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"Naruto!!"
"Stay Awake, men."
"Naruto. Stop Moving!!"
"Why is there so much Blood!!"
They all shouted in concern. Naruto had turned pale; he looked as if he was unconscious until he started coughing blood from his mouth and shaking uncontrollably. Katara quickly used her water to try to heal him.
"Naruto, come on. Stay Strong." Sokka encouraged as he tried to wake him up, only for him to let out a scream of pain; his scream echoed for miles into the dark sky.
Toph had turned pale, too, as she cupped his cheeks, tears rolling down her face; she had no way of helping him right now; Earthbending could not heal people. Katara kept trying to heal him; with her hands, she moved her water around his body, trying to find the wound that caused so much pain, but much to her dismay, she couldn't find anything, as if he was perfectly healthy. Where is it? She thought anxiously as she tried to find the wound to heal, but she couldn't find anything; Naruto kept shaking until Toph used her earth bending to stop him from shaking so much.
"Let's get him to the house," Aang quickly shouted. As he looked around warily while the other three were trying to help Naruto, he noticed that people were approaching them, and they weren't here to help in any way. He could see their shadows moving around the dark like rats.
"Guys, we are not alone. We need to get out of here," Aang said in a quiet tone. Suddenly, Toph stood up and stumped the ground with her feet, causing four big walls to form around them, just in time to block flying rocks that collided with the walls.
"What is happening?" Sokka shouted as he pulled out his boomerang. He stepped forward to stand beside Aang, who gripped his staff tightly.
"It's the Dai Li; they want Naruto!" Toph shouted furiously as more rocks flew towards them at high speed, like cannonballs from cannons, but Aang quickly obliterated them with a wave of his staff, causing all of them to be blown to bits by the strong wind.
More rocks started flying towards them, but he quickly jumped high in the air before sending out a gust of wind in all directions, obliterating all the nearby flying rocks. As he landed back on the ground, he noticed more flying towards them like projectiles.
He quickly kicked the front wall with his bare foot, causing it to fly forward. He then quickly used more Earthbending. Several walls of earth grew around them before he used airbending, making them all float. The flying rocks were quickly blocked by the flying boulders. Aang clenched his teeth in anger, knowing that he had been fooled.
"Stand Back!" Aang shouted with airbending, causing all the nearby soldiers to wince in pain, their ears booming with sound, some bleeding from their ears. But it seemed it wasn't enough, as almost fifty Dai Li agents were approaching them. Toph and Aang kept using Earthbending to try and stop the flying rocks, but they weren't fast enough to stop all of them. Toph couldn't see, but she felt it in her heart.
One of the tiny rocks had hit Naruto. She heard Sokka shout out his name in concern, as did Katara, who quickly used her water to try to heal the wound on his forehead.
Toph could never remember feeling like this before, not even when her father had refused to accept who she really was right in front of her. Not even then had she felt like this, her blood boiling, the need to protect him in any way necessary.
"I'm sorry, Aang," Toph whispered. He briefly looked at her, wondering why she was apologizing. When Toph slammed the ground with both hands, a loud thud echoed through the air as the ground cracked like glass, causing the entire place to shake violently as if an earthquake was happening. The nearby castle shook violently, causing the tallest floor to collapse on itself, and debris fell down like rain.
Clenching her teeth, she let out a scream of rage, causing hundreds of spikes to shoot out of the ground; all the Dai Li agents nearby were completely unprotected from the spikes that punctured their bodies, blood splattered everywhere as their bodies went limp one by one.
Toph felt tears in her eyes, feeling their heartbeats dying out one after the other. This was the first time she had felt something like this, a heartbeat stopping forever, but she knew she had done this to protect him, and she would do it all over again. Aang looked at her, but unlike before, instead of disapproval, he looked conflicted. He knew they could talk later; right now, they had an opening.
"Appa!" Aang shouted as loudly as he could. His friend quickly landed near them, causing dirt smoke to spread around him. Aang quickly used his airbending to help them get on top of Appa.
Sokka got hold of the reins, quickly shouting, 'Yip-Yip!' The bison let out a roar before taking flight, but they weren't able to get far as boulders started flying towards them, Aang quickly used his Airbending to obliterate them; while Appa used his tail to let out a strong gust of wind that destroyed the last one, but it was clear they weren't out of the woods yet, as hundreds of projectiles started flying echoed through the nights like loud whistles.
Aang quickly started moving his arms, creating a sphere of air around them. The projectiles flying towards them quickly changed directions, some of which were obliterated by the strong wind, but the question remained in their heads.
"Where should we go?" Sokka shouted. As far as he could see, there was no safe place in Ba Sing See right now. The whole city was guarded by the Dai Li agents, and the City's Shield was made up of one thousand soldiers, all earthbenders. No, they needed a place to lay low for a while, but Sokka couldn't think of a single place.
"Maybe we can go to the lower Rings!" Katara suggested. Aang was still busy maintaining the air sphere around them, moving his arms around. The number of projectiles flying toward them was almost zero now since they were too high in the sky for any of them to reach them.
"They will find us, this whole damn city is guarded by Dai Li agents," Toph shouted in frustration as her hands gripped her hair. Usually, she could easily fix her problems by throwing a boulder at the problem, but this was the first time that she felt completely powerless; this wasn't a problem she could fix by throwing a boulder at it. All she could do was place his head on her lap while Katara kept using her water around his body, trying to find the wound, but to no avail.
Aang looked back at his friend. Guilt was all over his face as he gripped his head. He could do nothing. He watched as Naruto breathed heavily. Sweat covered his entire face. His face had turned a dark shade of red, and his blonde hair didn't look as bright anymore. He kept moving his head around, letting out whimpers of pain. Despite being asleep, he was still in pain.
"I have an idea. I know where we can go," Sokka suddenly shouted. The others didn't comment and simply trusted him.
Aang
What is wrong with me? He shouted at himself in anger and frustration.
After flying for a while, they finally found a good spot outside the inner walls amongst the vast green fields where the farmers and their families lived. Once they landed, Sokka quickly told them that they needed a safe place until Naruto got better. Eventually, one of the farmers opened the door for them, but to make sure the Dai Li agents didn't know their location.
Sokka told Appa to take flight and fly beyond the wall to fool the agents into thinking they had completely left Ba Sing Se and were out there somewhere beyond their territory.
When the couple that lived here noticed him, they quickly let them inside, saying they could stay until tomorrow morning.
Despite being farmers, their house was big enough for them to have two spare rooms; Aang had expected the couple to have children, and the house seemed to have been built for that purpose, but much to his surprise, they said they had no children, before leaving them to their business.
After Naruto was placed in a room, Toph and Katara stayed with him. She was still trying to use her water to heal him, but nothing worked; their friend was still in pain. Aang, not being able to handle the sight of him in that condition, decided to leave the room and walk outside. Once he did, it struck him like a rock.
"Why? What is wrong? How could I have so easily believed him?!" Aang almost shouted at himself. He still remembered Long Feng's words and his reassurance that the King was the one who didn't care, but now, Aang knew it all had been a lie. Naruto had told them about the Dark Spirit and his ability to change faces and use dead people's faces; it sounded similar to Koh.
For how long had the Spirit impersonated the King? Aang wondered. Long Feng had sent twenty of his men with them when they visited the King. Back then, Aang thought he was being careful and making sure they wouldn't try to harm the King, but now he knew the truth.
He didn't want us to learn the truth, and if we did, his thoughts trailed off, remembering all the agents attacking them relentlessly. Once the cover was off, Long Feng must have ordered his guards to kill the Avatar and all his friends, and because of this, they were on the run again. Ba Sing Se, the last safe haven of the world, was now the most dangerous for them, perhaps even more than the Fire Nation.
No, there must be a way to fix this, if only... if only Naruto was awake right now. Aang thought as he sank to his knees, gripping his head; he felt like punching himself. His friend had told him time and time again that the world needed an Avatar who was ready to do anything to stop the war, even if it meant crossing some lines, but Aang hadn't wanted to listen to him. If he allowed himself to slip, then was he still an Air Nomad?
If only I were more violent. No, no, no, no. Aang shook his head; right now was not the time for that. He needed to talk with Sokka and figure out what they should do next.
Suddenly, he felt a weight on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Momo, who looked at him with big, sad eyes. Aang sighed wearily before scratching the top of his head.
"What do you think I should do, Momo? Naruto told me that I needed to be... more violent and do things that I didn't want to, but the Air Nomads taught me that all life is precious. What should I do?" Aang asked his lemur, almost expecting him to say something, but Momo had no answers for him.
The Avatar couldn't help but sigh; he felt exhausted and backed into a corner like a wounded animal. He hadn't felt like this since the day he saw Gyatso's skeleton; he remembered the room as if he was there right now; the smell of decay was strong in the way—the countless bodies lying around the room.
Aang remembered what Yangchen had told him.
'Gyatso was a good man, but even he understood that sometimes you have no other choice, you might not remember well, but when you entered the room where Gyatso was lying dead, the room was full of corpses with Fire Nation uniforms, over fifty corpses. Do you think all those decided to just lay there, and died while sleeping?'
Aang didn't want to believe her words; he was his friend and mentor, and he taught him the ways of the Air Nomads. Did he feel like I did? What did he feel when he decided to kill them? Aang wondered. Was it difficult for him? Did he feel regret? Or maybe the desire to live had made him forget about his principles.
As Aang turned on his heels and walked back into the house, he looked at the Inner Wall far into the distance before entering. The distance between the outer and the inner wall was twenty kilometers: enough land for the food to grow, almost enough land.
Aang had learned the hard way that he didn't have the luxury of staying in one place for a long time, not after what happened to Kyoshi Island. He had thought being in Ba Sing Se meant he no longer needed to run, but it seemed he had been mistaken—again.
Katara
"He will be fine, Toph. You know he never gives up, and Naruto is too stubborn to give up." Katara said with an uplifting voice, trying to make her feel better, but Toph barely registered her words. Instead, she kept his head resting on her lap, and two wet towels were put on top of his forehead, trying to take out the fever.
Katara had never seen someone with such a high fever before; of course, she didn't tell anyone, but at one point, his temperature reached 40.5 Celsius.
Katara knew that was way too high for anyone using her knowledge in healing. She had tried everything to bring down his temperature, but she was falling; he was only getting worse until Amara, the house woman, walked inside, holding a cup of steaming tea.
"This should help him. It's called Izla Tea, the most rare tea in the Earth Kingdom. This will help your friend, but the taste... it's not the best," the woman said gently as she walked into the room before placing the cup of tea near Naruto's sleeping form. Toph didn't say anything; she grabbed the tea before lifting it up.
"You drink first," Toph demanded. Katara was ready to tell her to be more kind; they had given her shelter, but the woman did as she was told without a single protest. One minute later, Toph told Katara to use her water bending to help Naruto drink the tea.
"You are a waterbender, Gods bless you. I never thought I'd see one," the woman said with a motherly voice. Katara smiled back at her as Naruto slowly drank the tea. She made sure he wouldn't choke while drinking it.
"Yes. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe. My name is Katara." She introduced herself with a bright, inviting smile. Toph, on the other hand, didn't seem to want to do the same. She simply caressed Naruto's hair. She could already tell that his temperature was lowering once his heartbeat turned back to normal; only then did she speak to the woman.
"Thanks for the tea. My name is Toph," '
After introducing themselves, the woman told them they could stay until their friend got better and was in a condition to travel. Katara had thanked her as she left them alone.
"Katara. I was raised in a rich house, I knew rules, and how to act with manners, my parents, well, they still taught me a lot about life, but why do I have this feeling in my chest?" Toph questioned, sounding confused and sad at the end.
"What feeling?" Katara asked, but she already had an idea. She knew that feeling very well. She once had it with Jet, but only for a short while; now, she had it for someone else.
"I-I don't know, but Naruto. I really want him to get better and return to us. To me." She whispered the last words, but Katara heard her; she crawled towards her until she sat right beside her on the wooden floor, their backs against the wall.
"I know what you are feeling, and I have a feeling you know what it is." Toph remained silent to that, her eyes cloudy with unshed tears.
"W- What if something happens? I don't think I can bear it if he..." her words trailed off as she swallowed hard. Hugging her legs, Katara quickly pulled her arm around her shoulders.
She and Toph didn't have the best friendship, but she would always help someone in need, especially her dear friends. "Don't think about it, Toph. Trust me, tomorrow you will wake up, and he will be back to normal," she said sweetly and softly, and a smile found its way to Toph's lips.
"You think so?" She asked hopefully.
"I know so. Naruto is strong, he would never leave us. He would never you Toph." Katara promised, before using her waterbending to keep his temperature in check.
"Sometimes...I really wish to see how he looks like... to see how he looks at me." Toph murmured under her breath, sounding vulnerable.
"You are beautiful, Toph and Naruto. Well, every time you are near one another, his face brightens up like a star. I have never seen him more happy than he is when you are near him," Katara said. Toph's face turned bright red, and she felt funny.
Naruto
Naruto couldn't help but notice how his body felt weightless and as if he was floating in space, his mind drifting into a peaceful state of mind. He felt like he was on a cloud, his muscles completely relaxed, and his mind free from all worries and stress.
All the tension and exhaustion seemed to have melted away, leaving him with a sense of tranquility that he had never felt before. He closed his eyes and let himself drift away into a dreamless sleep, feeling as if he could sleep forever in this state of pure bliss.
Am I Dead?
Feeling relaxed, Naruto tried to recall where he was, but as he tried to remember, all he could remember was the screaming of the dying dark Spirit. After that point, everything went dark.
As Naruto lay on his back, his eyes closed in peaceful slumber, he suddenly felt a cold, wet sensation seeping through his clothes, jolting him awake. He found himself floating on a vast sea that seemed to stretch out infinitely in all directions. The water was eerily calm and still, yet its depths were as dark and mysterious as a bottomless pit. As he gazed upwards, he realized that the sky was a deep shade of midnight blue, dotted with tiny, shimmering stars that twinkled like diamonds in the distance.
The water barely reached past his toes. Looking around him, Naruto couldn't see anything else but the endless sea. It felt as if it went on forever.
Despite the endless sky above, he couldn't feel any wind around him, not even the slightest breeze brushing against his skin.
"Toph," Naruto called out with a hint of anxiety, but there was no answer.
"Kyoshi," Naruto called out, yet no answer was heard. Looking around more, he saw nothing. Naruto's heart was racing as he swallowed the lump in his throat, desperately trying to make sense of what was happening. Confused and disoriented, he looked around and rubbed his eyes to clear his vision.
"Am I dreaming?" he asked himself. He rubbed his eyes so hard that they began to burn, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't wake up from the nightmare.
"Aang! Sokka, Appa, Momo. Anyone??!!," Naruto shouted for his friends, but again, no answer. Am I all alone? Naruto thought, his fear increasing with each passing second. His palms were sweating.
"Mother!" He called out, but once again. No Answer.
He could feel his lower jaw trembling with fear and uncertainty as he closed his eyes.
"Please don't leave me," he murmured, his eyes welling up with tears that slowly trickled down his cheek, their salty droplets falling to the water below at that moment.
Suddenly, he felt the water level rising, now above his knees, and it kept increasing.
"No!" Naruto shouted from fear.
"Mother!!" Naruto shouted in fear to the sky above as the water reached his neck. Reaching out his hand, the water came to his head. Eventually, his hand was below the water, and the sea's surface was going away as he sank into the darkness below.
As he struggled to break free from the water's merciless grip, suffocating and thrashing about, everything became a blur, and he felt himself slipping away into the abyss. A glimmer of light caught his eye, and he suddenly realized that he wasn't drowning after all.
The water's level started decreasing. With a swift movement, he pulled his head out of the water and gazed around him in confusion. The water continued to lower rapidly until not even his toes were submerged.
As he gazed around himself, he was standing in the middle of his old village, back in Kyoshi island, the houses of his family weren't there.
"You must be Naruto." He quickly turned around. In front of him stood a man; he was taller and wider than him, holding a spear with his right hand, wearing a polar bear coat fur, and a harsh face with a small beard across his chin and jawline.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked, feeling as if he should know him somehow.
"I'm Avatar Kuruk."
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