the dragon!" the man said to the audience's cheers.
Aang was getting even nervous and seriously considering running away, especially with Katara at the center of the attention.
"Aang, whatever happens, do not get onto that stage," Naruto said to his ear.
"What's going to happen?" Sokka asked, clearly uncomfortable with the whole ordeal.
"In order for a dragon to need to be tamed, it first has to be unruly," Naruto said. "Don't worry; she's not going to be harmed. I promise."
As they watched, the performer tied Katara to the chair. Then, he formed the fire from the torches into a massive flaming dragon that began to fly around.
"He's going to attack her, isn't he?" Aang asked, looking at Naruto.
"Not really," Naruto said. "Like I said, she's not going to be harmed. He's a performer, not an executioner."
The dragon began to fly around, the performer attaching a leash to it, only to let the leash fade, pretending it broke free. Then, he turned the dragon back toward Aang. Naruto grabbed Aang's shoulder less than a second before Aang began to move, holding him in place, as did both Sokka and a third person behind them who was wearing a cloak and a cloth mask over his lower face. On stage, the performer stepped in front of Katara at the last second, blasting the dragon, which exploded into a spray of confetti, the crowd cheering. The performer untied Katara, and she walked off the stage, Aang helping her down. Then, the man that had helped restrain Aang motioned for them to follow, and they did, leaving the town with him. As they walked away, he pulled his hood and mask down, turning to them.
"My name's Che," he said. "I was a Fire Nation soldier at one time, but I left. I serve a man, well, more than a man, a myth. Jeong Jeong, the deserter. He was a Fire Nation General, or wait, was he an Admiral."
"General," Naruto said. "I've heard of him. He's supposed to be one of the greatest masters in the entire world. But, Che, are you saying Jeong Jeong is here?"
"He is," Che nodded. "Some say he's crazy, but he's not! He's enlightened."
"Then we have to go see him," Naruto said with a smile.
"We're not going to go find some crazy Fire bender," Sokka growled, not liking the idea of being around crazy firebenders.
"He's not crazy; he's a genius!" Che said. "And he's the perfect person to train the avatar!"
"Fine, fine," Sokka said. "We'll go. But let it be known, I think this was a bad idea."
Suddenly, half a dozen men wearing grass skirts with spears landed around them, holding their spears out.
"Don't move," one of them ordered, holding his spear in Sokka's face. "You're in big trouble, Che. All of you, come with us!"
He and Che turned, walking away, Naruto and the others following, the rest of the warriors falling behind them.
"Jeong Jeong told you not to look for the Avatar," the leader of the warriors said.
"You know these guys?" Sokka asked.
"Oh yeah, Ling Yi's an old buddy," Che said. "Right, Ling Yi?"
"Shut up!" Ling Yi said, poking Che with his spear. "Keep moving."
The soldiers led them through the forest, Naruto trying not to trip over roots in the dark until they finally reached a small camp in a clearing.
"He sees you only," Ling Yi said to Che.
"Oh, that's okay," Che said. "We can chat another time."
"Is Jeong Jeong in there?" Aang asked. "I need to speak with him right away."
"No," Ling Yi said. "You wait there. Go. Now!" He shoved Che with the shaft of his spear, and Che sighed.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine," Che said. "He's a great man. Great man."
Naruto and the others were led into a different building, all of the buildings being short metal half-pipes with wood ends and a door on each end. And there they waited.
As they waited, Naruto suddenly got a flash of a little blind girl earthbending, but it disappeared as soon as it appeared.
What was that?