Chapter 1: A New Beginning

AN: Hello there! I'm AJ and this is the first time I attempted to write anything without the reason being an assignment for school. I've been reading fics for a couple of years now and just decided to take a shot at it with the hopes that I don't fail too badly. Well, I doubt you're interested in this so I'll just proceed with the chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Avatar: The Last Airbender

Azure eyes fluttered open to the unfamiliar terrain and hazily took everything in. They slowly moved from left to right with nothing but white to be presented within their field of vision. With visible and somewhat heavy masculine breaths being the only sound to hit the owner's ears along with a quiet breeze, this person seemed to be male.

'Where am I?' He thought as the blue eyes blinked away what remaining blurriness that was obscuring their sight.

That was when he registered the cold embrace surrounding his prone form.

'Snow?' He thought as his gloved hands gripped a handful of said substance and let go after a few moments, letting the small pieces of white to return to the soft ground. His mind, while still hazy, was able to think back to the mission he undertook in Yuki no Kuni, otherwise formerly known as the Land of Snow before becoming Haru no Kuni when the country's snow melted from discovered heat generators and an eternal sunshine blanketed its lands.

That was one hell of mission in his opinion and was certainly something that helped fuel the fires of his determination to become stronger in order to protect his precious people. Those chakra-armored shinobi were definitely no joke and...

...Wait...

An endless amount of his thoughts started crashing together within the depths of his mind.

'Shinobi...fighting...biju...Akatsuki...Jubi...Madara-'

"Oh shit!" He exclaimed as he suddenly rose into a sitting position, knocking off the snow upon his torso and arms before wincing as the soreness throughout his body made itself known. He stretched his arms and felt the ache that shot from his shoulders down to his wrists. That's when he noticed the minor cuts and bruises along his forearms, but saw that whatever wounds that they used to be were nothing more than the small marks they currently were and could only assume the same could be said about the rest of his body.

'Good old regeneration.' He thought as he sighed before getting back to the situation at hand.

His eyes frantically looked around as he was trying to come to terms of where exactly he was at. 'Snow...snow...oh look...more snow...' He thought bitterly as his mind was working in a frenzy.

"Okay, get your shit together and try to understand what happened." He quietly said to himself while lightly slapping his whiskered cheeks to clear his thoughts. He proceeded to comb his hand through his spiky sun-kissed blonde hair as bits of more snow fell to the ground. "Alright, the Jubi was absorbed into Madara...shit hit the fan...again...and-" his voice suddenly became a coughing fit as a snowflake floated into his mouth.

'What the hell?!' He coughed and spat to the side as he was trying to get the nasty taste that attacked his tongue. 'Since when do snowflakes taste like that?!'

After quickly regaining his bearings, he looked up into the grey sky as a most unusual force of nature was occurring. 'Black snow?' Indeed there were dots of black falling onto the white surface and mixed in giving the surrounding area a slight feeling of bad foreboding.

Putting his task of figuring out how his current location aside, he enhanced his senses with his chakra to find any sort of activity that would lead to this strange phenomenon or to just find any source of life. Closing his eyes as he focused, he picked up a decent amount of muffled shouting to his left, along with plenty of energy signatures that can't quite be classified as chakra, but still similar nonetheless.

He groggily got up to his feet and proceeded to walk at a slow pace with a 'crunch' being made with every step. He wasn't quite sure if there was an emergency situation occurring, but even with the desire to get to the unknown location quickly, his body just didn't want to cooperate as it seemed his energy was running low. He just had to deal with his slow pace and hope for the best. 'Please let everything be okay; just one day of peace isn't too much to ask for, is it?'

Oh if only he knew where his life was heading to now...

There was panic everywhere in the fairly sized and normally peaceful community of the Southern Water Tribe. People were running around for cover with hopes of not being a prime target of the invaders with their unforgiving and merciless flames that didn't seem to ever end.

Sure, there were those that fought back with whatever tools they could get their hands such as clubs mostly found within the grasp of their warriors or even the spears normally used for fishing rather than fighting. However, it seemed as all of their efforts were for naught as the armored clad firebenders pushed forward with nothing but a successful mission on their minds and promised terror held within their eyes through red masks covering the upper portion of their faces.

It was at this sight where a cute little eight-year-old girl with light brown skin, dark brown hair, and bright blue eyes was running around frantically with an objective that she couldn't afford to fail. Her well-known hair 'loopies' were swaying in the air as her terrified visage looked around for the person she desperately needed.

After a few more moments of weaving through broken tents, igloos, and small skirmishes, she found her desired target and quickly ran up to him. Right before she made herself known, the man threw a firebender into a nearby pile of snow and currently held a face that showed that he was no stranger to these kinds of fights. He looked as he always did with his light brown skin, chin-length brown hair and a small wolf tail tied behind his head and wore a heavy blue coat that protected him from the cold much like her own. Two longer strands of hair each held by a single blue bead swayed next to his right cheek and bearded jawline as he followed through with the take-down of the before mentioned firebender.

This man is known as chief Hakoda, a strong warrior and the village leader as shown by his title. However, to a couple of small children he is known as-

"Dad! Dad!" Hakoda quickly looked up to his young daughter on a small nearby snowy ridge with immense fear and panic glowing in her eyes.

'Katara?' Hakoda thought.

"Please! I think mom is in trouble! There's a man in our house!" Katara shouted desperately.

"Kya!" Hakoda yelled in worry as he instantly started at a dead sprint towards his home with Katara not far behind. They passed by the various tents and igloos that Katara just trekked through, but barely paid them any mind. Explosive fire support shot from a distance on the other side of the defensive wall surrounding the village and impacted in random parts of the community. One could easily guess that it all came from the invaders' ships with the bird-clad flag representing the Southern Raiders. However, none of the chaos surrounding the pair mattered as the only goal in their sights is securing the safety of their beloved wife/mother.

They soon came upon their modest igloo and quickly pushed the tarp acting as a door out of the way...but it was already too late. The various sets of furniture, clothing, and miscellaneous items inside were in disarray as if they were either destroyed or knocked around to enforce fear for the lone occupant inside.

Katara and her father didn't have to wait even a second before their eyes glanced upon the prone, still form of Kya on the middle of the floor. For the longest time in their perspective, they just simply stared. Various emotions exploded in their blue eyes with neither moving an inch and stood frozen as if they experienced the coldest and harshest winter yet. Moisture built up at the corners of their eyes before tears fell freely down their cheeks before dripping to the ground. As the first tear from Katara made contact with the floor, she snapped out of her trance upon hearing the very quiet 'drip', and ran to her mother with a choked sob and yelled in unconstrained fright.

"Mom!"

The blonde finally managed to make it where the commotion was at, albeit slowly and with a small limp. He continued to walk until he reached the top of the ash-covered hill he was now standing on and just stood still. From his viewpoint, he was overlooking the now revealed panicked village situated near the open ocean. The sight of fire raining down upon the frightened, defenseless people made his thoughts run a mile a minute. 'Who are all these people and who is attacking them?'

He got his answer when a few similarly dressed men came around a few burned tents. He first noticed their black and red cloak-like armor which just seemed as only being a way to keep warm instead of protecting their bodies from potential attacks, although it did look pretty reinforced and could keep more thin armor underneath. Their helmets were mostly black and round with a red mask covering their foreheads, eyes, and the sides of their craniums. It gave them a bird-like appearance with the mask looking similar to wings. Their mouths, however, remained unprotected. The last part of their outfit was the black pants with pointy boots that reached below their knees and matched the color scheme of their torso.

What really brought attention to them was the prepared balls of fire surrounding their hands before they launched said fire at multiple tents and igloos behind the escaping villagers and prepared more for their next attack.

'No hand signs?' The man mentally asked himself as he watched more homes and equipment being set ablaze. 'I got to do something!' However, any plan of stopping them halted as he heard the distant orders to retreat. He scoffed in irritation and decided to find a way past the wall. As he was about walk down the hill, his foot went into a small hole that was a tad too deep and lost his balance. The result...a violently cursing blonde man as he rolled down the unforgiving white fluffy surface. What made his stumble more interesting was that his voice was muffled every other second. It would have been humorous in a way if not for the dreadful atmosphere radiating in the air.

Once he was given mercy by reaching the bottom he let out a strained, "Damn it..."

As he pulled himself from the snow for the second time that day, he noticed a hole in the surrounding wall, most likely caused from the long range fire support from the ships that were currently leaving the village's shores. He slowly made his way through the recently damaged wall and took in his surroundings.

Fear and destruction...that's basically all he could pick up from the people and the environment itself. Homes were destroyed and people were trying to get those that were injured treatment; it was just a chaotic site in front of him, not the worst he's seen, but still had the less than desired effect of dread.

It took a little time to take in as much as he could stand before proceeding forward at a small and even pace while slowly looking around. The people took notice of him after a little bit and instantly became cautious. Mothers huddled their children behind them for protection, father's readied themselves in any way they could just in case this new stranger became hostile, and everyone else simply found cover or tended to the wounded. He couldn't blame them, especially after this attack and considering he was also a complete stranger to everyone with unknown intentions.

As he walked by he heard the people mutter and whisper things like "Who is that?" and "Is he with the Fire Nation?" Once that was uttered, they all looked like they were either ready to run or fight at an instant. He could only hope no one saw him as an immediate threat to be taken care of.

It was at that thought that he heard the crying shouts of a child and the muffled voice of a man from a nearby igloo that managed to stay intact. Despite his better judgement to not intrude since it seemed all the fire wielding men were gone, he made his way towards the tarped entrance. As he stopped in front of it he heard a the child's voice again. "We have to get her help dad!" She said in between sobs, "She won't last much longer!"

The blonde heard an exhausted sigh escape the lips of who he now knew to be the girl's father. "Katara...I... I don't..."

"You don't what?" She said meekly as if afraid to hear what he was trying to say.

The whiskered man then slightly pushed the tarp ajar to let him get a small peek inside without alerting them of his presence. As he looked on he saw the girl named Katara standing in front of her father while behind him was obviously the immobile woman they were fretting about. He couldn't see much of her, but he saw a few burned fragments of clothing with blood on them and other drops staining the floor around her body.

'Oh no...'

Hakoda dropped in front of Katara on his right knee while gently grabbing her shoulders and looking at her with similar red, puffy eyes. "Sweetie...listen to me," her attention was entirely focused on his grief-stricken eyes, "Y-your mother...is...is at peace now...she's not hurting anymore." He sorrowfully said as he slightly shook his head to hold back surfacing tears. He had to be strong for his daughter.

Katara didn't respond at first as she stared at him unable to fully process what she was just told. It seemed like an eternity until the tears and sobs came back full force as her father held her in a tight embrace with her face in the crook of his neck. He let a couple streams of water escape his own eyes as well while they were tightly closed.

The whiskered blonde felt his heart ache at the scene. Even though he's seen numerous deaths throughout his career, he couldn't entirely ignore them or he really couldn't entirely see himself as a sane person. He especially couldn't fend off the sadness taking over his emotions when he just witnessed an innocent child experience a horror such as this. Even with the lack of a constant parental figure in his life, he understood the pain of losing loved ones. The pain will always be there, no matter how much one comes to terms with it or how much time passes. This had to be learned the hard way...

'I should've gotten here sooner! I could've at least had an attempt to help her!' Despite this family being complete strangers in an unknown place, he couldn't help but feel frustrated at what he could have done. Others would simply console with him and say that it wasn't his fault and he couldn't control the situation. He, however, would say otherwise. He was a an awesome shinobi, damn it! He had the right potential, skills, and he fought through all the obstacles set in front of him and accomplished what everyone deemed impossible for him!

He even made a supposed murderous and heartless missing-nin bawl his eyes out after a few passionate words! Who the hell can say they did the same?!

He didn't know if it was because of his risingly heating thoughts, but there was a tiny nudging at the back of his conscience telling him to go inside. Of course he started to resist that idea, but he always followed his instincts and he's done well so far, right?!...

...Even though it wasn't exactly his plan to find himself in a completely unknown village among a type of populous he hasn't seen before...almost completely drained of energy...sore...completely unprepared for any sudden confrontation...you get the point!

He just had to find reassurance in knowing that his trusty gut was always there when his life depended on it.

With a bated breath he hesitantly pushed the tarp out of the way and stepped inside. He didn't really get much farther than that with his hesitance keeping him unmoving as he awkwardly stood there trying to decide if going inside would accomplish anything or if he should escape quickly. 'What the hell am I doing?! There is nothing left that I can do for her! What am I supposed to say? 'Oh sorry your loved one died and I'm interrupting this emotional moment, but I offer my condolences and please completely disregard I'm a total stranger and you don't know how I got here.' Yup...absolutely smooooth,' he thought sarcastically.

Either fortunately or unfortunately, his presence was detected and he froze where he stood like a deer caught in the headlights.

Hakoda stiffened as his eyes shot open and took in the stranger standing in front of him. He stood at a height of an even six feet and his spiky blonde hair certainly stood out. He doubted he's seen even a few if any people at all with that hair color. It's like it was being constantly hugged by the sun! However, it seemed slightly tainted with sweat and grime as if he just got done with fighting someone or going through some sort of rigorous training.

His eyes then caught his attention as they were like deep pools of blue not unlike his daughter, but they had a certain... allure about them. He knew a hardened warrior when he saw one, especially if you got a good look in their eyes, despite the current panic showcasing itself within his dialating pupils. This individual has certainly seen and experienced the worst things this world had to offer. This gave him all the more reason to defend himself and Katara at a moment's notice. There was, however, a sense of understanding and remorse. Regardless, he will remain on guard. He wasn't going to lose anyone else!

As he observed the rest of his face he saw something very unusual. 'Are those whiskers?" Indeed there were three whisker marks on each cheek. The only explanation he could come up with is that they were tattoos or a birthmark, but how are these types of birthmarks possible?

He then took in his clothing which have definitely seen better days. His red haori with black flames lining the bottom hem and edges of its short sleeves were dirtied and damaged. A long-sleeved black shirt with a single dark orange stripe traveled from his wrist to shoulder, then went down his sides, had holes and tears where it was visible and over that was a black flak jacket with many useful pockets. What caught his eye on it was a rectangular piece of metal that held a symbol he hasn't seen before. He guessed it was deemed important as he noticed it was placed over the man's heart. Upon his hands were fingerless black gloves and they each held the same symbolized metal that seemed to be used for protection and enhancing punches. Although his left hand held the same symbol that was on his chest while the right had a swirl instead. None of this was able to hide that the man had a lean but muscular frame that seemed primarily used for speed.

He also adorned black cargo pants taped at his ankles while they were tucked into black combat boots. A pouch was attached to his right thigh to hold items for quick access and he could barely see what seemed to be a larger pouch held at the back of his hip. Just like the clothing on his upper body, they were all scruffled and could use some repairs. The only piece of clothing that wasn't visible was the necklace holding a special green crystal tucked into his shirt.

After Hakoda's observation was done he abruptly stood up alerting Katara of the the mysterious man's appearance.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" Hakoda demanded as he held Katara behind him.

"I...uh..." He was simply at a loss for words and started to fidget on the spot.

Katara then peeked around her father's leg and got a good look at the man intruding in her home. Who was he? Where did he come from? He obviously wasn't from their tribe. 'Is that fire on his clothing? Fire Nation?' At that thought she slightly moved back into her father's guard and gripped his pants tighter.

"It...it's just," he continued as glanced at Kya. "I'm lost right now and just felt...I don't know." He nervously rubbed the back of his head and averted his gaze from the chief and made contact with the sad and afraid blue orbs of Katara. He sent an apologetic look towards her and let out a exasperated sigh. "I'm sorry for what happened to your mother; she didn't deserve this."

While this may have put the pair at ease, even just a little bit, Hakoda narrowed his eyes, "You still didn't answer my question." He leered threatingly.

"Look," the stranger spoke again, "I have no idea how I got here or what's going on, but I felt that-" There! There was that nudging again! What does this mean? Was he supposed to do something?

He stopped speaking upon this feeling and only further made the pair curious and cautious. He looked at them, then at Kya and the mysterious feeling came back stronger. In fact, the longer he stared at her still body the stronger the nudges became and without realizing it, he was walking towards her.

Hakoda immediately got ready for a fight, "Get back or-" He and Katara suddenly gasped confusing the blonde.

He was trying to understand what was wrong until he felt it. His chakra was blazing right now! He doubted it was visible, but the aura resonating from him could be felt all around. There were even other nearby tribesmen that suddenly froze trying to process the overwhelming presence they sensed.

With Hakoda being frozen and unable to react further, the stranger continued his walk and passed the duo and stood in front of Kya. He didn't know why he walked up to her; his body just moved on its own as if on autopilot. He simply stared down at her with complete suspenseful silence. An unknown amount of time passed before the power rose in intensity and he could have sworn there was an audible 'hum' in the air; like a small vibration.

Then when it couldn't get any more strange, his eyes...just seemed to have all the mysterious power escaping from them. Words started to scratch at his mind, but they weren't clear enough to understand. They kept repeating and repeating as his gaze hardened on the Water Tribe woman.

...That's when it happened...

Without warning and no control over his own body the man yelled-

"Gedo: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu!"

Before anyone knew what was happening, something amazing occurred. Kya's body was illuminated in a magnificent blue and lit up the igloo. Hakoda and Katara's eyes widened as they focused on her as they finally snapped out of their daze.

Her body continued to glow for what seemed like hours before it slowly faded away leaving the awed audience in utter stillness.

A series of coughs then suddenly broke the silence, confusing them all. However, what shocked everyone was that they didn't come from Hakoda, Katara, or even the man standing quietly over the deceased...

...Or at least...that's what they thought until they traced the coughs to her.

Complete and utter shock was shown on the faces of everyone present when Kya slightly sat up using her elbow as support when she lazily looked around the room. Her tired eyes continued to glance around before they landed on two people she could never mistaken.

"...Hakoda...K-katara?" She quietly said in a raspy voice.

Tears once again built in their eyes, but instead of the guilt and grief being there before...

...There was an eruption of relief and happiness.

"Mom/Kya!" They exclaimed as they ran to her and just about tackled her before taking her a gentle and loving embrace.

A few moments was all it took before-

THUD

All of their attention was then brought to the momentarily forgotten blonde. They saw that he was laying on his side and looked to be fighting to stay awake if his fluttering eye lids gave anything away. That was when they felt their breaths hitch in their throats when they got a real good look at his eyes.

Even in his tired state he was able to register their reactions and became confused...until he was able to glance at a nearby broken piece of glass. In his reflection...all he could process was...

'Purple...ripples...R-Rinne...' Then he felt his vision becoming blurry and falling into sweet unconsciousness... but not before seeing the purple being replaced by a familiar blue.

(The Next Morning)

Blue eyes once again opened, but instead of the grey sky it was to a white ceiling.

He let out a sigh, 'Is me waking up in mysterious places going to become an everyday thing?'

"Well, good morning." A soft voice spoke up.

He suddenly turned his head to the woman he believed to be dead sitting on the floor with Katara sleeping snug in her arms.

The woman's dark brown hair was still messy indicating she just couldn't be bothered with it, but was able to get into a proper change of clothing. Her eyes looked to be tired, but still at ease and not afraid of the awakened man.

There was also a little boy that seemed to be around the same age as Katara leaning against her side as he let out small snores in his slumber. He had the same clothes that everyone seemed to own here and had the same wolf tail Hakoda possessed tied behind his head except the sides of his cranium were shaven.

"Um...good morning?" He wasn't really sure how to progress the conversation further since he was still gathering his thoughts. He sat up and realized he was comfortably positioned in a blue sleeping bag with only his tattered shirt and pants on. He was about to speak again, but gave a raspy cough instead. He looked up to Kya as she nudged her head to the cup of water next to him. He understood and gave a nod in thanks before he greedily drank the water in one go and let out a sigh of relief.

"I think proper introductions should be made," Kya started, "I'm Kya, and these are my children Katara and Sokka. The man you saw yesterday was my husband Hakoda. What's your name?" She asked gently with a smile.

He looked at her in silence for a few seconds and let out a small foxy smirk.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Chapter End

AN: Well, that's it for now and I hoped you found this at least somewhat entertaining, me being new to this and all. Please let me know what you thought in a review and how I can possibly improve.

Oh, and Naruto in this story is stronger and knows a lot more due to a combination of taking shit seriously during the training trip and shadow clones...yeah...but he has to learn about the new culture presented to him. He's not going to be OOC or anything, just slightly altered skill-wise. At least I hope I can capture his character well.

Oh and can you believe I typed this on my phone during TV commercials ;)

Thanks for reading and until next time...

LATER!