Okay so this was the last story I made during my time without internet to do research, I have the ATLA on dvd. This one has been on my to do list for story ideas for a long time actually, probably my longest after dragon and fayth. So here it is, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Avatar.

It'd been a solid two months since he left Konoha with his sensei Jiraiya on a training trip to get stronger in three years before setting out to bring back Sasuke and deal with whatever Akastuki throws at him. The two months so far had been spent not training new thigs, but retraining, starting from the basics, to correct the flaws in his education and training from the sabotage he suffered during his early youth on up to becomng a genin. A good thing too, because he nearly died due to his underdeveloped skills at the hands of a deranged sasuke, which he honestly should have died by his hands in their last fight, if not fot the kyuubi sealed within him. That was a sobering thought, he owed his life not to his own skill, but to something conditional that caused him so many problems in his life, caused all of the hatred that was directed at him. He needed to be stronger if he was going to protect himself especially if he didn't want to rely on the kyuubi's power to do it.

Thus came the retraining; Jiraiya revealed the secret of the Shadow clone technique of memroy/experience transfer from clones to clones and original, when a clone dispelled. This led to Jiraiya running a mass of clones through a gauntlet of a trainig regiment. Going through the academics over again, going through the Katas of the Academy style and Frog kumite, redeveloping all of his current jutsu, going through all of the chakra exercises he knew plus some new ones jiraiya taught him, weapon techniques, Rasengan retraining, everything was touched upon and new was added. This resulted in his better mastery of his old techniques, new versions like his solid shapeshift henge as a true transformation, and back to mastering the rasengan again, insead of settling on his shortcut. Thanks to clones being able to divide the work, Naruto was left free to physical conditioning, meaning no time was wasted in his training.

A good thing too, since in three years, he had to rise from genin level, to Jonin if not higher if he was to be prepared for the threats that await him, one of which was Sasuke himself, who no doubt would be training as hard with his sharingan to aid his training. Those eyes were the root of his problems, Orochimaru wanting them, Sasuke's obsession with Itachi to kill him and desiring power, all because of those damn eyes... He should have clawed them out of his eye sockets instead of aiming for his headband, without his eyes the snake wouldn't want him anymore. If only he had thought of that before, but having a chidori encased hand in his solar plexus did kind of break his thought process. He could still feel a slight tingle, in his solar plexus and in his right chest area. His healing factor may leave him without scars, but those chidori were especially vicious, they had left scars, wounds that opened after the battle, and now he had knarled, twisted flesh where the hole was that spiral out from the center, and at the edge of the hole, were lightning shaped scars radiating outward, as though the lightning of the chidori had been frozen in his flesh.

"Brat, quit thinking so heavily, you're bringing the mood down." Looking over to the source of the voice, Naruto saw his sensei Jiraiya, who was sitting by a fire cookig their dinner. "Seriously, never took you for one to brood." The man commented, looking to his appentice as he sat to his right facing the fire as well.

"I'm not brooding! Just...thinking."

"Thinking about some heavy and negative stuff right?" He asked, and got a hesitant nod from his apprentice. "Yeah, that's brooding. Don't do it, it doesn't look right on your face." He stated and Naruto huffed.

"Not like I can help it! All I'm doing is training, me and my clones, that's like hundreds of minds with nothing better to do than to let our thoughts wander, so I end up thinking about a lot of things, including how things used to be...like when I was growing up and sasuke." He murmured the last part, though jiraiya still heard it. He focused his attention on his appentice now and considered what he said. So it wasn't just experiences, but also the individual thoughts of each clone he got back when they dispelled. That could be useful... and bad, seeing what naruto was going through now, his thoughts were nestled in the negative, and truthfully he had a great deal to be negative about considering his history and none of it his own fault. No, this wouldn't do, not at all.

"Then I guess I need to not only keep you and your clones training, but all your minds occupied too. I'll run you through some mental exercises that enhances focus and other aspects of the mind. For now, think on something else, something that you can set your mind to in your down time, like a hobby or even learning a new skill that doesn't apply to fighting. Your friend Sakura is becoming a healer and I'm sure she has her own hbbies. The ar are always on about Shogi or some other board game and loof after deer, the akimichi are cooks and own restaurants, the yamanaka tend to gardens and flowers, eve have their own shop, just to list a few examples. You'd do good with something like that too." Jiraiya advised. This had naruto thinking now, what could he do for a hobby in his off time?

Jiraiya looked to naruto and thought a moment before he pulled his pack over to him, ruffling through it before pulling out a small scroll and tossing it over to naruto. "I spend a lot of time on the road between towns, so I had to occupy my time between towns or when waiting for a contact... and sometimes as an exploit in getting some research done. That's my hobby scroll, tomorrow make some extra clones to go through it and pick up a few hobbies out of it."

Naruto caught the scroll and listened, nodding before he opened it. There were several storage seals, lined one after the other as the scroll was further opened, each had a description, one had carving tools, another was weaving and knots, games of different types, some simple instruments like flutes, ocarina, lap zither, and such, and a few other things. "Thanks Ero Sennin." He spoke.

"No problem kid. It's always good to have something to do to relax, too much work and you'll fry your brain before you get to do anything with it. Which speaking of, how is your study in fuinjutsu coming?"

"Comig good, I've got a handle on making storage seals like the ones in scrolls or our kunai and shuriken holsters, as well as stasis seals for food. That's about it though." He spoke off handedly, looking back to the scroll and looking it over. Jiraiya on the other hand gumbled a bit. Naruto didn't realize that he accomplished in a few weeks from knowing nothing to now making storage and stasis seals, something that took months, and he was only studying fuinjutsu here ad there, not at all putting any efort into it. The uzumaki really were gifted for fuinjutsu, and if it weren't for needing to fix his flawed education, he'd be grinding fuinjutsu into his very bones to take advantage of that.

However fuinjutsu was a tricky and complicated art, and even though Naruto being an Uzumaki helped him greatly in learning, all it takes is one screwed up formula within a seal to end you. Thus he was only allowing for occasional practice, but once he was fixed, then he'd set him and a group of shadow clones deicated to fuinjutsu. That would have to wait however as he needed his foundations reset. It still upset him greatly just how Naruto was treated, he didn't deserve that, yet it happened. Sighing, he looked back to the food to ee it stating to boil over. Taking it off the fire, he shook his head to banish his thoughts. "Alright brat, foods done, eat and sleep." He told him, getting his own portion before leaving the rest for Naruto. They ate in silence before settling in for the night and heading off to sleep.

[Next Day]

Rousing from his sleeping bag, he yawned and met his sensei over breakfast, where they'd finally get started for training for the day. Like he said to yesterday, he had a gaggle of clones go through the hobby scroll, but rather than see just select one, the clones appaently divided up, making more clones themselves to use for each individual hobby, learning what they could each. Thre was a great variety of things in the scroll, though Naruto suspecte his sensei picked hings up for interest before losing said interest and let the hobby he picked up now collect dust until he needed it for something specific.

The day was productive, when he dispelled for lunch, it was amazing all the diffeent hobbies he was learning, which actually helped oddly even through shadow clone memory gain. When he made more clones for the rest of the day, the hobby clones took to the task with vigor. This continued on for about a week, Jiraiya coming through on his promise to show him various mental exercises to do to keep his mind occupied and increase his focus, as well as several learning techniques to help him break down just about anything to take it in faster, which boosted his training. The hobby clones were by far the most motivated of the group, cross referrencing everything they learned to pick up their hobbies faster. It certainly kept his mind occopied off of darker thoughts, that was for sure, something Jiraiya was pleased with seeing a smile back on Naruto's face.

However at the end of the week, a clone got the wild itch to just explore the forest, running around through the woods playing hooky from the training. But when he went further, he discovered something, looking around, he decided to let the boss know and dispelled. The original and every other clone looked up, stopping what they were doing to read over the memories, realizing what the clone found. "Naruto?" Jiraiya asked.

"A clone ran off to explore the forest. He found something." He stated, the clones put everything away, from hobby scroll to fuinjutsu reading he was doing. Getting up, he dispelled the clones in groups while he led Jiraiya to where the clone had gone to. Walking lightly through the woods, they soon came upon a stone ruin.

"Hmm, looks like a remnant to one of the older cultures, but I don't recognize this one at all." The older man stated, now puzzled himself. While he was no student of history, he was at least generally aware of the various past cultures of their world.

"Wait, you mean like peoples who were different but are gone now?" The boy asked.

"Exactly that. This one though is different to the ones I know of, we're still in Hi no Kuni, so the remnant cultures should be the Nihon, this one however isn't." He stated. "Congratulations Naruto, you may have just made a great Archaeological discovery. So let's see if there's any treasure." He said with a grin, making Naruto's own lips curl into a grin of his own. By no stretch were they stupid, but opportunistic and adventurous? Completely.

Naruto made a hunt of clones to search the ruins, each looking for something of interest. The original Naruto and Jiaiya did the same, though they stuck together. They were quietly scanning the area as they moved around, though Nauto looked around and a slight glimmer caught his eye. Moving over to a crumbling wall, he kneel'd to the ground and swept away some of the loose dirt. "What ya find there kid?" Jiraiya called out.

"A ring. It's made of some kind of black metal... and it's a fox head." He deadpanned. "Really...first damn thing I find and it's a fox?" He asked to the sky. Jiraiya just chuckled at the slight irony of that.

"Might be a sign kid. Keep it, things found like that tend to be good luck." He told him, leaving him to be while he kept looking around. Naruto looked at the ring again, befoe he shrugged to himself and pulled the ring on to his finger. It fit well enough, but before he could move on, he felt a draw and looked up to the sun, which by that time had reached it's Zenith. It seemed to shine that much brighter for a moment, and then Naruto's vision went dark for just a moment before returning.

"Whoa, that was weird." The Blonde spoke, before lookig around, seeing the same ruin, however something changed, and it was with shock that he realized what. His clones were gone, and so was Jiraiya. "Guys?" He asked aloud, but silence. "Hey come on Ero-Sennin, this isn't funny." He called out again. But still silence. Now he was starting to panic. "Jiraiya Sensei?"He asked, hoping to using that would draw him out, but nothing. He licked his lips, trying to stay calm. He walked around, looking for anything he could to tell him what happened, but nothing. He went to make more clones, but discovered something. "Why can't I feel my chakra?" He asked aloud, frozen in fear. "The ring! This happened when I put it on!" He shouted, going to pull it off, however when he looked to his hands, he saw no ring, but that wasn't what now had him in panic.

"I CAN SEE THROUGH MY HAND!" He shouted to no one, his calm very much gone and in full panic now. He looked to the rest of his body, seeing he was a semi-transparent blue. It took ten minutes before he could even begin to calm down. "Just breath- wait if I'm...a ghost, then do I even need to breath?" He asked, his panic temporarily gone. However he heard a what sounded like groaning, and he froze stiff. "What was that?" He asked, not sure he liked the sound of that. But seeing he was't getting anywhere here, so he left the ruin to start looking around the forest. However when he left the ruin he found the ground started to slope, rather than the flat ground he remembered it being.

"First I'm a ghost, then a loud groaning, now the land itself is changing. What's next? Flying pigs?" He asked aloud, this was really starting to get on his nerves. Just what the hell was going on? Sighing, he kept walking down, though the next step he slipped and fell, and began tumbling down the slope as it became steeper. "SHIT!" He hollered out, not able to stop when he tried doing tree walking to grip something to stop, but couldn't. He kept rolling until there was nothing to roll on, finding he was falling until he hit water and tasted salt, which he didn't get how he was tasting if he was a ghost. Dizzy and disoriented, he had no sense of what to do, so he wasn't even conscience of the fact he hit a solid surface under the water until he felt a pressure from below as he was rising up.

"Damn, not doing that again." He coughed as he rose out of the water, struggling to get himself oriented.

"Hmmm, you are a curious little spirit." Spoke a loud and very deep voice, which had Naruto twisting around to see what was what, however he saw no one at first, till he stepped back and comprehended the rock face he assumed he was staring at, was actually a face for real, eyebrows and everything, though he noticed a large chip or goge in it's left eyebrow. "That language is not spoken here, to one of the other worlds connected to the spirit realm then."

"Wha? What are you!?" He called out, too much of...well, everything to show his panic at the giant face before him.

"I am a Lion Turtle little spirit, one of few left who have not yet moved on to the spirit realm." The being stated. Naruto gulped as he took in the sheer size of this being's face, and then looking behind and around, he realized the forest was upon it's back. He marveled at the sight for a moment, the land itself was it's body...

"Wait, little spirit, spirit realm, worlds, what do you mean?" He asked, now having a place to direct his questions to, he could have them answered.

"Yes, your body is that of a spirit from the spirit realm come to one of the mortal worlds connected to the spirit realm. A moment if you will." The being spoke, raising a massive hand slowly that inched closer to Naruto, who stayed still, too frightened to move. He couldn't summon his chakra to get away if he wanted to, which, where else could he go anyway, the only land he could see was this beings back and he could just sink if he wanted to. The hand flexed out a claw, which barely tapped his forehead, and then there was a light. "I see, you are of that world and found a transient lure, which brought you here when the connection to the spirit world was at it's strongest."

"um? mind explaining that simply?" He asked, scratchig the back of his hea with a sheepish grin. Though if he was annoyed, the creature did not show or voice it.

"I read your mind to determine your origin and how you got here. A transient lure, that ring, is any object that comes from different worlds through the spirit realm that can be from any time or place in those worlds, so long as there is a strong spirit connection to the object in question, it can act as a beacon and lure to bring in other beings who are drawn to it and spirit them away, quite literally in your case, though you are unique considering you are a reincarnated being. As for the timing, today is the Summer Solstice, one of the times out of the year when the connection to the spirit realm is at it's strongest."

"Can I be sent back?" Naruto asked immediately, though the groaning of the lion turtle rattled him to his bones before it answered.

"I cannot, you'll have to find the transient lure in this world, since it originally comes from here, hence why it brought you here in the first place." It stated. Naruto looked down cast, looking at his own hands.

"But how am I supposed to do that if I'm a...spirit? I can't use chakra and- wait, what did you mean by reincarnated being?" He asked curiously.

"You are the reincarnation of someone who lived before you from your world. All I could gleam of bending your energy to read you was a name, Asura. What significance this have I do not know, however for what I do know and can do is this. You are not here of your own will, but you are here none the less. So I will offer aid." He spoke, extending two fingers out, the claws tapping his forehead and chest, where a bright light formed, and naruto felt a weight settle upon his body. When the light cleared, he looked down to himself to see he was flesh and blood again, pinching himself as he laughed gleefully at having his body back. Even his clothes and pack were with him. "This is the best I could give you as with my power considering your spirit body prior to it. I have given you a basic understanding of this world and it's language, what you do now is up to you. The ring you seek will be attracted to people and places of strong spiritual connection and importance, search till you find it and your way home little one." The lion turtle spoke.

Naruto took in the information he was given like a sponge to water, and with the grant, he was given, he understood better what the lion turtle now spoke of. But to know he was a reincarnation of someone, though who exactly was Asura was up in the air, though still wild. But with the being's parting words, he bowed to him, using the newly instilled knowledge he was given to show his thanks. However, when he turned, he could see land quickly approach and looked around, not even realizing they were moving.

"Thank you for everything, I'm not sure if I can repay you for the help...um, a question though. Do you have a name?" He asked, and surprisingly, the lion turtle seemed to...chuckle? "What's so funny?" He asked.

"You are only the second human to ask me for my name." It stated.

"Who was the first?"

"Avatar Wan, the first Avatar. as for my name, it's Chen. This is as far as I can take you, the rest is up to you. Take care of your search, the world is filled with dangers as you well know now." It spoke in parting as Naruto nodded and started running off Chen's hand, before jumping off and landing on the shore, turning and waving to Chen with a smile. The lion turtle hummed in thought before it sank down leaving only the island that was it's shell visible above the water as it swam away from the mainland.

Naruto kept staring out into the water at the retreating island as it disappeared into the horizon. SIlence aside from waves and tide prevailed the shore before he let out a heavy breath and fell backward onto the sand. "What in the hell have I gotten myself into now?" He asked. "Mizuki, zabuza and haku, the exams, Koyuki, crescent moon island, that whole gelel mess, shizuka...now here. Can't I just have one adventure that doesn't go right into the absurd?" He asked aloud, but sighed. "Whatever, let's take stock of what I have." He stated to himself as he got up.

Looking to himself, he took note that he had his original clothes, he then took off his pack and all his gear laying them out. He checked over his thigh holster first, pulling out three flat kunai and three shuriken, however when he went to grab more, there was noen in there. "Huh?" He spoke, looking inside the holster, seeing the storage seal inside, it looked intect, it just didn't respond to the absence of weapons like it was supposed to by filling it back up. "That's odd, was the array damaged on the way here?" He asked, though quickly checked other things he had sealed and found the same problem. "Of course, it'd be too easy if I had everything I carried before...guess that leaves out half of what I own then." He stated, taking further stock of his gear that wasn't sealed away. a trio of flat kunai and shuriken, ninja wire, folded camo tarp, smoke pellets, a small variety of pills Jiraiya insists he carries, and other basic equipment, with some supplies for survival here and there with the few personal items he carried on his person. "Great..."

That done, he decided to check himself now. Opening up his jacket and pulling up his shirt, he found the chidori scars still there, the twisted spiral sars forming perfect circles with frozen lightning scared around them radiating outward. He tried to bring up his other scars and seal through chakra circulation to the surface skin, but nothing. Though when he felt his chakra, he was alarmed and immediately made as many shadow clones as he could. A smoke cloud later 15 more naruto's appeared, but naruto the original was gasping on his knees for breath.

"Holy...Shit...what the hell!?" He gasped out through breaths. That was a horrendous amunt of effort to make 15 clones. Taking a minute, his breath came back to him and he stood, though with a slight wobble before he steadied, lookig to his clones.

"We suffered a loss of power big time boss. Maybe from the travel over through the spirit realm like Chen said we did? He couldn't restore our reserves could he?" Asked one of the clones.

"That's probably it right? It makes the most sense. But there's no seal either, so what happened to the kyubi?" Asked another clone.

"Probably didn't transfer over or got stuck in the spirit realm, who knows. But it's gone and do you feel that, our chakra is so lively now and easy to mold an acess, as if it wants to respond. I thnk the Kyubi was fucking with ur control big time, not just our massive reserves." Another clone stated, though a thought occured to him. "What about our healing?' It asked, all clones turning to the original.

Naruto took one of his kunai and made a cut on his hand,a nd watched as it bled for a moment before he could see the cut start to close. "Still there, though it seems slower than before. Better be careful since we might actually die easier here than home. Though what of summoning and our control?" He asked and a clone stepped out to the water, stepping on water, before he sunk in, while another tried to summon, but nothing. "Have to start over again huh?" He questioned to himself. The others nodded as el and the clones all brainstormed a moment.

"So we have limited supplies and gear, plus deadweight is useless sealed supplies we had before we don't need to be carrying, we'll burn them in a moment, no idea if seals work but without brushes and ink and paper, we can't make any seals to see if they work then. Our control is back to nil but regardless of that we can mak 15 shadow clones as our current base of our abilities. We have chen's understanding of the world, it's langauge, ccustoms, people and other essentials. The people use Chi rather than chakra, a combination of physical and spiritual energy as opposed to chakra's physical and mental energy, and no jutsu, but bending and chi manipulation." He stated and the clones all nodded.

"We have no money they use here so we'll need to get some, plus we have no knowledge of anything curent besides the hundred year war that fire nation stated and a few other generic bits that chen knows of the world. Given our abilities are so radically different, we'll have to keep them secret."

"Or develop skills we can use that won't draw attention. It's not a good idea having to hold back so much when we might be drawn into this war."

"Then there's the fact that we have find a small fox head black metal ring in an entire world that's currently at war...easy."

"Oh totally, the easiest task we've had by far." Another clone continued the sarcasm before they all sighed. "Well, it's a spiritual object, if what chen said is right, it should be drawn to places and people that are very spiritual...ness." He added, making the others quirk an eyebrow.

"Right...well, we need information to learn more about the world around us, the reason for the war, who to avoid and look out for and places to start searching. Plus a way to make money and train without being noticed." The last clone stated. They all nodded, at that as naruto set about destroying what he couldn't use so they couldn't be taken by others.

"Well, we got out priorities straight, but more than that, we need to get moving, either make a shelter tonight or try to find a village, and I much prefer a village." The original spoke and the others nodded. Finishing what he was doing, he got up and pulled everything back on to his person and looked around. "Alright, spread out and search for any sign of a village, if you find anything dispel and we'll head there." The clones all gave a mock salute before heading out in separate directions.

The clones tredged for about an hour while the original waited on the shore for any news. So it wasn't any surprise when he got the memories he wanted back, what was the surprise was what was also at this village the clone found. He got up and quickly started ti make his way towards the village, though along the way he saw a number of strange animals, some of Chen's memories telling him this was normal, but still strage as he saw combinations of animals he knew to be separate. As strange as it was, it was also wonderous, and now that he thought about it, he was excited to see these benders and what they could do, this world was just so different and new, he wanted to see it.

The other clones started dispersing one by one, letting him experience other things through their returned memories and his chakra returned bit by bit with the clones dispelling and sending their chakra back that hadn't been used. He neared the village and took a moment to watch it from afar. The culture was different, but he didn't experience the shock thanks to Chen's memories and he took it all in, observing them. Finally he had enugh and decided to go on and see what the clone saw.

Walking around the village, for now, he followed a rough path till he heard music and smiled as he approached a set of large tents, circus tents. He'd never been to a circus before but he'd heard about them, and he was eager to see it now. As he approached he realized though he didn't have any money for admission, but he really wanted to see it and...well, surely just watching wouldn't hurt right?

He slipped around from the front and used his stealth to keep out of sight until he found a loose bit of flap on the ground and rolled under it into the tent Dusting himself off he lookd around and saw he was behind the stands for the people to sit in. He could heard the msuic louder now and people cheering. Coming around, he finally got a view from beside the stands on the ground. He looked to see a large platypus bear balanacing on a great big ball while also balancing a ball and toad monkey on it. He smiled at the scene as he leaned against the wooden frame of the stands and kept watching.

"Alright Ladies and Gentlemen!" Came a boistrous male voice, showing the man in charge of the circus, ringleader, coming ut to great them all. "It's time to greet one of tonight's Main attractions, you may have seen her before, but evertime is a spectacle. Performing our dangerous high wire act, the trapiese artist, Ty Lee!" The man called, waving a hand up to show a girl in a yellow and pink costume with a golden headress framing her face flipping down from a hanging position onto a platofrom on a tall post.

The crowd cheered and ooh'd at the spectacle, while naruto's eyes widened a bit as seeing her. She couldn't be any older than he was, and without chakra, she was doing such a dangerous act. He watched her walk carefully out onto the line, a bit of wobble making the crowd edge out on their seats. "Do not be worried ladies and gentlemen, Ty lee is a trained professional and knows what she's doing. For her safety we have a net below her, but do not mistake that as perfectly safe, for any number of things can go wrong if she falls, the rope net itself may be her undoing depending on how she falls. Oh my goodness!" The man called as Ty Lee fell from the line but caught herself by her fingers. She then swung her legs and twisted her body upward, contorting her body to orient and then with a flip as she let go, the crowd gasping, she lands on her feet back on the wire. "See, a trained profesional."

Naruto was in awe of the performance now, really this was just beynd what he was expecting. How could she be doing this and doing it so well? That was a level of body control he don't think he could ever reach. She then began to jump up and down on the line, before doing a back flip and landing gracefully. Now Naruto was stepping closer, unaware of he was beginning to expose himself. Ty lee purposely stepped off the line, using the bounce the line gave as she grabbed it to pull her back up and over to landing on the line.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, the most dangerous part of the high wire act is now upon us as Tye lee will be using various Props to balance on the wire with. First: A ball! Perfectly round, no edges to grip on the line, it's balanc only with it. Ty Lee, are yo ready!" He called, getting a nod. "Throw it up to her my god sir!" Spoke the ringleader as a man, one who fit the strong man act tossed up a ball to her, whch she caught and very carefully set it onto the line, before putting her hand to it and then thrusting her body up over top of her hand, in a handstand on the ball now. "Incredible Ladies and gentlemen, A perfect balance if ever I saw one." He stated.

"Oh, what's ths. Another prop! What is it this time? A board!" The man shouted, showing off a small square piece of wood. "Ty lee must catch this without losing her balance and then place this between her hand and the ball. But can she do it. Let's find out. If you will please when our star is ready!" The man shouted, and the strong man tossed it up to ty lee and now Naruto had absolute respect for her balancng skills seeing her deftly do a small arm jump and pace the board under her hand and on the ball. "Amazing, Spectacular. but this isn't all, oh no, there's one more prop, this one will be the most dangerous for her yet. A standing pole, that like the board, she must balance on the board, on the ball, on the line, whiel balancing herself at the same time. When you're ready!" He called out.

Now Naruto watched, stepping forward fully and seeing the catch and then shifting of balance to place the pole's flat bottom on the board, before grabbing it with one hand, shifting balance constantly and climbing up the pole with both hands while maintaining her handstand, before handstanding with one hand on the very top of the pole. "Stupendous, she's done it Ladies and gentlemen. Please give our High wire star a special round of applause." The man spoke, the crowd on the feet cheering and clapping, Naruto included. Mistake on his part ince the ringleader noticed him.

Ty lee slowly dropped each prop down t be caught before standing back on the wire, waving to everyone. Though she also saw the head of blonde hair, it wa distinctive in f itself, but that wasn't all. However she had t get down s she fell, making the crowd gasp, she hit the net and using the bounce, from her back in the net, she was propelled up, flipped before landing on the ground, giving a bow and wave to the audience.

"Now Ladies and gentlemen, while we prepare for our next Major act, we'd like to present our other acts just as you've paid to see. For these next few acts, we shall need a volunteer!" He called, getting a round of hands, before he looked around and then pointed straight at Naruto. "You My boy, come on up, already standing on your feet on the ground your so eager. Yes you with the dyed hair, come on over!" The ringleader spoke, and several things happened.

One, Naruto realizd he was likely in some kind of trouble. Two, he was insulted by the hair comment, but realied very quickly that blonde must not be a natural hair color. Three, he was actually excited, truth be told, not just watching but participating? If he's in trouble he'll handle it, if not, he'll go with it. But he wanted to be part of the show so he walked forward. The ring leader smiled but leaned in. "I knwo you didn't pay fr the show kid, but be a good volunteer and you can stay to watch for the rest of it. Deal?" He spoke.

"Y-yes sir. Sorry bout that." He stuttered a bit, realizing he was busted from the start.

"No problem, your not the first. Now just follow the instructions given and you'll be good." The ring leader finished whispering to Naruto. "Well Ladies and Gentlemen, our Volunteer is Ready! Give him a round of applause." He stated, Naruto getting it and blushed at the sudden intense attention. This...felt nice. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Now, our first volunteer must go through three acts, much how figures of history and old tales often perform three challenges, for our first act, we have a local favorite, the fire tamer!" The man spoke and showed a man in who performed Fire bending.

This was th first time he'd seen such a grand display of fire like this that wasn't aimed an enemy or at him, which now he could actually appreciate the fire he was seeing. It was an awesome display. But soon enough, Naruto found himself tied to a chair. "N ladies and gentlemen, what I have here is a ferocious beast, but not to be alarmed s long as I have him leashed, all is under control!" The ma called producing a flaming drago with a line of flames connecting to his fingers. "Watch out, he is a fiety one!" He called as it swooped and lunged around Naruto. He was terrified and excited and a bunch of other thing he couldn't even describe.

"Oh no, he's come loose!" The man hollared with the dragon barreling down at Naruto. it seemed to get him before it burst into a mass of embers like a firework, now with naruto standing and looking around confused. "The dragon has made his escape! Bt not to worry, I will chase it down, till next time!" He called and the crowd cheered, while Naruto smiled, realizing the act now.

"An excellent performance. But now on with the next act. Will our young volunteer be able to handle the next performance. Our own illusionist and keeper of what might be the most dangerous animal in our circus, Please welcome. Chang Sun!" He called, a man came out.

"Helow and welcome everybody. I am pleased to meet you all tonight. unfortunately my performance will be changed last minute as my star is missing. A rare blue ringed octo-spider, the most poisonous breed of spider in the known world. So please be careful moving your feet and collecting your belongs. Thus I shall perform some simple illusion. First, a Jackalope from a Hat!" He spoke, prducing a hard form hat, which he held out, until a spider popped out from it and onto the man's hand, making everyone gasp.

"Ah! erhm, this is my star right here. Though I should be keen to point out, one bite is enough to kill an armidillo elephant. However if I can get my flute and Argh!" He threw the spider to the ground and tried to stomp on it, only for it to jump away, which he tried again, to just jump on his foot and he shook it before landing on Naruto, who froze as the spider crawled up his leg now, though the man tried to catch it, the spider scurring all over naruto's body, making him shiver and pale. Though the man then managed to fumble for his flute and the first note made the spider stop on Naruto's head.

The man then began to play a tune and it spun on his head, before jumping from head to shoulder to head to other shoulder, before using the suckers on it's feet to walk all over his body. The man started to dance with the spider dancng on naruto, who was both frozen in fear and mezmerized by the spider. Then the spider shot a long thread of silk that caught the end of the flut and swung from it, laving naruto be, before it swung high and landed in the man's now outstretched hat, aught, and placed on the man's head.

"A big round of applause for our performers and volunteer for the show of bravery!" The ringleader called and everyone cheered, while naruto laughd uneasily. "Now, for our last vlunteer performance, a simple, but timeless act. One purely of skill and extreme focus. The lovely miss Fei Hung and her flying daggers!" The ringleader introduced, showing a woman with beautiful straight black hair and green robes. And assistant got naruto to stand infront of a board and placed an apple placed on a small board above his head. He tried to protest, but the knife was already sunk into the apple.

He thught it as over, before the apple was placed directly on his head, for it to be sliced again. Then something smaller and soon naruto was lined with knives around him. He held a very uncomfortable smile. But he had to admit this went down as throwing skill at it's finest.

"Superb, please a final around of applause for our performer and a great big ne for our Volunteer!" He spke, waving to the crowd whowas now up and clapping, cheering and whistling at them. Despite his recent terror he blushed a bit, the level of attention affecting him greatly before he was shown to a seat in the stands and was now able to enjoy the show without fear of beig caught. Watching it all go down, he loved every minue of it, and knew he'd never get to see anything like this in konoha since he wasn't allowed to leave before he became a genin, now understanding why.

But Like all good things, it must come to an end, and with the shows end, the people started filing out. Getting up he was all smiles as he was thining about the show. "That was awesome." He spoke to himself, though jumped when he heard a voice.

"Glad you think so!" A girlish voice spoke and Naruto turned to see a girl wearing shades of pink, she had a round face, large lightbrown eyes and long brunnette hair tied up in a high braid that came down over her shoulder. "Despite how it looks, it's not easy to coordinate on the high wire."

Naruto took a moment to look at the girl before realization hit him. "Ty Lee, the trapiese artist!" He spoke and smiled at her. "I bet, though you'd never notice with how you make it look. Not just body control but good acting skills too. The fakeouts were nicely done."

"Thanks. So you snuck into the show and got the volunteer treatment eh?" She asked with a smirk while Naruto grumbled.

"Yeah yeah...I would have paid if I could, but I'm flat broke." He said, turning out his pockets, getting a nod from Ty Lee.

"Your not the first to be in that predicament, but certainly the first to have such an aura about you that's so...unique." She soke leaning closer while Naruto leaned back.

"Ugh, aura?"He asked, confused.

"The presence, the energy that radiates out from you. You can tell a lot about a person by reading their aura. Your's is the strongest I've seen yet. Though it's so complex and intricate, so many shifting colors and facets. I've never seen an aura quite like yours before. Not to mention the core of your aura, your very energy seems to eminate from your abdomen, rather than just a amorphous glow." She said looking him over, motioning to the area below his solar plexus.

"That so...wait, you mean you can actually see all of that? That's amazing!" He spke then realizing just what she described meant...she could see his chakra... He tried a little experiment and shifted his chakra to flow more strong and Ty Lee reacted.

"Wow! It just got brighter! Are you doing that?" She asked and he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm not from here. I ugh...well..." He tried to explain, not having an excuse prepared and now he was caught with nothing.

"A runaway?" She asked, guessing the reason since he was so young, no money and in strange clothes, not to mention is hair. Naruto's eyes widened, first in shock before realizing this was his best answer he could give while staying believable.

"Yeah... It wasn't a good place, where I'd from." He said, rubbng a hand on his other arm, and Ty Lee took that as a negative, which it was as his thoughts focused on some of the abuse he went through and Ty Lee could see the pain radiate throughout his aura. She reached out and put a hand to his shulder, but froze when she felt him flinch at the touch. She didn't press further but neither did she draw her hand back, leaving a gentle pressure on his shoulder.

"Well, that's alright, because your not there anymore and you got to see a show by the greatest circus troupe in the world!" She motioned to the now empty tent. "So, where were you headed?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"Well you're a runaway right, where were you headed? Or just away from there?" She asked.

"...Away. I didn't really think of where I was headed so long as it wasn't there. Had a few close calls, till I got to this village, but when I got here, I had no money and was thinking of what to do when I saw te circus. I've never been to one before so I wanted to see it." He spoke, mixing half truths and not quite lies together. He had thought of running away from konoha plenty, even a few attempts in his early youth that were thwarted.

"Hm, why not come with us then? We're a traveling circus and we go all over the fire nation and through out parts of the earth kingdom that has fire nation colonies. So long as you can work or put on an act, your pretty much welcome to Join!" Ty Lee suggested. Naruto stared at her a moment, his mind in an uproar and Ty lee could see it plain as day in his aura, before it calmed and smoothed over to a more controlled state.

Naruto had to think on it a moment, Join a circus? Could he really do that? Just that easy? Not only that but would that help hm? Thinking on it, it was a traveling circus, so the moved around a lot, meaning they encountered a lot of people, and people carried information. Not only that, but he could learn more about the world and discretely at that, while conducting his search for that ring. Then a final thought occured to him, this circus had people with various skills, skills he could use because they didn't require chakra...

"I think I'll like that." He said calmly with a smile, which made Ty Lee smile wider, if that was possible, before grabbng his hands.

"Come on, we gotta go see the ring leader! He'll be the one to decide if you stay. Though can you do anything for an act?" She asked, practically dragging him along.

"W-well, I'm ok with acrobatics and tumbling. I know a few other things but I'm a quick learner for anything I can pick up, like that knife throwing and what not." He spoke, and she beamed.

"You mean you're not afraid to get up high and do jumps, flips and swings?" She asked and naruto nodded.

"I spent a lot of time out in the woods just running through the trees, bounding and leaping off branches and anything else I could so long as I wasn't in the village." He spoke which was completely true and how he came up with his initial work around to his fighting. "I can also confidently say I'm a trap master and prankster king without equal." Now he was confidently boasting about this skill.

"Maybe we can work with that, but we need acrobats, not a lot of people can stand to be up high, much less be comfortable enough to do all the stunts we do. If we can make a proper acrobat out of you, all the better!" She exclaimed while taking him out of the tent and to the carriages. She came to the largest carriage that had a door on the back, waling him up it, she knocked on the door and waited.

Soon the ringleader answered the door, looking to Ty Lee with a smile, before frowning upon seeing Naruto. "Hello. Nice to see you Ty Lee. What brings you and our brave volunteer here?" He asked with a grin while Naruto facepalmed while groaning, getting the olderman to chuckle.

"Well Chon, I got him before he left. He's really interesting has the strongest and most complex aura I've ever seen, and not only that, but I found out he's a runaway and might have potential as an acrobat. He's comfortable with high places and doing stunts, and he says he's a quick learner for anything else, he seems to like the knife throwing Miss Fei Hung did." Ty Lee explained and Chon's face brightened.

"That so? That's good news then, there's always a need for acrobats in every circus troupe, they're hard to train and harder to find people willing to train as acrobats. So tell me, what's your name and where are you from?" he asked.

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki and that's ugh..." He went on, mentally slapping himself. He missed Ty lee silently mouthing something to Chon who nodded and stopped him before he could struggle further.

"You don't have to say Naruto, runaways tend to do so for their own reasons. Tell me though, do you believe you have what it takes to perform and work in a circus? It's a hard life with no roots so long as you are with us. Can you commit to that?" He asked the boy.

"I think I can manage just fine. Manage this far on my own." He spoke and Chon nodded.

"Excellent, but before we do anything, let's get you cleaned and fed, then I think Ty Lee can test your skills and see what needs to be done for you first in regards to training. Ty Lee, I trust you can handle Naruto here then?" He asked, and got a energetic nod from the girl. "Good, now I have to finish accounting for the night's profits and see to our other logistics, Naruto I look forward to seeing what you can do. Take care now." He spoke, leaving them to their own devices.

"Come on you can use my tent for now until we get you set up." She spoke and with all haste, starting dragging him off literally this time. He barely managed to get his feet under himself before he was thrust through the flaps of a tent to see it set up like a room with a few extras, including a partitioned tub with buckets of water near it. "Now, we gotta figure out what to do with your clothes and stripping that dye out f your hair." She stated.

"What's wrong with my clothes and my hair isn't dyed!" He stated and she cocked her head to the left.

"Well your clothes are weird, they don't look like anything I've ever seen a tailor make. Aside from that did you bleach your hair then? Like to kill of lice?" She asked, now seeing it as something he might have done for hygiene.

"No! This is my natural hair color!" He said, though he had to concede on the point of his clothes and her eyes grew as big as dinner plates.

"No way, I've never even seen that hair color before. what would you even call it!" She called out.

"Blonde is what it's called."

"I still don't believe it...but there's really only one way to find out." She said deviously, her fingers raised up and moving in a way that made naruto very uncomfortable.

"And just what way is that?" He asked, inching away from her.

"Well you've been on the run for a while now right?" She asked. and he nodded. "Well then all I should need to do is this!" and with that she lunged at him. Fearing the worse, he grabbed his pants to hold on for dear life. However he suddenly found his head grabbed...and shoved into her chest, he tried to speak but it all came out as muffles. "Wow, even your roots are 'Blonde', guess this is your real hair color huh?" She asked as she looked down into his scalp to see his roots, completely ignoring their position. "Alright then, Guess it's true, but that's odd, how come I've never seen that before?" She asked and naruto shrugged after having quelled his blushing.

"Not sure, but there wasn't that many people in my village with it, one or two families maybe besides mine?" He thought and it was true, he didn't know of anyone else besides Tsunade, the yamanak or the yondaime to have blonde hair. There might be an odd one here or there but really that was it. It was a distinctive hair color for anyone not a yamanaka in konoha.

"Weird. Anyay if it's Natural nothing to do about it then. But the clothes have got to be changed. Go on and get cleaned up while I bring you some clothes and food. Be back in a bit!" She called and he stared where she was. He took a moment to collect himself before he made a clone who went over to the small table where a brush and ink lay, and quickly made a storage seal on the parchment that was sitting there. The clone smiled once he was able to charge it to find that it worked.

"Good to go boss." The clone said to the original who was now in the tub behind the partition. The clone put the seal inside the backpack for safe keeping for now while naruto cleaned then dispelled. Just in time to as Ty lee came back in.

"Okay naruto, Here's some clothes for you." She singsonged over the partition, setting the garments on top of the partition itself.

"Thanks...Man, why does it feel like I just got swept away in a river?" He asked aloud.

"Well you suddenly went from on the run to having a place. regardless of what you can do as an acrobat, you can always work here." She called as Naruto hummed in agreement and finished cleaning. He tried on the clothes and found them to be...different. Walking out, he was wearing a set of clothes similar to a dou-gi, the fold over front of the shirt tied on both flaps to the inside and outside, then there was the pants and which were draw string, with a cloth belt cinching the shirt at the waist to the body, white socks and a pair of slim black shoes he saw a lot of people wear. The shirt was long sleeve and free flowing as were the pants.

"I noticed you seemed to like the color orange so I got you what I could it's darker than what you wore though." She stated, and indeed, the shirt and ants were orange, but much darker, with a blue cloth belt. He thought a moment before he unfurled his forehead protector's cloth and retied it as a belt around his waist. His hair was allowed to fall freely now.

"Looking good, though what's up with the whiskers marks." She asked and naruto thought a moment. They were actual whiskers with hair, but the skin was blackened under them.

"Birthmarks." Simplest answer.

"Huh, you just keep getting weirder and weirder." She spoke, and naruto deadpanned at her. everything was weird to him right now. But he signed, seeing as he was the stranger here. "So anyway, here's dinner, simple pork buns for now till the cooks finish the big dinner. Let's eat and see what you can do." She stated.

Naruto nodded and grabbed half the buns while Ty lee took the rest and started to eat in silence. Though with a moment to think, he had something on his mind he wanted to ask. "Question for me?"

"h-how..."

"Your aura, I learned to recognize simple things like that, it makes me very insightful to others." She stated and he nodded.

"Well yes,,,it actually has to do with what you do, reading auras. Can anyone learn it? And can you teach it?" He asked her and now she had a pondering expression on her face. Now that it wasn't so hectic, he looked at her and could honestly say she was really cute.

"Well anyone can learn it if they put in the effort to learn it, it's not easy and there's no guarantee what result you'll get. But we can try? The person who taught me already left the circus to start a family, so I'd have to teach you. But if you can, then that'll be just fantastic, it'd be nice to be able to talk to another person who can do the same as me!" She nearly squealed in excitement and Naruto found her excitement and laughter to be infectious as he smiled with her.

"But in return, do you think you can teach me how you did that thing with your energy to make your aura brighter before?" She asked and naruto faultered a moment.

"Well, I'm not sure if you can learn it, but we can try." He told her and she smiled, getting one from him in return. the two quickly fnished their buns before heading back out to the big tent.

"So Naruto, nothing formal, just look around and see what's available first then do what your comfortable with. Show off what acrobatic skill you do have." She stated, stepping back to look at naruto as he looked around. He analyzed everything before he got an idea of what he wanted to do. Since she was basically seeing what he could do as an acrobat, that's what he would show.

Getting his starting point, he suddenly took off at a run, old instincts and trained reflexes took over as he jumped, landing feet first to the support pole of the tent before pushing off in a wall jump and reaching out. Grabbing one of the climbing ropes, he started to ascend with just his hands before he started to swing and then let go. His body sailed through the air before he caught another rope, his momentum carrying through int another swing, where he let go into a flip and catching another before letting go and hitting the ground in a roll to dissipate the force of is fall. But he came running out of the roll and wall ran up the pole a few feet before losing momentum, jumping up and catching the climbing rope and this time, went up. Way up.

Ty Lee was watching with interest, he had good body control and instincts for aerial movement though he was wasting a lot of energy doing it he seemed to be fine for now. She watched as he took to the upper levels and now she was nervous, she hadn't expected him to actually go to a higher level, just staying on the ground. Though she stayed silent, she did say what he was comfortable with. Though when she saw him deftly leap from one of the platforms over a gap t another, her heart stopped a moment, before she calmed and continued to watch. He honestly did seem at ease in what he was doing, hoping so swiftly from platform to vertical poles for a wall jump to another platform. So he wasn't afraid to do stunts up high and actually had a good base for them. This was good, very good.

"Alright that's enough Naruto, I got all I needed for acrobatics. Come on down so we can discuss what we'll need to do for your training before you can perform with our other acrobats." She called out and Naruto nodded, leaping down, he caught a rope and used his sleeves t help slide down before he hit the ground. Ty lee smiled, oh yes she could make good use of him as an acrobat.

"How'd I do?" He asked, having used just about everything for that he was breathing heavier, but not panting. He realized this body must not be as well conditioned without kyubi or his massive reserves, something he'd have to fix.

"Very good, there's nothing we need to fix as for what qualifies you to be an acrobat, you just need more skill and refinement, plus more tricks and stunts under your belt. Though your body control, aerials will need work, as will that, your using too much energy. But we'll fix that, no worries." She reassured and naruto nodded.

"Awesome. Though is there anything else I could learn besides just acrobatics, like what you do on the wire?" He asked.

"If we can get your balance and body control high enough, then no problem. But My training will be tough. Think you can handle it?" She said with a challenging grin that honestly was just adorable on her.

"I'll handle it and more. No problem." He boasted with a smile, making her grin split her face.

"That's what you said remember that...Now if I remember right you said you know how to fight, is that right?" She asked, now needing to touch on a more serious point.

"Yeah, bout the only thing good I learned from my village. Why?" He asked and Ty Lee nodded a moment.

"Well you see, we're a fire nation based Circus, though we accept non fire nation citizens, with the war still going on then while we're in the earth kingdom fire nation colony territory, we may come under attack by earth kingdom soldiers or benders. So if you can fight, you'll be of great help defending the circus, though we don't really harm, we just defend since it's not our job to fight the war." She stated and Naruto understood her point now.

"Alright, so what, a spar then?" he asked and she nodded. Ty Lee took her stance, something about it reminded him of something but he couldn't place what. Naruto on the other hand took a academy style basic stance, and both stared the other down before Ty Lee rushed in. Naruto retreated a moment from her swings and jabs to gauge her before he pushed forward, blocking with his forearm against her arm to stop the attack before stepping in with a strong step punch, hitting her abdomen, though it was only a feather blow as she was already retreating from the attack.

Naruto didn't waste his momentum and chased her, becoming a game of cat and mouse for a moment before he stepped into her attack, throwing off the point of her hit and it felt like it stabbed him, but he swiped his hand in front of her eyes, drawing her eyes and blocking their view before he launched a palm strike towards the center of her chest while sliding forward with the same side foot as his palm strike, hitting her dead on.

Ty lee hit the ground while he felt his arm give out like it fell asleep. Looking to the arm and now to ty lee he then realized it like a sack of bricks why it seemed familiar. It was similar to the gentle fist what she was using. But instead of shutting down his chakra, it shut down his body. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?" He asked, trying and failing to get feeling back into his arm. Ty Lee coughed a moment before she got up, breathing a little hard before she jabbed his shoulder and feeling came back.

"Same person who taught me how to read aura. She was my mentor when I first came to the circus, taught me a great deal and now here I am. But what about you? At first it seemed like you went with a generic style before you stated using these weird moves." She asked.

"That's because it was generic, I was taught that from an early age, the other stuff is new, what I started to learn before I took off. Though your style is very familiar to what I've seen a family practice back into my village, fought against it once and it's scary." He stated and Ty Lee nodded.

"It is, it not only shuts down the body, but also the chi with precise strikes to the many pressure points of the body. It's very effective and with my acrobatics skills, I can move around my enemies as I please and they have a hard time hitting me." She pointed out and Naruto hummed.

"Think we can spar often and exchange some tips, tricks and techniques. Since I didn't get to finish my training I need as much as I can get so that I'm not caught with my pants down."

"Sure, I know the feeling, one time I nearly got caught by earth benders before my mentor was able to finish my training, it was really scary. No though I'm fine with fighting just about anyone. It's called Chi Blocking, what's yours?" She asked.

"Toad ku-...kempo." He spoke, correcting himself when he remembered that some of his words didn't translate the same to their language, so he used a word better fit for it in their language. "Don't ask me why it's called that, it just is." He stated and she nodded.

"So my level of acrobatics, knife throwing, fighting, aura reading and physical conditioning. Quite a menu of training ahead of you, we'll have to keep you well fed so you can keep up your strength." She stated and naruto smiled.

"Thanks for this Ty Lee, it means a lot." He stated and she just waved it off.

"Think nothing of it, I'm technically a runaway myself, there are a few others but your the first runaway besides me in a while that's come, so it's nice to have someone my own age around here again." She said and Naruto could agree to that. "Come on, the cooks should be done. Big dinner tonight then sleep and tomorrow starts training." She stated and smiled big at him. Naruto returned it and for once, he wasn't thinking about the bad things in his life or even what was driving him to become strong or for why he was at this circus, for that moment, it was just him and Ty Lee and it felt nice. He followed her, sure that tomorrow would be a hard day, but he was looking forward to it.