With Azula
The crew and Imperial Firebenders had disembarked and had also set up camp for the night. A few of the Imperial Firebenders were on the deck, bowing on front of palanquin that held the Fire Nation Princess. On each side of the palanquin were the twins, Lo and Li. "When tracking your brother and uncle, traveling with the Royal Procession may no longer be an option." Lo told the princess. "May no longer be wise," Li continued. "If you wish to keep the element of surprise." finished the two in perfect synchronization.
"You're right. The Royal Procession is dead weight. If I want to catch my brother and uncle, I must be agile, nimble." Azula agreed. "I need a small, elite team. It's time to visit some old friends." She then looked up. "What do you think, Naruto?"
"It sounds like an plan." Naruto said from where he sat on the roof of the palanquin. If she had people she considered friends around, she would have more people to help with the plan.
Azula silently nodded. "Then we leave tomorrow."
Naruto leapt off the roof and onto the deck. "I'll go notify the captain. We'll send the ship home in the morning. We'll only take a squad with us when we leave." He started to leave but stopped. "I just have one thing to ask you two." He told the twins.
"Yes," Li asked and Lo continued. "What is it?"
"Do you have to take turns speaking the same sentence?" He held up a hand, stopping them from speaking. "You know what? Forget it. Odds are you'll just give me an answer the same way." he left the ship to go talk to the captain.
"The nerve of that boy," said Lo but Li continued. "For him to insult us."
Neither of them noticed the small grin that Azula had on her face.
(Location: Omashu)
The group moved up to the next level of the city and quickly hid behind a lumber pile to avoid a patrol. "Let's find Bumi and get out of here." Katara said.
"Where would they be keeping him?" Sokka asked Aang.
Aang gave it some quick thought. "Somewhere he can't Earthbend. Somewhere made of metal," He finally said. After looking out at the city to figure out where what place would be able to have those conditions to hold Bumi, they quickly moved on.
Meanwhile, on the next level down, there was a guard procession that was guarding a family: a mother with her toddler son as well as her teenage daughter. "There really is no fathoming the depths of my hatred of this place." The teenager said in a bored tone while scowling slightly.
"Mai, your father was appointed governor. We're like royalty here." Her mother told her. "Be happy and enjoy it."
"I thought my life was boring in the Fire Nation but this place is unbearably bleak." Mai replied. "Nothing ever happens."
As Aang and the others tried to make their way across the level, they saw two big boulders coming down one of the ramps fast. Turning to see what on the lower level, he saw the family and the guard procession. Thinking that they would be crushed by the boulders, he used his staff to Airbend the boulders out of the way. However it caused a great deal of noise and dust, alerting the guard procession.
"The resistance!" Mai's mother cried out, pointing to Aang. Mai moved quickly. She flung out her arms, releasing a good amount of small arrows at Aang, who dodged by jumping onto the lumber pile behind him. Touching the pile only once, he then leapt to the side and began to run away along with Katara and Sokka while Momo flew away.
As the two guards climbed up the latter and onto the next level, they began to chase after the group. Katara quickly used her water whip to swat them back down to the lower level. As they fell, Mai climbed up the ladder and attacked Katara. She fired more projectiles at the Waterbender, but they were blocked when she bent water into a shield of ice and then ran away with Mai in pursuit.
As she chased them across the level, Aang decided to stall to her. Using his staff, he bent the air to cause a nearby scaffolding to collapse in front of Mai. Stopping quickly to avoid being crushed, she threw a doubled bladed knife that ricocheted off the wall and towards Aang. Sensing danger, he turned and rapidly spun his staff, causing the knife to hit the staff. Mai quickly launched another round of projectiles. But before they could even reach their target, the platform where the group stood suddenly dropped down, taking them with it. As it fell, another platform took its place, like they were never even there. Mai just gave a bored sigh and headed back to her family.
Meanwhile the group had landed in a tunnel. As they looked to see where they were, they noticed that they were surrounded by Earth Kingdom soldiers. After staying silent for about minute, Sokka looked at both Aang and Katara. "And the two of you thought there wasn't going to be a resistance." He told them. Aang looked sheepish while Katara threw him a dirty look.
Fire Nation circus
"So, Ty Lee is in there somewhere." Azula said as she looked at the circus being set up.
"Yes, although they're going to be moving soon." Naruto noted. No one paid attention to the two of them, they were all too busy going about their business.
"Alright then, I'll go in and look around for her." She began to walk into the circus ground with Naruto just behind her. When they finally spotted Ty Lee, he hung back to see how Azula would do. "Ty Lee, could that possibly be you?" She called out to her friend, standing before her.
"Azula!" chirped the girl who was currently doing a handstand on a finger per hand. After getting her feet on the ground and bowing, she leapt and ran over, giving the Fire Nation Princess a hug. "It's so good to see you!" She said with excitement.
"Please don't let me interrupt your... whatever it is you're doing." Azula told her. She immediately flipped backwards into a position where she was sitting on her elbows with her feet in the air in front of her. "Tell me, what is the daughter of a nobleman doing here? Certainly our parents did not send us to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls to end up in... places like this." She asked Ty Lee as she watched a couple of the circus workers struggle with a platypus-bear only for said platypus-bear to lay an egg (she could have sworn that one of the workers had said "Oh great Agni, not another one."). Had that been any other time, she probably would've found that amusing. "I have a proposition for you." She told Ty Lee. "I'm hunting a traitor. You remember my old fuddy-duddy uncle, don't you?"
"Oh yeah, he was so funny." Ty Lee answered with a giggle. When she thought of Iroh, she was always tempted to laugh.
"I would be honored if you join me on my mission."
She flinched a little when she heard those words. "Oh... I, uh... would love to." She flipped herself back onto her feet. "But the truth is I'm really happy here. I mean my aura has never been pinker!"
"Ty Lee, please." Azula said, almost pleadingly.
She grew curious. "What's the matter, Azula?" It wasn't like her to speak like that to anyone. She always seemed to look confident in what she did.
She looked down at the ground, suddenly embarrassed by what was going through her head. "There's a plan I came up with and I'm trying to figure out how to do it. I think that if I have you and Mai by my side, I can figure it out."
Ty Lee walked to the princess, taking her hand and gently holding it. "Are you still having the nightmares?" She asked quietly.
Azula brought her face back up and Ty Lee didn't see the confident princess of the Fire Nation. She saw the terrified little girl who would run to her room every time she slept over after having the nightmare, so she wouldn't be alone. "Yes." Azula whispered.
Ty Lee gave her a quick hug. "Okay then, I'll join you but after the show tonight."
"Thank you." She was relieved by that answer. That was one down, one more to go.
"By the way, where's the cutie?" Ty Lee asked as she looked around. But she didn't see who she was looking for.
"The cutie?" asked Azula, confused by her words.
"Oh, you know. Your bodyguard," She clarified with a knowing grin. "The one who you lov–"
Ty Lee's mouth was quickly covered by Azula's hand. "You promised not to talk about that! And he is not my bodyguard" She hissed.
"Ohh really, then what do you call someone that follows and protects you mmmm"
Azula sighed "You can come out now Naruto." She called out, turning her head slightly to look in his general direction.
He walked out to where the girls were, allowing them to see him. "Hey, cutie!" greeted Ty Lee.
"Are you becoming one of my Fangirls, Ty Lee?" He asked her. "A lot of them call me cutie for some weird reason."
She made a face. "Ew, no. Please remember that I was there last year when the Chase occurred." The three of them shuddered at the memory. Last year in the Fire Nation, Naruto had taken time in the morning to train outside the palace. One day, a Fangirl had been watching (stalking) him as he trained. Apparently the combination of Naruto having taken his shirt off as he trained and the fact he was sweating sent her over the edge. Five minutes later, and Naruto was running for his life as the one Fangirl soon became a horde of them. The Chase lasted for most of the day. For the rest of the month Naruto only trained inside the palace to avoid what happened.
"What I don't understand is why they come after me, I'm no one special and I'm certainly not that handsome." Naruto wondered aloud, making both Azula and Ty Lee stare at him in silent disbelief.
"He still doesn't get it?" They silently asked themselves.
"Sometimes this gaki's innocence astounds me." Kyūbi thought silently. It was quite funny to watch most of the time. But it was still astounding all the same.
"Anyway, are you coming with us, Ty Lee?" Naruto asked the acrobat.
She nodded. "Yep, but only after the show tonight," She told them
"Alright then, we'll be waiting." Azula told her. As she and Naruto walked away, she stopped. "You know what? I think I'll catch your show tonight." She said, looking back.
Ty Lee flinched and lost grip of the leg she was holding. She quickly grabbed her leg again and said "Um...Yeah, sure... of course." While she tried to remain cheerful, she was inwardly preying that all would go well that night.
Naruto noticed the way she said it and nudged Azula, who got the silent point. "I promise not to do anything stupid or dangerous during the show." She told Ty Lee. She might've once, but not anymore.
"Okay." Ty Lee replied, still a little nervous.
Under Omashu
The group stood in front of the leader of the resistance with Team Mito besides them. As it turned out, they had found the resistance almost right after they got into the city. After telling the resistance who they were and what their mission was, they kept an eye out for Aang, Sokka and Katara, letting the resistance know to bring them in.
"So is King Bumi with you guys? Is he leading the resistance?" Aang asked with hope in his voice.
"Of course not!" barked the leader of the resistance, angry at the Avatar's words. "The day of the invasion, we were prepared to defend our city, to fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi...surrendered."
The group stood silent until Sokka said "What actually happened that day?" It was always a good idea to know the details of something. It help form a more coherent picture.
The leader began to explain. "It was a week after your group had left Omashu. We had gotten word that large force of Fire Nation troops were coming towards the city. As we prepared for battle, King Bumi and I took a walk through the courtyard when..." he took a breath to steady himself. "When he appeared," His voice turned into a growl with those last three words.
(Flashback)
"My King, we're ready to defend ourselves." One of the soldiers said as Bumi inspected the troops in the courtyard. Bumi simply nodded at the soldier and continued the inspection.
As the inspection ended, they heard someone from atop the wall yell out "Somebody, stop him!"
Looking up at the soldier who spoke, they only saw a brief shadow against the sun before someone landed in the courtyard and in front of Bumi. The person stood up from his crouched position. "King Bumi I presume?' He asked.
"Yes." Bumi replied, keeping his expression neutral.
"I am Naruto Uzumaki and I would like to request something of you."
He became curious of those words. "Oh? And what's that?"
"Your surrender," The minute those words left his mouth, he was surrounded by both weapons and big rocks held by Earthbenders. "What do you say?" He continued, looking like he didn't care about being in danger.
The soldiers surrounding him looked like they were about to attack him. "Why should I surrender?' Bumi asked, stopping the soldiers from attacking.
"Let's cut to the chase, King Bumi. You know who I am and what I am capable of doing. I'm giving you the chance to spare your men's lives and to avoid bloodshed." He explained patiently.
When he heard that, the king of Omashu started to cackle madly. "Well, when you put it like that, youngster, I really can't say anything in return. Fine I surrender."
"Thank you." The blonde said, sounding very relieved. "Now all I have to do is to tell the leading general that."
"Stand down, everyone." Bumi told his troops. They did so, albeit with great reluctance. "Why do you need to tell your general that I surrendered?"
"Because I already told him that you did, so he's not bringing an army to Omashu but he's still skeptical." When Bumi heard his answer, he cackled madly.
(End Flashback)
"What happened after that?" Katara asked.
"The invasion force turned out to be just construction workers and colonists. They wasted no time in settling in and taking over our city." The leader shook his head. "It doesn't matter now. Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom. And freedom is worth dying for."
"Actually there's another path to freedom." Aang announced. "You could leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation. But you're outnumbered, you can't win, now's the time to retreat so you can live to fight another day." He didn't know why they didn't do that in the first place.
"You don't understand! They've taken our home and we have to fight them at any cost!" The leader told them. When he said that, Mito's team had a look of slight disgust on their faces.
"I don't know, Yung. Living to fight another day is starting to sound pretty good to me." The soldier next to him said.
"Yeah, I'm with the kid." Another soldier chimed in. The leader looked at the people in the camp. They were all talking about leaving and what a good idea it sounded.
"Fine, but there's thousands of citizens who need to leave," He conceded. "How are we going to get them all out?" He didn't see a way out without heavy fighting.
"Suckers!" Sokka suddenly exclaimed. Everyone looked at him with a question in their heads, trying to figure out what he had just said.
"Um Sokka...could you try that again?" Hinata voiced hers.
He had a big grin on his face. "You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox." He told them.
After explaining his plan to the group (while getting sarcastic remarks and dirty looks from Katara), Sokka had everyone in the resistance gather up purple pentapus. Once they gathered a good amount, they started applying them onto their skin and pulling them off, leaving the red marks. Team Mito had gone on ahead to make sure the citizens could arrive in the designated area safely.
Soon enough, everyone was out in the open sunlight and looked like they had been hit with a bad case of the pentapox. Sokka took a look of his handiwork. "The marks make you look sick, but you've gotta act sick too." He told them. "You've gotta sell it!" Conveniently enough, an old man with a cane and peg leg walked through the crowd while groaning. "Now that's what I'm talking about." The Tribesman stated, pointing at the old man.
"Years of practice." The old man said before tapping his peg leg with his cane.
"Okay everyone, into sick formation!" Sokka ordered as everyone got ready. As they walked away, Aang began to go somewhere else.
"Aang, what are you doing? Aren't you coming with us?" Katara asked.
"No. I'm not leaving until I find Bumi." He told her. He then grabbed Momo, who had leapt onto his shoulder, and put him back the ground. "Sorry, Momo, I'll feed you later." He said to the lemur. And with that, he leapt away to look for his friend.
As Katara joined the citizens, Sokka joined up beside her. "He went off to look for Bumi, didn't he?" He asked.
"What's it to you?" She shot back. He just shook his head and rolled his eyes before moving forward.
The Earth Kingdom citizens slowly approached the front gates, freaking out the guards in the process. Some were really getting into the act by foaming at the mouth or collapsing onto the ground. Finally one of the guards yelled out "Plague. PLAGUE!" before falling back while another guard bang out an alarm.
Meanwhile at the governor's mansion, on one of the balconies, the governor as well as his wife, son and Mai stood there watching the confusion. "What is going on down there?" The governor asked.
"I saw some kids yesterday who were sick with pentapox." A nearby guard explained. "It must have spread!"
"Pentapox...I'm pretty sure I've heard of that." He mused to himself.
"Oh, this is terrible!" The governor's wife exclaimed in horror.
"What should we do?" The guard asked.
"Drive them out of the city, but don't touch them! We have to rid this city of this disease!" The governor ordered. The guard bowed and left to do his job.
"Fire flakes, dad?" Mai asked, holding the bowl out. The governor simply gave her a look out of the corner of his eye.
"Oh, how awful!" said Mai's mother as she hugged her husband. Nobody noticed that the toddler had (pardon the pun) toddled away from them.
Meanwhile, in a different part of the city, Aang was having no luck in trying to find Bumi. He did have a stroke of luck when he found Flopsie, Bumi's pet gorilla goat. Being the kindhearted and caring boy he is (unless you piss him off, that's something else entirely) he immediately freed Flopsie and used him to look again for Bumi.
(Location: Fire Nation circus)
The night show had just begun for the circus. It was a special show because Azula had decided to attend. She sat in the main seat, with Naruto sitting just off to the side. "We are deeply honored to have the Fire Lord's daughter at our humble circus." announced the circus master in a loud voice. "Tell us if there is anything we can do to make the show more enjoyable."
Azula began to say something but caught the warning in Nartuo's eyes. "That won't be necessary." She finally said. The performers went through their routines as both Naruto and Azula watched. Soon enough, it was Ty Lee's turn to perform. "Incredible, do you think she'll fall?" she asked the circus master as her friend did her act on the high rope.
"Of course not," He answered, confident in Ty Lee. She had never fallen before, why would she start now?
"Don't even think about it, Azula." Naruto whispered from beside her seat.
"I wasn't going to!" She whispered back.
The rest of the performances went of without a hitch
(Location: Resistance camp)
Aang and Flopsie walked into the camp and saw Katara and Sokka come up to them along with Mito. "We looked everywhere, no Bumi." Aang told them. Seeing that he was sad, Katara gave him a hug.
Sokka didn't want to do it but it had to be said. "Well, what did you expect?" He asked. "Did you honestly think you would be able to find Bumi? He's the king of Omashu and a powerful Earthbender as well. They're not going to keep him imprisoned out in the open!"
"Knock it off, Sokka!" Katara snapped at him, a scowl set firmly on her face.
"I'm just stating the facts and the both of you know it." He replied, a scowl matching hers etched on his face.
"Your brother is right." Mito told Katara before turning to face Aang. "What you did was reckless and stupid. You could have been captured as you looked for your friend. How would that help him?"
"You were okay with it the first time!" Katara protested.
"Only because he wouldn't be going in alone, he had you two to help him." She replied, keeping her voice calm.
Before Katara could protest again, Aang spoke up. "Mito's right, Katara," He admitted. "I put myself in danger when I looked for Bumi alone. It was a bad mistake." His downcast tone made Katara hug him again. Hearing a whine coming from Flopsie, Sokka turned around and gave the sad gorilla-goat a hug as well.
"We got a problem," The resistance leader said as he walked up to them. "We just did a head count."
"Oh no, did someone get left behind?" Katara asked with worry.
"No, we have an extra." The leader pointed to Momo, who was desperately trying to get away from the toddler in Fire Nation clothes currently hanging on the flying lemur's neck.
(Location: Omashu)
On the balcony of the governor's mansion, the governor's wife was sobbing her heart out in a chair with Mai standing next to her. As she watched her mother cry, Mai pulled out a hanky to give her so she could wipe her tears and blow her nose. "So...the resistance has kidnapped my son." The governor stated as he looked out at the city. "Everything's so clever, so tricky, just like their King Bumi."
"What do you want to do, sir?" One of the guards asked. The governor just looked at him once and then looked back towards the mountains. He was probably going to regret it, but he knew of a way to get his son back.
(Location: Fire Nation circus)
Azula stood in Ty Lee's changing room while Ty Lee sat in front of her mirror. "That was an interesting show." Ty Lee commented as she took off her headpiece.
. "Hey, Azula?" asked the acrobat, her voice somewhat cautious.
"Yes?" The Fire Nation princess asked him
"You know how I always think that Naruto has two auras?"
"Yeah, you told him that back when we first met him. He told you that he had no idea what you were talking about." They didn't really know him back then. But now, she was sure he had been lying.
"Did you find out what it means" ty lee questioned
"I never asked after the first time, I guess I just forgot about it ."
"Do you think we should ask Naruto about it?"
"Only if we have to," Azula replied.. "Are you ready to leave?" She asked, deciding to change the subject
"Just give me a few minutes, where are we going?"
"Omashu."
(Location: Resistance camp)
Aang, Katara, Sokka, Kiba, Shino , Hinata, Mito and the resistance leader all sat around a fire and watched the toddler as he went after Momo. He felled on his bottom as the flying lemur got away, but he fell in front of Sokka's club. Before the toddler could touch it, Sokka grabbed and put it out of harm's way. Seeing his toy being taken away, the toddler began to cry. Katara looked at her brother with a frown and proceeded to hit him upside the head. "I'm not giving back the club Katara. It's a weapon, not a toy." He told her, earning him a glare afterwards.
Sokka released the club and gave it to the child, making the child giggle. "Oohhhh, you're so cute." Katara said as she hugged the toddler and gave it a kiss on the cheek.
"Sure, he's cute now. But when he's older, he'll join the Fire Nation army." The resistance leader said. "You won't think he's so cute then, he'll be a killer." He had seen enough Fire Nation soldiers to know that was going to happen.
"Not if you and your generation decide to set a better example. The next generation learns from the old one, so it's up to us to teach them." Mito told him with firm conviction, her comrades nodding in agreement. Meanwhile the toddler had wandered over to Hinata, crawled into her lap, and fell asleep. Hinata simply lifted the child up into her arms and began to rock him back and forth, humming a lullaby.
"You're going to be one heck of a mom, Hinata." Kiba told her after she had finished the lullaby.
"Thanks Kiba." She replied, blushing a little bit.
"I have a question." Shino announced out of the blue and getting everyone's attention.
"What is it, Shino ?" Mito asked. He didn't usually say things like that.
"Why is it that all the animals, besides the lemur, have started laughing?" He pointed to Appa, Akamaru, and Flopsie, who did honestly look like they having the time of their lives.
"What's so funny, Akamaru?" Kiba asked his dog. Akamaru told him and when he was done, Kiba had busted out laughing as well.
"Okay, what exactly did he say, Kiba?" Mito asked her friend.
"He's...He's...Oh Kami this is just too funny!" He tried to say before he began laughing again.
"What is it?"
Kiba had finally managed to catch his breath. "Akamaru told me how the kid managed to get here." He then told the rest of them what had happened to Momo while they were pretending to have pentapox. After he was done telling the story, everybody had managed to start laughing. As they laughed, Momo had somehow managed to look embarrassed.
After everyone was done laughing, they heard the cry of a bird. Looking around, they saw one flying towards them. "A messenger hawk." said the resistance leader as it landed.
Mito rose from where she sat, walked over to the hawk, open the compartment and took out the letter. After reading it over, she gave it to Aang. "You should read this out loud to everyone." She told him.
"It's from the Fire Nation governor. He thinks we kidnapped his son." Aang told them as he read the letter. "So he wants to make a trade. His son...for King Bumi." At the last bit, Aang's eyes went wide.
"Okay then, it's a trap." Sokka said after listening to the message.
"Just what I'd expected from you." said Katara as she looked at her brother.
"Nevertheless, Sokka is right. This does seem like a trap." Mito agreed with him.
"We need to think of something. Do you guys have any ideas?" He asked Team Mito.
"Just like my brother, always coming up with plans." Katara said aloud for everyone to hear. "And look where they've got us."
Sokka decided enough was enough. "Katara, we need to talk. Alone." He rose up from where he was sitting and started to walk away from the group, his sister followed after him.
"What is that you wanted to talk about?" Katara asked him once they were a good distance from the camp, far enough away so no could see or hear them.
Sokka looked at her. "What's your problem, Katara?" He demanded.
"What do you mean?" She asked, trying to sound innocent. But she was too annoyed and angry with him to make it properly work.
"You have something against me, what is it?"
"I don't have against you Sokka, you're my brother after all." She growled in a sarcastic tone as her temper was beginning to shorten.
"Stop it, Katara!" He shouted at her. "You've been deliberately nasty, snide, snotty and any other kind of word that describes your attitude ever since Master Pakku started training me. So I will ask again: What. Is. Your. Problem?"
And with that, her temper was lost. "You know what, Sokka? You're right. I do have a problem with you. You decided to barge in on something that you shouldn't have been anywhere in the first place!"
Sokka simply raised an eyebrow. "Is this about me asking Master Pakku to train me?"
"He is not your master; you don't have the right to call him that! What you did was sacrilege! You had no business trying to learn Waterbending when you're not a Bender yourself! I'm the Bender in the family, not you!" Katara screamed at her brother.
The silence between the two grew moment by moment until Sokka quietly asked one thing. "Are you truly that childish?"
The fury went out of Katara and was replaced by confusion. "What?"
"Do you really think that I went to Master Pakku to learn Waterbending so I could make sure that you didn't have something that was your own? I went to Master Pakku so I can learn how to protect myself."
"Protect yourself, why would you need to do that? You have your weapons and intelligence." She protested. She had never seen him without any of those (at least, not voluntarily).
"And what will happen in the middle of fight if I lose weapons? I'm not a Bender and the last time I checked, intelligence was not a weapon that can actually be used on a battlefield! I asked Master Pakku to teach me so I wouldn't end up dead!" The volume of his voice rose as he kept talking.
Katara took a step back as she listened to her brother, like she was about to hide from his voice. "D-dead?" She asked, not really understanding what he was saying.
"Yes, dead. Maybe that's what you would like to see, huh, Katara? Do you want to see me on the fields of a battle with a mortal wound and blood slowly seeping from my body? Do you want to watch me as I slowly lose my life?! WELL, DO YOU?!" He roared at her.
She began to cry at that, images filling her head. Images she didn't want to see. "No I don't want that, please not that! We already lost Mom and we don't know if Dad is still alive. I don't want to lose you too."
As her sobs began to lessen, Sokka let his anger dissipate and gave her a hug. "Like you said, Katara, I'm not the Bender in the family. You are, and that's the difference between us. Although I did learn the stances and sets for Waterbending, I'm not a Bender." He took a step back so he could look at her face. "Are we good?"
Katara nodded as her tears stopped. "We're good."
"Then we better get back to the others, we still need to come with a plan." The two of them walked back to where the resistance camp was. The tension between the two of them was all but gone.
Aang took a moment to watch the sun rise before walking down to where Sokka, Katara, and Team Mito stood in front of Appa. "Please remember that we are possibly going into a trap." Sokka told him.
"I know." Aang replied.
"Are we ready?" Mito asked as she held the sleeping toddler.
"Probably ready as we'll ever be, Mito-san." Shino answered her.
"Don't worry guys, this'll be easy." Kiba stated.
Sokka turned to his sister. "I liked to state for the record that those words did not come out of my mouth."
"Duly noted," Katara answered, making them laugh a little and lose the tension that was in the air amongst them.
"We better get going." Hinata said. They all agreed, hoped on Appa and headed towards Omashu.
(Location: Omashu)
Mai stood in front the entrance to the governor's mansion. She watched a group of Imperial Firebenders carried the royal palanquin towards her. She didn't need to ask who was inside, she already knew who. As the palanquin was set down and Azula stepped out, she bowed. "Please tell me you're here to kill me." She said with no emotion what so ever.
The two of them looked at each other for a moment and then laughed. "It's great to see you Mai." Azula told her as she gave her a hug. The two of them broke apart and Ty Lee gave Mai another hug, albeit a clingier one.
"I thought you ran off and join the circus. You said it was your calling." Mai asked the acrobat.
"Well, Azula called a little louder." Ty Lee replied as she stepped back.
"Actually I thought you just came to see me" naruto said while joining the girls
"Naruto." greeted Mai with a small glare.
"Doom and Gloom." Naruto replied with a smile. "So how do you want to be killed this time: suffocation, drowning, beheading, impalement, electrocution, strangulation?" He asked her, listing the ways on his fingers.
"How does a knife through the heart sound to you?" She asked before flinging out her hand and throwing a knife at him. It whizzed through the air and looked like it was going to imbed itself in his eye
"Sounds kinda dull if you ask me," He answered as he caught the knife without taking his eyes off of her. "There's no uniqueness to it."
Mai scowled slightly before finally grinning. "Always fun to have you around, Naruto." She told him.
"If the two of you are done, I can tell Mai why we're here." Azula told them as she stepped forward. "I have a mission and need you both." She said to both Mai and Ty Lee.
"Count me in." Mai automatically answered. "I'll take anything that'll get me out of this place."
"After we're done in Omashu, I'll tell the squad leader to head back to the Fire Nation." Naruto told Azula, who nodded in agreement.
"I guess I have to go talk to your father now?" She asked Mai. When her friend nodded, replied with "Lead the way." Mai turned back around and started walking. Everyone else followed her.
The governor, his wife, Mai and Ty Lee sat in front of Azula as she sat in the governor's chair. Naruto was leaning against the wall next to the door. "I apologize." The governor told Azula. "You've come to Omashu at a difficult time. At noon, we're making a trade with the resistance to get Tom-Tom back."
"Yes, I'm so sorry to hear about your son." Azula said sarcastically. "But really, what did you expect by just letting all the citizens leave." She stood up from the chair, going from sarcastic to serious. "My father has trusted you with this city, and you're making a mess of things."
"Forgive me, princess." The governor pleaded as he bowed his head. His wife followed his example.
"You stay here." She told him as she walked forward. "Mai will handle the hostage trade so you don't have a chance to mess it up. "
Naruto turned to go and tell the governor that they were leaving.
(Location: platform at the base of statue of Ozai)
Aang with his hat on stood waiting on the platform with Katara and Sokka. Mito stood to his side holding the still sleeping toddler while her team stood on her other side. Soon enough, they saw the other party coming up the stairs. Team Mito silently analyzed the group coming towards them. They figured that while the three girls could be considered a threat, they could also be dealt with. It was the cloaked, hooded one that they couldn't figure out. To any shinobi worth their kunai, that little fact would put them on guard immediately. "Strange but that cloaked person smells familiar." Kiba thought as he stared. "I can't place him though."
"Aang," Hinata whispered. "Be careful of them. These are not civilians, they're fighters." She, as well as her team, could tell that just by how they walked.
"Understood," Aang whispered back. "If this turns into a fight, how do you want to do this?" He asked Mito.
She looked at him briefly before turning her attention to her team. "Shino, keep them away by using your bugs while Kiba and Akamaru keep them occupied. Hinata, get in close and disable them using your Jūken. Katara, support Hinata with your Waterbending." Mito ordered. "That should take care of the three girls."
"What about the fourth person?" The Airbender asked.
"I'll take care of him." Sokka told everyone.
"Just be careful, that guy somehow smells familiar." Kiba told them.
"Can you tell who it is?" Shino asked. If he smelt familiar to Kiba, odds are that they knew him and therefore, knew how to fight him.
But the Inuzuka shook his head in the negative. "No, he just smells familiar but I don't why."
"Alright then, be on guard with the cloaked one." Sasuke said with everyone agreeing.
By the time the conversation was over, Mai's group was coming towards them, Mai's hand gave a little flick and up above, the iron coffin that held King Bumi began to lower. "Hi, everybody!" called out the king of Omashu.
"That...is a strange man." Kiba commented with Akamaru nodding in agreement. The man was locked up in a coffin that left only his head out for everyone to see and yet, he was acting like this was nothing.
"You brought my brother?" Mai asked as Bumi landed behind her and the others. She kept her voice calm and neutral, trying to betray anything.
"He's here." Mito announced as she showed the sleeping toddler.
"We're ready to trade." Aang told them.
"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me." Azula interrupted. "Do you mind?" She asked Mai.
"Of course not, Princess Azula." She told the princess.
"Oh boy, here we go." Kyūbi said in a suffering tone.
"Knock it off, fox. We need to focus here." Naruto silently told him. "Do you feel that?"
Kyūbi was silent for a few seconds as he felt what his Jinchūriki had felt. "Yeah, I do. You catch on quickly, gaki." He said in praise after discovering the secret the other group was trying to hide.
"Three years under your tutelage and fighting in a war makes learning quickly a necessity." The blonde told the fox before refocusing on the trade.
"We're trading a two year old for a king, a powerful Earthbending king. It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?" Azula asked, Bumi nodding in agreement when she was talking about him.
Mai looked at her brother as she thought it over. "You're right." She answered, stepping forward she declared. "The deal's off!" If she didn't get out of the city fast enough, she was going to hear about this from her parents.
"Well of course the deal is off, Mai." The cloaked person announced as he walked past Mai. "The deal was off before the negotiations started." He stopped about halfway towards the other group.
"That voice sounds familiar." The members of Team Mito thought to themselves, unconsciously thinking the same thought. "But where have I heard it before?"
"What do you mean?" Mai asked him.
"It's simple, really." He replied, keeping his gaze focused on the Avatar's group. "The deal is off because we brought our piece to the table, but they did not."
"What are you talking about, he's right here in my arms." Mito argued. She lifted the toddler up slightly so they could see him better.
"Is he now?" The cloaked person asked, his voice taking a slight mocking tone. He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. As the sound of the snap echoed all around them, the toddler being held by Mito simply disappeared. "Or were you hoping to get something for nothing?"
"How did you...?" She tried to ask. She had been caught off guard when she felt her chakra had been disrupted. But more so, she was shocked by that the fact that someone from this side of the planet knew enough about chakra to properly use it.
"If you're going to try and fool me with a Genjutsu, do a better job next time." He told her, sounding annoyed and disappointed.
"How did you know it was a Genjutsu?!" She tried to demand.
The person smirked at that. "Why should I have to tell you?" It was obvious that he was having fun with all of this. It looked like he was trying to send them up the preverbal wall.
"Who the hell are you?!" Kiba shouted, pointing his finger at the person.
He couldn't help but chuckled. "I guess the Inuzuka clan isn't as good at recognizing scents as they thought they are."
"How the hell do you know what clan I'm from? I don't even know you!"
The person sighed. "Such a shame, I would have thought you of all people would recognize who I am." He looked directly at Kiba. "Isn't that right, Inu-teme?"
Suddenly everything in the conversation came back to him. The fact the person knew about Genjutsu, the fact he knew Kiba was from the Inuzuka clan, his voice, his scent and the insult. There only one person who used that insult on him. "Naruto?" He asked in a confused voice, making Team Mito look at him and then look at the person in shock.
"Ding ding ding! The Inu-teme gets it in one." Naruto announced out loud as he lowered his hood.
By this time Mito had found her voice again. "Naruto, is that really you?" She asked him, almost not believing it. But he was right there, standing before them.
"And the delegation from Konoha has found their voices." He remarked sarcastically, making Ty Lee giggle while Mai and Azula wore smirks on their faces.
"What are you doing here? Why did you leave Konoha !" She and her team, as well as the others, had been looking for him ever since he had left. And all this time, he had been on this side of the planet.
"And your point is?" He asked her. He made himself sound like he was bored and didn't care.
"Why haven't you come back, everyone in Konoha has been looking for you?"
"Well, I wouldn't have heard about it if I was here for three years, now would I?" His remark made her realize the truth of it. He wouldn't have heard about it if he hadn't been in the Elemental Countries.
"But you can come home now, man!" Kiba said with glee. He was looking to catching up with the blonde and seeing how he had changed. But the next thing to come out of Naruto's mouth stunned the Inuzuka.
"So?" The blonde asked. Every member of Team Mito went still at those words. They had told him he could come home, and he made it sound like he didn't want to.
"That's all you have to say? So?" Kiba exclaimed.
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked with exasperation and annoyance, his face showing that as he looked at him.
"We have just told you that everyone wants you back in the village, especially your family. Wouldn't you be happy to hear that and try to get back to the village as soon as you could." Shino said. He was sure that was how Naruto would've reacted at the news.
"Oh, buzz off, bugsy ." The blonde waved him off, trying to end the conversation.
"Naruto, please stop this," Hinata suddenly spoke up. "Let's go home. Everyone has been waiting for you. You can be a shinobi again."
The silence was almost deafening. Naruto said nothing as he thought over the conversation. To Team Mito, it looked like he was about to accept their offer and their hopes raised. But he then started to laugh out loud. "You make it sound like I hate my current home, White Eyes." He told her, earning a shocked gasp from her and warning growls from Kiba and Akamaru. "And you're also forgetting that I left. So that makes me a missing-nin, which means I'm in the bingo book, therefore I don't have to go back." He finished smugly.
"You're coming with us, Naruto." Mito told him. "And if you don't come willingly, then we will have force you to come with us." They had looked for him for too long. They weren't going to stop just because he didn't want to come. She was confident that once he was back in Konoha, he would be back to normal.
"I liked to see you try." He told them with a smirk.
turning to Azula. "Do you mind if I have a little fun, Princess?"
"It makes no difference to me." She answered, shrugging her shoulders. While she kept a collected posture and expression on the outside, on the inside she was getting excited. It was always entertaining to see her friend fight (at least when it wasn't her fighting him).
"Things are different now, Naruto! We're not Genin anymore and you haven't had a teacher in the past three years." Kiba told him. He and his teammates had trained hard in the past three years.
'Who says I didn't have a teacher?" Naruto asked as he undid the clasp on his cloak and pulled it off. Underneath the cloak, he wore no shirt underneath a black trench coat with red streaks. His pants were a blue color. He wore boots, but didn't tuck the legs of his pants into them. He had a dagger slung across his back but to others it seemed odd how he had done it. He had slung it so that the handle of the sword was pointing to the ground, just under his left arm, while the scabbard jutted out into the air from behind his right shoulder. His appearance made no attempt to hide the muscles he clearly had, causing Katara and Hinata to involuntary blush. Despite having seen it before, Ty Lee and Azula also sported blushes (Azula was able to hide hers better but not by much.
At that point, Mito had disappeared from sight and suddenly, tree roots sprang up from the platform, grew quickly, and coiled around Naruto. Soon enough, he was pinned against a tree with two roots holding him. He did not struggle against the roots as everyone watched him, Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai with worry, Team Mito with satisfaction and Aang, Sokka, Katara with curiosity.
"It's over, Naruto." Mito said as she appeared out of the tree above him. If she was honest, she was a little disappointed. She had hoped he would put up more of a fight. However, she didn't dwell on it. Instead, she drew her fist back. But before she could knock him unconscious with the fist, he made a fist of his own with his right hand and slammed it into her face, tearing through the roots that held him in the process.
"If you're going to hold me with Genjutsu, Mito, at least try. That was pathetic at best." He told her as the Genjutsu failed. He had been hoping for a little more, but was so far disappointed. "With any luck, that wasn't their best." He thought to himself as he waited.
She recovered and leapt back over to where her team was. "He broke a B-rank Genjutsu like it was nothing and he didn't even see me!" She thought to herself in surprise. Apparently, he had changed in the past three years. "Kiba, shino, Hinata, containment formation!" Mito ordered her team. If a solo attack wouldn't work, teamwork would definitely do it.
"Understood, Mito." replied shino. Team Mito had used this formation before. Kiba and Akamaru would engage the target, but not to beat him. They would just wear him down. Meanwhile, Hinata would get in close and use her Jūken to hit the target's Tenketsu. After the target's chakra was cut off, Mito would trap him with her suiton jutus or Genjutsu while shino would use his bugs to drain the enemy's chakra, thus subduing them.
"Let's go, Akamaru!" Kiba leapt at Naruto with Akamaru on his side. "Gatsūga (Fang over Fang)!" The two of them started twisting around, spinning faster and faster until they looked like small, grey tornados. As they hurtled towards Naruto, he did nothing but wait. When it look like they were about to hit him, he simply knelt down, letting them pass each other overhead. "Crap! We missed!" Kiba thought. Both He and Akamaru tried to do a U-turn in mid-air so they could try to hit Naruto again.
But it was an idea only. As both Kiba and Akamaru passed over Naruto, he whipped out his arms and plunged his hands into the two tornados, quickly grabbing Akamaru's tail and Kiba's leg. Tossing Akamaru up into the air, he swung Kiba down and punched him in hard in the stomach. The Inuzuka's breath was taken right out from him and he tried to keep his last meal down, especially when he crashed into the platform. That slowed him down enough for Naruto to take advantage of. The blonde stood back up and kicked him back over to his teammates. He then jumped upwards and roundhouse kicked Akamaru in the side, causing him to crash back into the ground in front of Kiba.
"Still the same, Inu-teme, always rushing into a fight." stated Naruto as he landed on the ground. "He was a harder fight back in the Academy ." He thought to himself.
"The difference here is that you already know how he fights." The Kyūbi reminded him.
"And he doesn't know how I fight now." He replied. That was when he felt himself covered in water ."trying to trap me eh Mito?" He asked aloud. Mito said nothing, that way she wouldn't let Naruto find out that he had moved closer and off to the side a little. "Not talking so that you'll hope I won't find out that you've changed your position?" He asked another question.
Mito was surprised by Naruto's question. "How did he know? I was completely silent as I moved and I did it while he was occupied with Kiba!" He thought.
"Points for trying but..." The blonde disappeared with a POOF! In his place was a piece of lumber from a nearby pile.
"He used a Kawarimi (Body Replacement)!" Mito quickly spun around to try to find where Naruto had gone to, only to see his eyes looking at him.
"You still fail."He said before decking Mito. "That's three down. I'm not impressed." He stated as he kicked Mito back to her teammates. He had hoped that they would put up more of fight, but so far, nothing. Sensing the incoming attack, he leaned back to avoid Hinata's fist. "And now it's Miss. White Eyes' turn to subdue me." He remarked mostly to himself.
"Please Naruto, just stop. I-I don't w-want to do this." Hinata said as she attacked, her old stutter coming back. She had worked hard to get rid of that stutter, but it sometimes popped up when she didn't need it (like now, for instance).
"Uh-huh." He said in a disbelieving tone as he kept avoiding her strikes. Even though it had been three years since he went up against the fighting style of the Hyūga clan, he remembered enough of it to completely avoid her strikes.
"I don't want to f-fight you Naruto." If anything, she wanted him to stop all this and come back with them.
"In that case, please hold still so I could beat you." He replied. But he didn't strike back. He just kept avoiding her strikes with ease.
Hinata didn't say anymore, she just kept trying to hit him with her Jūken but she kept missing. Naruto stayed just out of her reach by ducking, weaving and dodging. As Katara watched the fight, she realized something. "He's moving like an Airbender!" When she looked over at Aang, she could see that he had realized it too.
"Sounds like your friends are about to join us again." Naruto commented, making Hinata take a quick glance behind and saw that her team was about to rejoin the fight. Taking advantage of her distraction, he swept her legs out from under her, making her fall. Moving quickly, he grabbed her hair and pulled it back, exposing her throat which he grabbed tightly with his other hand. "Move and she dies!" He barked out.
The rest of Team Mito stopped as they saw what he did. "Let her go, Naruto!" Kiba demanded. It was probably a redundant thing to say, but it wasn't the time to think of things like that.
"No." The blonde replied shortly.
"You won't do this, Naruto." Shino told him. "Despite what you think, you're not a killer."
"And how would you know I'm not a killer?" Naruto asked as he tightened his grip on Hinata's throat, slowly suffocating her.
The Konoha Jōnin smiled. Despite everything that had just happened, he was still sure he knew him. "Because you're Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, and you would never hurt your friends."
Naruto sighed and released his grip on Hinata's throat, allowing her to breathe again. Just when they thought he was about to let her go, he spoke. "Mai, could I please borrow one of your knives?" She took out one of her many knives and threw it to him. He caught it in the air, said "Thank you." before plunging the knife into Hinata's stomach. The rest of Team Mito couldn't believe what they saw, but it still happened. Aang and the others flinched as they heard Hinata scream while Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee let nothing show on their faces. "What are you screaming about?" Naruto asked her as she stopped screaming. "I didn't stab anything critical. But if I were to dragged this to your left..." He pulled the knife lightly in that direction, making Hinata gasp in pain. "I would tear open your liver and that would kill you."
"Naruto, you bastard!" yelled an outraged Kiba. He would've done something if his teammate wasn't being held hostage.
"Oh, relax. I'm not going to kill her like that." He pulled the knife out of her and tossed it back to Mai. "It takes too long." He formed a Rasengan with one hand. "Have you ever seen what a Rasengan does to a face?" He asked them. "It's not pretty. Maybe I should show you what it does?" He brought the Rasengan closer to Hinata's face. The swirling edge of the blue orb seemed to hover a bare inch before her cheek.
"Alright, Naruto, you win. Just don't do it," Mito begged, knowing that they were beat. "What do you want us to do?"
"Turn around and leave. The king stays with us." He ordered, still holding the Rasengan close to his hostage's face.
"What about Hinata?" She asked, not wanting to lose her.
"I will let Hinata go so that we know one of us can act in good faith." He said in reply, reminding her of the failed Genjutsu attempt.
She was silent for a few seconds. "What happen to you, Naruto?" She asked. "What happened to the loudmouth, knuckleheaded brother who would shout about being Hokage one day? What happened to the kid that we all cared about?, the brother who used to shout how much he loved Sakura"
"He was never there in the first place, that whole life in the village was fake, the only time he was happy was with Itachi, but if you want to know what happened go and ask your Hokage-sama." He released Hinata and let the Rasengan fade away. As soon as she felt his grip leave her, she ran back to her team.
As soon as Hinata reached her, Mito turned to face Aang and the others. "We're leaving." She stated.
"But what about Bumi?" asked Aang. "We can't just leave him, can we?" His friend was right there, within easy reach. They couldn't just leave him there.
"You knew this could happen, Aang. We took a gamble and we lost." Sokka told him. "Right now, it's best if we get out of here." If they didn't, things might get even worse.
"That was very nicely done, Naruto. You did well against them." Azula told him as he rejoined them.
"It wasn't hard. They were predictable, that's all. I faced tougher enemies." He was actually a little disappointed. He would've thought they would get better in three years. But that didn't seem the case here. And he wasn't sure if it was because they didn't know what to expect from him, or if it because of what he had been through.
Mai gave a signal, and the iron coffin holding Bumi was being taken back up. "See you all later!" he called out as he gave off a mad laugh.
Aang watched as his friend was being pulled upwards. He couldn't take it anymore. He had to save his friend. "Bumi!" He shouted as he raced across the platform.
"Get back here, Aang!" Sokka called out to the Airbender. Aang ignored him as he leapt up the scaffolding and then off of it. As he opened his glider and began to fly, his hat came off, showing his arrow tattoo.
As they watched this whole spectacle, Naruto simply turned to Azula. "I told you it was going to be him." He said.
"Yes, you did. "Azula replied. "And now, it's my lucky day." She raced up the scaffolding after her target.
"Well, I've had my share of fun." Naruto turned around and started to walk away. "It's your turn, girls." He told Mai and Ty Lee, who rushed towards Sokka and the others.
"We need to get out of here!" Katara said as she readied herself for a fight.
Sokka was already blowing on the bison-shaped whistle that was always carried by one of them. "Way ahead of ya," He told her. He looked at Team Mito, which was still in a bit of a mess. "Can you guys move?" He asked them.
"Yeah, we can." Mito answered. They might've been hurt, but they could move.
"We need to get out of here and you guys have already fought, so it's our turn. Katara, give us some cover while I get them out. She didn't argue, she simply nodded in agreement.
"Akamaru, you do the same but stay close to her." Kiba told his partner, who barked once in acknowledgment. As they tried to get to the ladder, Sokka was tripped by a fist coming up from under the platform. He skidded to the edge, but stopped just as his head was hanging out over the edge (which Shino and Mito pulled him away from). Jumping out from a hole in the platform, Ty Lee went after him.
Katara was about to stop her when Mai flung a couple of knives at her. She quickly bent her water to tear off some of the woods planks on the platform. They leapt up just in time to block the knives. Using her water, Katara shoved the planks back at Mai before bending her water into a whip and throwing it at Ty Lee. Grabbing her ankle, she quickly dragged the acrobat back, allowing Sokka and the others to escape.
Then they heard a yell coming from above. Bumi's iron coffin, with Aang on it, fell past them. Taking notice of where they were going to land (one of the many slides of Omashu), Aang acted quickly and bent the air below them into a cushion so that they landed safely on the slide. Azula watched them speed away for a second before jumping into a cart and going after them.
"Just like old times, isn't it Bumi?" Aang asked as they flew done the slide. He couldn't help but laugh in excitement at it.
"Aang! I need to talk to you!" Bumi shouted, but the wind muffled his words so Aang heard something a little different.
"It's good to see you too!" He replied. Then he noticed that Azula had caught up with them.
Meanwhile, Katara was fighting against Mai (the dog was keeping a close guard around her so that Mai couldn't get close and Ty Lee had disappeared from Katara's eyesight). She bent her water while Mai used projectiles. After bending backwards to avoid a water whip, Mai shot a needle from her ankle-holster. Katara quickly formed her water into ice to block the needle and Mai used that to charge forward.
Katara melted the ice back into water and shot at Mai, who had just flung her arm in a throwing motion. The water engulfed her arm and hardened back into ice, effectively trapping her arm. However Katara's victory was short-lived. Ty Lee appeared from behind and rushed Katara, sweeping the legs out from under Akamaru in the process. Taking advantage of the Water Tribe girl's surprise, she jabbed several points in Katara's arms before leaping away to Mai's side. Once that happened, the ice surrounding Mai's arm melted and felled on the ground. Not sure what exactly had happened, Katara tried to bend the water, only for it to rise up sluggishly and then fall down again.
"How are you going fight without your Bending?" Mai asked mockingly, pulling out a three-bladed knife. But before she could throw the knife, it was knocked out of her hand by Sokka's boomerang.
"I seem to manage!" The Tribesman declared from atop of Appa. The sky bison quickly landed in front of the two girls and blasted air at them so hard that they flew away. Katara as well as the dogs quickly got on board after that. Katara joined her brother on Appa's head while Akamaru joined Team Mito in the saddle.
Soon enough, Appa flying down the city with everyone on board looking for Aang. Katara saw him first. "There he is!" She said, pointing to a particular slide.
"We can catch him!" Sokka brought Appa down closer to the slide while Aang was trying to defend himself from Azula's fire.
"Hang on Bumi! Our ride's here!" The Air Nomad told his friend. As Appa got right alongside the slide, Aang bent the air to lift Bumi's iron coffin up over Appa. Sokka and Katara tried to grab hold and bring it down, but it sailed over their heads. Both Aang and Bumi smashed through a different slide before landing in the first one again. Azula quickly bent her fire into a wheel and sent it after them.
Watching the fire wheel come after them, Bumi gave a grunt of effort and lifted his chin, causing a small column of rock to shoot up from the slide and stop the fire. It also gave them the added bonus of stopping Azula by smashing her cart into it, making her jump out of it and land on her feet. After skidding to a stop on the slide, she watched the two of them race away.
"You could Earthbend? All along?!" asked a stunned Aang. He couldn't believe that his friend could do something like that.
"Well, they didn't cover my face." King Bumi replied. As they got near the end of the slide, he moved his chin and caused another column to shoot up at the end. Aang jumped off as the iron coffin landed on top of the column.
"I don't understand. Why didn't you free yourself? Why did you surrender when Omashu was invaded? What's the matter with you, Bumi?!" Aang demanded. He had a lot of questions and he wanted them to be answered.
"Listen to me, Aang. There are options in fighting called jing. It's a choice of how you direct your energy." Bumi told him.
"I know! There's positive jing when you're attacking and negative jing when you're retreating." Aang told him, sounding (and looking) like a little know-it-all brat while holding up two fingers to emphasize what he was saying.
"And neutral jing when you do nothing!" exclaimed the king of Omashu.
That, he did not know. "There are three jings?" He asked aloud, looking at the three fingers he now held up.
"Well, technically there are eighty five, but let's just focus on the third. Neutral jing is the key to Earthbending. It involves listening and waiting for the right moment to strike." He explained.
"That's why you surrendered." Aang said, realizing what his old friend had done. "Isn't it?"
"Yes. But it's also the reason why I can't leave now."
When he heard that, the Avatar became disheartened. "I guess I need to find someone else to teach me Earthbending." He said as he turned away from his old friend.
"Your teacher will be someone who has mastered neutral Jing. You need to find someone who waits and listens before striking." Bumi assured him.
Out of nowhere Momo landed on Aang's shoulder, making him turn to face Bumi again. "Hey, Momo," He greeted the lemur, happy to see him again.
"Momo's mastered a few jings himself." Bumi noted, earning a screech from the lemur. "Goodbye, Aang. I'll see you when the time is right." He then pushed his coffin back onto the slide and bent the rock to push him back up the slide, laughing madly all the way. As he watched his friend disappear from sight, Aang saw Appa arrive.
The atmosphere was a little tense as they headed back to the resistance camp. No one really talked to Aang, who finally decided to break the silence. "Are you all mad with me?" He asked them.
"We're not mad, we're disappointed." Sokka answered, making him a bit nervous.
"We will talk about this later." Mito told them. "For now, let's get back to the resistance."
They all nodded in agreement and let Appa continued on his flight. The silence had returned and now, it was beginning to make the flight seem longer. No one said a word, which didn't help Aang's nerves.
When they landed just outside of the camp, they noticed that it was too quiet. "They should have noticed us landing." Sokka noted. A landing sky-bison did tend to make some noise.
"Let's move quickly, something might have happened." Sasuke ordered. They hurried to the camp and when they saw what had happened, they didn't like it. All the civilians were gagged and bound. All the warriors and Earthbenders were all on the ground and not moving. And sitting on a rock, in the middle of the camp, and playing with the toddler, was Naruto.
"It took you guys long enough." He said when he looked up and noticed them.
"What did you do, Naruto?!" Hinata asked in shock, looking around at everyone there.
"Huh? Oh, you mean them?" He gestured to the people on the ground with a free hand (which soon went back to playing with the toddler). "Don't worry, they're only unconscious. By the way, my congratulations to you, Mito," The blonde said to her.
"Congratulations?" She was suspicious of those words, as she didn't know what he meant.
"Didn't you always want me to disappear. My name is just naruto Uzumaki, no Namikaze."
"Why are you here?" Katara asked with caution, figuring that it was now best to trend with caution with him.
"I'm just here to get Tom-Tom here." He answered, bouncing the toddler on his knee, making him giggle.
"Well that's all the time I have for you, now I must be going." Naruto told them as he stood up from the rock with Tom-Tom in his arms.
"Where do you think you're going, Naruto?" Shino asked him, coming out of his silence along with the rest of his team.
"I'm leaving, isn't it obvious?"
"And you think you can go? You are surrounded and you have just been in battle. You are tried and you plan to leave with someone."
Naruto gave a mischievous grin. "Two things, bug boy," He told Shino. "Number one: I barely broke a sweat when I fought you guys. Number Two: Remember when I said that you were trying to get something for nothing?" Before they could answer, both he and Tom-Tom disappeared with POOF! As they waved the smoke that was left, they saw a note left on the rock. Sokka picked it up and read aloud to the group. It read:
I guess I'm better than you when it comes to that.
Naruto
Aang looked around at everyone. "What do we do now?"
"Let's get the civilians untied and wake up the warriors and Earthbenders." Sokka decided for them. "After that, we leave Omashu, fast."
"In the meantime, my team and I need to make a report." Mito said. "Lord Hokage must be told of what has happened."