I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Naruto. They are respectively owned by Nickelodeon and Kishimoto Masashi and I make no profit from writing this.
Author's note at the end.
Chapter Key
=#= Chapter number
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& Scene transitions
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=( o )= Flashback Beginning
=(__)= Flashback end
=1=
Dense fog settled over the stagnant water of the massive jungle-like swamp, giving an ominous feel to the already miasmal environment. A low growl of determination filled the air as a fox larger than most horses sprinted through the maze of trees, occasionally running across the trunks to save that would otherwise have been spent getting tripped up by the intricate network of roots that seemed to sprawl out endlessly. The cause for the creature's apparent haste was easy enough to spot whenever it paused long enough in the swamp for any watching eyes to see, clinging onto the three tailed fox's blood red hackles was a human boy with sunshine blond hair dressed in a bright orange and blue coat and matching orange pants.::
"Wake up boy." The fox said in a deep basso growl after it finally came to a full stop, turning it's head to look back at it's burden before barking louder. "I said wake up!"
"I... Heard you the first time... Furball." The pale boy responded weakly.
"Then you should have answered the first time, whelp." It snarled at him. "I found a small settlement," The beast paused for a moment, looking somewhat winded. "I've reached my limit for holding this form, you'll have to go there on foot, I'll keep feeding you my youki for as long as I can- but you'll have to hurry, I've used up too much of my power and I need to rest soon."
"So much... For the all powerful Kyuubi." The boy sniped before falling face first into the water as the fox turned into a blood colored mist and absorbed into him.
"Enough wisecracks, move!" The fox's voice ordered from inside his head as he got to his feet.
The orange clad blond just grunted in response as he felt the corrosive power of the fox flowing through his body like liquid fire, the same power that had kept him alive when a hand was put through his chest not just once but twice inside of ten minutes. As he pushed forward through the thigh deep weather, he caught sight of the encampment that the fox had seen minutes before with its superior senses. The blond let out a determined growl of his own as he picked up the pace, coming close enough to hear the voices of people speaking.::
"There is absolutely nothing mysterious about the swamp." He heard a young man in blue say a moment before he reached the shore- as well as a moment before he heard a dreadful wail from something in the swamp behind him that caused the three out-of-place people too look over toward him at the sudden sound.
"Hello," The blond coughed as soon as they saw him. "Is there a medic in the house?" He managed to quip before passing out and collapsing in the water.
"He's hurt!" The dark skinned girl called out to her companions as she drug him up onto the shore.
"What happened to him?" The bald boy with arrows on his head and hands asked as soon as he saw holes in his jacket and shirt and the jagged scars on his chest.
"I-I don't know Aang," She remarked, drawing water out of her water skin with a smooth motion of her hand, unable to take her eyes off his wounds. "I've never seen anything like this."
"Now, what are the odds of something like this happening, with the skinny feller saying nothing was mysterious about the swamp, the Potbellied Owlchicken screeching and this new feller poppin' up outta nowhere suddenly?" A lanky swamp dweller asked in a heavily accented drawl as the young woman set her water shrouded hands to the injured boy's chest.
"Pretty slim I reckon." The potbellied man beside him answered as a worried look creased the girl's face.
"What's wrong Katara?" Aang asked quietly, noticing her expression.
"Turn him over." She said in a hushed tone, watching her companion's face when he saw the holes and scarring on the other side of the unconscious stranger's body. "Something went all the way through his chest, but somehow he's still alive."
"What? That's impossible." The boy with the pony tail said, moving over to join his friend.
"I know, this wound goes straight though his heart." Katara stated, pointing to the scar in the middle of his chest. "But, somehow, he didn't just survive, he healed."
"Why is he unconscious then?" The dark skinned boy asked, glancing back to the natives who were chatting among themselves like nothing was happening.
"From what I can tell? He seems to be suffering from severe exhaustion and some major chi blockage." She remarked, shaking her head. "I've helped with the chi flow as much as I can for the moment, but I would honestly say he just needs to rest."
~*~*~
Katara hummed quietly to herself as she moved about the somewhat crudely fashioned branch hut, tending to the mysterious blond boy that had appeared out of the swamp the night before. It had taken little effort for them to remove his jacket and shirt, though it was unlikely either could ever be used again because of their condition, and she was definitely surprised to see he had dozens of faded scars all over his torso which made her anxious for him to wake up so she could find out what had been done to him. More to her surprise though was how quickly his newest scars seemed to be faded, every few hours they seemed to lessen themselves somehow- and they faded even faster every time she used her bending to heal him.
"Well, you're pretty enough to be an angel- but I have to ask," She heard the injured boy say quietly, drawing afull attention to him. "Who's bright idea was it to make heaven smell like a swamp?"
"You should be resting, you've been hurt pretty badly." She said, moving over to his side. "Since you're already awake though, how do you feel?"
"Like I got struck by lightning a couple times." He answered with a pained chuckled. "Where am I anyway?"
"Foggy swamp." Katara responded, getting a curiously raised eyebrow from him. "Hey, I didn't name it."
"I kind of figured." He nodded, looking her over with his intense blue eyes carefully. "What's your name?"
"I'm Katara, and you are?" She asked softly.
"Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato." He answered, managing to give her a foxy grin.
"Kono-what?" Katara asked, it was her turn to raise and eyebrow as he forced himself to sit up.
"Konohagakure no Sato, the main shinobi village in the Land of Fire." He stated, blinking as she suddenly stepped away from him and moved her hand to the water skin at her waist. "Okay? First, what did I say, and second, you to realize you don't have a weapon don't you?"
"You're from the Fire Nation." She said bitterly, drawing the water form her skin.
"Neat trick." Naruto grunted as he got off of the cot he had been laying in. "I've never seen a jutsu like that before."
"Stay back, or I swear I will hurt you." She growl, causing him to tense up and give her a cold look that sent a child down her spine.
"I have no idea what you can do with that little bit of water, but if you think you can kill me- go ahead and do it." He said in an emotionless tone of voice as his eyes softened. "Who knows, I'm weak enough at the moment, maybe you'll succeed where all the other assassins have failed."
"Are you calling me an assassin?" Katara asked, scowling at the thought.
"No, your eyes are too soft." He said with a slight tilt of his head after a moment of looking at her. "You've never killed anyone before, have you?"
"No, but don't think I won't if you take one step closer, Fire Nation scum." She spat at him.
"Fire Nation, Fire Nation, why do you keep calling me that?" He growled at her. "I told you, I'm a shinobi from the Land of Fire, I've never heard of the Fire Nation before."
"Hey, Katara how's..." A somewhat high-pitched male voice called out as a tanned young man entered the hut to see the stand off. "Okay, I'm missing something here."
"You and me both." The blond stated in an annoyed tone as he looked to the newcomer. "We were just talking, I told her where I'm from and for some reason she starts looking at me like I'm going to eat her first born."
"He's from the Fire Nation." Katara growled, within a second the young man had drawn the machete that he wore on his him.
"Two on one against the half-dead guy, yeah that's fair." Naruto grumbled as he shifted into a more battle-ready stance. "And I told you already, I'm from the Land of Fire, I have no idea what the hell..." He barely managed to dodge the stream of water that suddenly lashed out at him, cutting straight through stick wall behind him. "Hey! Watch it!"
"You're pretty fast for a half-dead guy." The young man remarked.
"Years of dodging anything and everything that can be picked up and thrown." The blond said with a small shrug, glancing between the two quickly.
"Right, surrender and you won't be hurt." He offered.
"Uh-huh, says the guy holding the machete and glaring at me like I killed his puppy, what are my other options?" Naruto asked, shifting his feet again.
"We beat the crap out of you and take you prisoner." The dark haired teen said plainly.
"I'll take option three." He grunted before slamming through the wall and taking off across the small patch of dry land.
"Hey! You're up!" A cheerful voice called out from above as a bald kid dropped to the ground in front of him.
"Can't talk, running for life!" Naruto shouted as he made a break for the swamp.
"Aang! Stop him, he's from the Fire Nation!" Katara shouted as soon as she spotted the tattooed monk.
"Land of Fire! I said Land of Fire! Why is that so hard for you to understand?!" The blond shouted over his shoulder as he touched foot to the water.
"Wait, what's going on here?" Aang asked as Naruto came to a stop on the surface of the water with his hands resting just above the now visible seal on his stomach.
"I have no idea! Ask those two!" The blond said loudly as he pointed.
"He's from the Fire Nation." Katara said as she came to a rest beside the bald kid.
"Why the hell do you keep saying that?!" Naruto shouted, ignoring the ache in his injured lung and the taste of copper in the back of his mouth. "I don't know that the hell this Fire Nation you keep talking about is!" The taste became stronger as blood started to fill his mouth to the point he had to spit it out. "I am a shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato in the Land of Fire! Get it straight!"
"Calm down brat, you're aggravating your wounds." The deep basso of the fox's voice chided him in his mind.
"Shut the hell up Furball! Nobody was talking to you!" He shouted back.
"Okay, I'm feeling confused again." The boy in blue stated at the sudden out burst. "Did he just go crazy?"
"I-I think so." Katara said with a nod, bringing the blond's attention back to them.
"What I want to know, is how is he doing that." Aang said, pointing to Naruto's feet.
"Tell the psycho with the hair-loops to back off and put the water away and I'll tell you." Naruto said just loud enough to be heard as he pointed to Katara.
"Katara, I don't think he's going to hurt us." The boy said with a shrug.
"What about me?" The taller boy asked, feeling somewhat left out.
"You I can take down in my sleep." The fox-boy said before spitting out pink-tinged wad of blood and spittle.
"Okay, everyone just calm down." Aang said before things could erupt again. "Katara, Sokka back off a bit and give um- what was your name again?"
"Naruto." The blond stated calmly.
"Right, give Naruto some space." The kid said with a nod. "Naruto, why don't you come back over here so we can talk a bit more comfortably."
"I like him where he is, there's plenty of water." Katara said bitingly as she and her brother backed away several steps.
"You have enough chakra to control all this?" Naruto said, suddenly looking very concerned.
"What's chakra?" Sokka whispered to his sister, getting a shrug from her before he looked back toward the blond on the water- or at least where he had been. "Hey! Where'd he go?!"
"Over here." Naruto said from behind Aang, causing everyone to jump as they looked toward him.
"What the? How the? But, you were..." Sokka sputtered as he looked between the still rippling water where Naruto had been and where he was now.
"How'd you do that?" The tattooed boy asked, looking back at the blond kid behind him.
"Body flicker." He grunted as Katara moved her hand toward her water skin again instinctively. "Oi! What the hell are you doing that for?"
"Get away from Aang." She warned him in a harsh tone.
"Hey, everyone just settle down." Aang said calmly as he put himself between the two. "Katara, put your water away and Naruto, you probably shouldn't do that body-flicker thing again until we get everything sorted out- alright?"
"Fine by me." Naruto said, coughing once before spitting out another mouthful of blood.
"A-are you going to be alright?" The hairless youth asked in a concerned tone.
"Yeah, I'll be fine, all this exertion just aggravated my lung a little is all." He said with a nod. "So, Aang-san, what can I do to help untangle this mass of confusion?"
"Well, you can tell us about yourself for starters." The boy offered.
"Right, well, I was born in Konoha twelve years ago, and I entered the academy when I turned six," The blond started explaining as he rested his hands behind his head and squinted his eyes. "I failed the graduation exam three times before I finally managed to become a genin, I'm a member of the four-man cell Team Seven, my favorite food is ramen and my dream is to be the next Hokage. Anything else?"
"That... made no sense at all." Sokka spoke up after a moment of tense silence. "I've never heard of this Kono-whatever-place, and what the heck is ramen?"
"You're kidding right? Have you guys been living under a rock or something?" Naruto asked as his face twisted into an expression of disbelief before he sighed and shook his head. "Never mind, if we're going to get anywhere, I'm going to need my weapon pouch."
"You mean that beige bag you had on the back of your pants?" Sokka asked, getting a nod. "Sorry, no can do, I saw how many weapons were in that thing.
"As much as I'm having the urge to stab things, it's not my weapons that I'm after." The young blond said with a small sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "In my pouch, there are five scrolls, those are what I need at the moment."
"Oh, I'll be right back then." The brunet said before running off into one of the huts.
"Why do you need the scrolls?" Aang asked curiously as soon as he heard Sokka rummaging though things.
"One of them is a map, and it's easier to have him bring all of them instead of trying to find the right one." He shrugged as Sokka came running back out.
"Here they are." Sokka declared as he arrived at the blond's side before shoving the scrolls in his arms off onto the other boy and rejoining his sister.
"Thank you, you'll all need to come closer." Naruto said after setting all five scroll on the ground and opening one to reveal a brightly colored map, looking up at the trio as they moved closer and pointing to a small dot near the center of the largest red shape on the map. "This is Konoha, or Konohagakure no Sato if you prefer a mouthful every time you say the name, right in the heart of the Land of Fire."
"Okay, pretending you're not crazy for a minute- I have to say that your map is completely wrong." Sokka stated as he leaned over. "I mean, if this is supposed to be the Fire Nation," He paused when he literally felt Naruto scowling at him. "Land of Fire, what ever. What are all these other shapes around it."
"To save time, I'll skip over the dozens of minor countries and just explain the big ones since you seem to have flunked geography." He grunted, getting a scowl from Sokka as he moved his finger to a sand colored mass. "This, is the Land of Wind and here," He shifted his finger to a small dot closer to the border of the country. "Is Sunagakure no Sato, the Hidden sand."
"Wait, what do you mean Land of Wind, there isn't any Land of Wind." Aang said, getting a strange look from the blond before he looked back to Katara. "Hey, Katara, where'd you put our map?"
"I put it back in your bag after I got done with it." She said without taking her eyes of Naruto.
"Right, I'll be back in a minute- don't kill each other please." He said before running off behind one of the huts, leaving a large cloud of dust and a nice breeze in his wake.
"Wow, he's fast." Naruto said, blinking slightly as the boy came running back toward them with a different kind of scroll in his hand. "Really fast."
"Found it!" He grinned as he skidded to a stop with another breeze, setting his scroll down over Naruto's and unrolling it to reveal a completely different map.
"Okay, I'll bite." The blond said blankly as he stared at the various landmasses on the paper. "What is that."
"A map of the world, since you seem to have flunked geography." Katara sniped at him.
"Right, excuse me for a minute." Naruto said, taking as deep of a breath as he could manage as he stood up and turned toward the swamp. "I'll be over here if you need me." The three companions watched curiously as he walked behind one of the trees before shouting. "What the hell did you do you over-grown, flea-ridden, dimwitted pathetic excuse of a Dust Bunny?!"
"Katara, he's crazy isn't he?" Sokka swallowed as he listened to the tangent of swear-words, curses and all around not-nice things shouted by the blond at nothing they could see.
*~*~*
Nearly an hour had passed since the blond's ten minute swear-athon ended, leaving only the white noise of the swamp to fill the heads of the three travelers. Aang had checked on Naruto a while after his unforeseen outburst and found him sitting on one of the raised roots with his legs crossed as his arms draped loosely across them so that the second knuckles of his loosely balled hands touched. It wasn't hard for the slender monk to figure out that he was meditating, though for some reason the blond didn't look at all more relaxed, and judging by the scrunched look on his face, he had something on his mind. It seemed for some reason out of character for the blond to be so very still to the tattooed boy but that didn't keep him from taking a seat on one of the other roots and meditating while he waited.::
"Well, that's just wonderful." Naruto growled to himself as soon as his eyes opened.
"Hey, Naruto, how... um, how are you feeling?" Aang asked opening his eyes as soon as he heard the other boy hit the water, once again he was somehow standing on the surface.
"Oh, not to bad all things considered." The blond shrugged, looking towards the encampment. "You should probably go get your friends."
"Why?" The Airbender said, slowing his own drop into the water instinctively so that he barely made a splash as he sank into water up to his knees.
"I know how I got here." He grunted as he walked across the water to dry land with the young monk working to keep up with him.
"I have really got to learn how to do that." Aang comment to himself as he strode through the water as quickly as he could. "Sokka, Katara?"
"What is it Aang?" Katara said, poking her head out from one of the huts at the sound of his voice.
"I think Naruto wants to talk with us."
"What's the crazy guy want now?" Sokka sighed as he walked out from behind a different hut with one of Naruto's scrolls in his hand, turning both it and his head in different directions. "What the heck does this thing say?!"
"I'm not crazy." Naruto said, snatching the scroll away from Sokka and rolling it back up.
"Gah! Don't do that!" The Water Tribe boy shouted, patting his hand against his chest rapidly. "I thought Aang told you not to do that body-flicker thing."
"He did." Naruto grunted, motioning for the other boy to follow him as he walked toward Aang and Katara.
"So, uh, Naruto, what did you mean when you said that you know how you got here?" Aang asked after a moment of Katara silently glaring at the newcomer.
"Long story short, I'm from a completely different world." The blond stated plainly.
"That's crazy, there's no such thing as different worlds." Sokka said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Really, then explain our different maps." Naruto stated.
"Anyone can make a fake map, especially one as crappy as yours." He huffed.
"I'll grant you that. But why would I do something like that?" The blond asked, glancing over at him.
"Because you're crazy?" The brunet asked, elongating the first word.
"I told you, I'm not crazy." Naruto grumped.
"Well, you were kind of shouting at yourself- that's a little crazy." Aang admitted nervously.
"I wasn't shouting at myself." He sighed, shaking his head. "I'm well aware how it looked, but trust me- I wasn't talking to myself."
"Why should we trust you? You're from the Fire Nation!" Katara exclaimed.
"Alright, just going by your reaction, I'm going to say these Fire Nation people are pretty bad guys." Naruto said quietly.
"Gee, let's think about this, they started the war over a hundred years ago and wiped out all of the Air Nomads, yeah, you're people are pretty bad." She growled.
"Right. I'm going to humor your for a minute here." He said with a shake of his head. "Hypothetically, if I was from this Fire Nation, I probably would have attacked you by now, so why haven't I?"
"You're injured." She stated loudly.
"Yes, but I can still take you even in this condition." He stated, grabbing Sokka by the front of the shirt with his left hand and lifting him from the ground effortlessly. "See."
"Sokka!" Katara shouted, lashing out at Naruto with her water and cutting him across the chest only to see the blond turn into a log an instant later as Sokka fell to the ground. "What the..." Before she could finish her question something grabbed her ankles and yanked her underground, leaving only her head exposed as Naruto walked in from of her and crouched down.
"I told you, even in this condition, I can still take you." He grunted.
"You're an Earthbender!" Aang exclaimed as soon as his shock faded away.
"A what-now?" The blond asked, squinting at the bald kid.
"An Earthbender, how else could you have done that to Katara?" He asked, regarding his partially buried friend.
"That? That's just a simple trick, anyone with a little chakra control can do that if they want to." Naruto stated, glancing toward Katara.
"What's chakra?" The boy asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's a combination of the spiritual and physical energies our bodies produce." Naruto explained as he dropped the rest of the way to the ground to sit. "With a little training, a person can learn to mold chakra and use it to perform jutsu like the body replacement I did before Katara hit me and the one I did to bury her like that- or even walk on water like I was doing earlier."
"So, if you're not an Earthbender, what are you?" Aang asked, looking slightly confused.
"I'm a ninja, a fighter trained in the arts of stealth and combat." He answered with a grin.
"You do know that orange and stealth don't mix, right?" Sokka asked after a minute of looking around at the three others.
"Only if you're an amateur." The blond said with a smirk. "A well trained ninja can wear just about anything and not be caught."
"That's great and all, just one question though." Katara said in a sweet tone. "Could somebody get me out of here?!"
"You're staying put." The young shinobi stated calmly, earning a glare from the girl.
"Why?" She growled.
"Because you've tried to kill me twice already." He grunted.
"He has a point Katara." Sokka admitted with a shrug. "Though I'm wondering why you didn't do this before."
"I wasn't in any condition to do this earlier." He said with a shrug.
"Why not, it was only an hour ago." The dark haired boy commented.
"I... Heal at an unusual rate, I was still recovering from my injuries then." He admitted slowly. "And, most of my chakra was burned up getting here so I was pretty heavily exhausted."
"You never did say Naruto, how did you get here?" Aang asked quietly.
"I'm not sure on the details, but the last thing I remember before I wound up in this place was fighting with my teammate." Naruto answered, unconsciously bringing his hand up to the scars on his chest.
"Why, were you guys training or something?" Sokka asked.
"He betrayed our village."The blond answered quietly, getting everyone's full attention.
"Why?" Katara asked in a softer tone than she had previously used with him.
"For power." Naruto said bitterly. "His goal in life... No, that's not right. His obsession in life, is to kill his older brother. He's willing to give up everything to do that."
"That's awful, why would he want to kill his brother so badly?" She asked, glancing toward her own brother for a moment. "I mean, I know I get mad at Sokka all the time, but I'd never want to kill him."
"I should probably give you the history between them so it makes a bit more sense then." He said, pausing for a moment as if to think of the right words. "Up until four years ago, there was a clan in my village that many hailed as one of the best shinobi clans in the Elemental Nations. They were called the Uchiha, my teammate and his brother came from this clan. During out time at the academy, Sasuke was considered a genius ninja, top of the class in everything, but his brother was something else. Itachi wasn't just a genius, he was an absolute prodigy, there was nothing he couldn't do and there wasn't a person in the village that didn't know about him. Graduated the academy at seven, activated his Sharingan by eight, he was a chunin by the age of ten and an ANBU captain by the time he was thirteen years old."
"I don't know what half that stuff is, and I'm impressed." Sokka commented, getting a small nod from Aang. "So, what happened."
"Uchiha Itachi snapped, he killed his entire clan, all two-hundred and thirty-seven members." Naruto said quietly. "Everyone except for himself and his little brother Sasuke."
"That's... How could anyone do that?" Katara asked quietly.
"With a sword and incredible skill with ninjutsu." Naruto said darkly. "I was one of the first people to arrive after the massacre, I saw Itachi running away from his home covered in blood so I went to go see what had happened. When I arrived, it was everything I could do not to fall to the ground and puke at what I saw."
"How old were you?" The brunette girl asked softly.
"Seven, just a couple months away from turning eight." He stated before continuing. "I started to look around to see if anyone was still alive, it took a while but I finally found Sasuke- lying on the ground and shivering, I'd never seen anyone look so pale before."
"What happened next?" Sokka asked, leaning forward slightly
"An ANBU squad arrived with the Hokage, one of them tried to blame me for what happened until the Old Man glared at him- heh, I always thought it was funny how easily he could shut people up by doing that." Naruto said with a dry chuckle.
"Why would they try to blame you?" Aang asked innocently.
"That's a long story that I'd rather not get into right now." He answered blandly. "Anyway, after that nigh, Sasuke's life became consumed by his obsession with killing his brother, he stopped talking with the other kids and just completely isolated himself until we finally graduated. He was the top of the class and we got put on the same team because I was at the bottom."
"Why were you at the bottom of the class?" The tattooed boy asked with genuine surprise in his voice. "You're pretty good from what I've seen."
"Among other reasons, I had absolutely horrible chakra control, I've gotten better of course- to the point I can fight with the geniuses of my generation on an even level." He said with a shrug. "That's part of what sent Sasuke over the edge I guess, watching the village idiot and class clown catch up to you and start to surpass you in just a few months can't be easy on an ego the size of Sasuke's."
"So, he betrayed your village because he wasn't better than you anymore?" Katara asked, giving him a dumbfounded look. "That doesn't sound like a very good reason to me."
"Yeah, but you haven't lost your entire family and been tortured to the point of insanity either." Naruto pointed out. "Sasuke was. The first time I actually met Itachi... Well, that's a different story, anyway, after Itachi found me, Sasuke found both of us. He got this crazed look in his eyes when he charged up a chidori and ran at his brother as fast as he could. Itachi just swatted his attack aside like it was nothing and the broke his arm."
"Wow, this Itachi guy sounds as bad as the Fire Lord." Sokka remarked. "I get how having your arm broken is painful and all, but how exactly it that torture?"
"That wasn't the torture, that was just partially to show the difference between them." The blond said, shaking his head slightly. "He knocked Sasuke back into the wall and pinned him there. What he said next sent chills down my spine."
"What did he say?" Aang asked, looking on for a moment when Naruto raised a hand and started to clear his throat.
"You're weak, Sasuke," Naruto whispered in a completely different voice, one far deeper than his own and devoid of emotions. "Why are you weak? I'll tell you. It's because you lack. Hatred."
"Th-that was pretty creepy." Sokka said, getting a nod from Katara as Aang swallowed the lump in his throat. "What happened next?"
"He trapped Sasuke in an illusion called Tsukiyomi that made him relive the night Itachi slaughtered everyone in their clan for for three days." The blond answered. "It put him into a coma for a month."
"Why didn't you do anything?" Katara asked after a moment.
"I tried, his partner, Hoshigaki Kisami- who looks like the bastard offspring of a big blue fish and a human- used a sword called Samehada to drain all of my chakra before I could help." He huffed indignantly. "I can honestly count on one hand the number of times I've completely run out of chakra, and that had to be the scariest of them."
"He has a sword that can drain a person of their chakra?" Aang asked. "Sounds scary."
"Yeah, if Ero-sennin hadn't shown up when he did, they probably would have taken me." Naruto said with a nod.
"Wait, we're really getting off track here, how did all this all lead up to you fighting your teammate and winding up in the swamp?" Sokka asked, trying to redirect the conversation.
"Well, cutting through all the details, Ero-sennin and I found his old teammate and brought her back to the village." Naruto explained. "She brought Sasuke back out of his coma but he was different when he woke up, he seemed even more obsessed with killing Itachi- if that's even possible- and the two of us ended up getting in a fight on the roof of the hospital. Things got out of had, he was about to use the Chidori against me and I was about to use the Rasengan on him, our other teammate, Sakura, nearly got caught in the middle of it before Kakashi-sensei showed up and deflected us both before anyone got hurt."
"Again, how did that..." Sokka started to say before Naruto slapped a hand over his mouth.
"I'm getting there, it's not easy to sum up this much time in such a short story so stop interrupting." The blond stated. "I'm almost caught up, just let me finish." Sokka gave a small nod and Naruto removed his hand. "Alright, both of us ended up getting thrown into the water towers on that were on the roof, his Chidori punched a pretty good sized hole in the front of his tank and kind of warped the metal around his hand- my Rasengan just kind of ground through the metal a little and put a hole about the side of my little finger in the front."
"You're kidding, he puts his hand through a metal water tower and you only put a tiny hole in another one- this Rasengan thing sounds pretty weak to me." Sokka commented at the mental image.
"Ero-sennin showed me the real damage it did after Sasuke left, Sokka." Naruto said blandly. "The Rasengan blew out the entire back of a four meter tall water tower.::
"O-okay, that's kind of scary." The Water Tribe boy admitted.
"Yeah, maybe two or three days ago, depending on how long I've been out, Sasuke left the village with a group of people that called themselves the Sound Four." Naruto said with a nod. "I was part of the five man squad sent out after them, we ended up getting separated as we chased the Oto-nin down, each of us ended up breaking off to fight a different member. Shikamaru and I had finally managed to corner the last member, a red-haired girl with a really foul mouth, and I got the barrel Sasuke was in. Before I could do anything else though, this guy named Kimimaro showed up, kicked me away like I was a piece of trash, told Tayuya- the red-head I told you about- that he was going to kill her when she got done with Shikamaru and me. Shikamaru sent me after Sasuke, I don't know what happened to him or any of the others. That Kimimaro guy had to be one of the toughest people I've ever though, no matter what I did, it just wasn't enough to beat him and his freaky bones. Half-way through the fight, Sasuke finally got out of the barrel and started walking away, I tried to follow him but Kimimaro stopped me and he was about to finish me off until Lee showed up and saved my ass." The blond paused to take a breath as his jaw tightened.
"What happened next?" Katara asked after a quiet moment.
"I left Lee behind and followed after Sasuke like he told me to," He sighed. "I followed Sasuke to a place called the Valley of the End, it's the place of the final battle between the first Hokage and Uchiha Madara- the founders of my home village."
"Uchiha, you mean like Sasuke and Itachi?" Sokka asked.
"Yeah, he's one of their ancestors, I'm not sure which one exactly but he is from the same clan." Naruto said with a nod. "A bit of irony there actually, him being one of the last Uchiha and me planning on taking the title of Hokage. Anyway, that's when the big fight started, I told him that I wouldn't let Orochimaru take him. He told me he would kill Itachi, even if he had to sell his soul to do it. I'm not sure how long the fight lasted, but at some point he managed to get inside my guard enough that I couldn't stop his chidori and he put his hand right through my chest." As he spoke, Naruto pointed to the scar on the right side of his chest. "I managed to deflect it enough that it missed my heart, but it still hurt like hell- I lost a good portion of my lung."
"So, that's what those scars are from." The buried Waterbender said as realization dawned on her.
"Yeah, these are what Chidori scars look like." He confirmed with a nod.
"So, how did you survive something like that?" Sokka spoke up again after a long pause on Naruto's part. "I mean, you'd have to be able to heal almost instantly to survive something like that."
"My burden is a curse and a gift all in one." The blond boy stated cryptically. "Anyway, after Sasuke tried to kill me, I began drawing on more and more of the power that healed my wound and the two of us fought harder than ever before. I remember everything, but it all happened so fast it kind of blurs together. Toward the end though, I pushed him so far he had to rely on the cursed seal Orochimaru gave him, he transformed into something else. He started to form another Chidori and I formed another Rasengan and we both jumped at each other and our attacks collided, they canceled each other out like they did the first time- kind of anyway- I remember everything got so bright, we both reached out to kill each other and..."
"And what?" Katara asked.
"And I couldn't do it, I pulled back at the last second, he forced his chakra into his hand to make a crude chidori and put it through my chest." Naruto sighed. "After that, you guys basically know the rest."
"Why couldn't you hit him?" Aang asked quietly.
"H-he was my best friend." Naruto said with a resigned sigh after a long silence broken only by the white noise of the swamp. "Twisted as it sounds, Uchiha Sasuke was my best friend."
"Then why did he try to kill you?" Sokka asked after a moment. "That doesn't exactly sound like the friendly thing to do."
"He said he needed eyes like his brother's, and the only way to get them was to kill his closest friend. Ergo, me." The demon host said. "All throughout the fight, all I wanted to do was keep my promise to bring him back to Sakura alive, so I held back. I took two Chidoris through the chest, and I still failed."
"You held back while he was trying to kill you." The blue clad fighter said quietly. "Could you have won if you wanted to kill him too?"
"I wouldn't have gotten hit with the first Chidori if I wanted him dead." Naruto grunted sourly.
Only the sounds of the swamp filled the air as the four sat in silence.::
"So, what are you going to do now?" Aang asked, feeling uncomfortable with the silence after Naruto's story.
"Well, I'm going to get Katara out of there first off." Naruto stated, moving behind the girl before shoving his hand into the ground directly behind her neck and ripping her from the hole with ease. "Now though, I don't know. Everyone probably thinks I'm dead," He paused before giving a humorless laugh. "I wonder how big the party is going to be."
"Party?" All three of them asked at the same time.
"I am, probably, the single most hated person in all of Konohagakure no Sato, when the villagers find out that I'm 'dead' they are going to throw a party." He grunted.
"Why do they hate you?" Aang asked quickly. "I mean, you seem like a really nice guy to me."
"The simple answer is that I was born in the wrong place at the wrong time, I really don't want to get into it right now." The blond shinobi stated, rubbing the back of his neck. "What about you guys? What's your story, and more importantly, why did you two attack me when you though I was Fire Nation? Whatever that is."
"Well, over a hundred years ago, the four nations of our world used to live in peace," Katara began slowly. "At least until the Fire Nation started the war that's been ravaging the world since."
"War, huh? Closest I've seen to war was when Oto and Suna invaded my home a few months back during the chunin exams." Naruto said with a slow nod. "I was only in one of the really big battles, took everything I had in me to take Gaara down."
"Who's Gaara?" Aang asked.
"A kid about our age, he's a lot like me actually." He answered grimly. "That's a story for another time though."
"Ah, come on, I want to hear it." The bald kid whined.
"Sorry, I'm just really tired at the moment, I still haven't fully recovered from my fight with Sasuke yet." Naruto said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Maybe I'll tell you if we meet in the future."
"Why don't you come with us?" Aang offered.
"Yeah! If you were with us, we could kick even more Fire Nation butt than ever before!" Sokka exclaimed as he jumped up. "Maybe you could teach me how to do that neen-jut-su stuff you do."
"Nin-ju-tsu." Naruto corrected after a short pause. "I'm not really sure if it's such a good idea."
"Come on, it'd be great!" Aang pushed, running over to his side quickly. "We could hang out and talk. You could tell us about your world while we show you ours!"
"I-I don't really know." He said slowly, looking over at Katara for a moment. "I really don't want to cause any trouble."
"Hey, Katara, what do you think about Naruto coming with us?"Sokka asked upon seeing Naruto's brief glance.
"Yeah Katara, what do you think?!" Aang asked cheerfully. "Think about how much fun it would be to have him along!"
"Much fun could be had by all." Sokka added wisely as he nodded.
"I-I guess, it's better than leaving him out here all by himself." She said after a moment of quiet consideration.
"Really, I don't want to be a burden." The blond said, forcing himself to smile at them.
"Ah, come on, we don't bite!" Sokka declared as he marched over.
"You two aren't going to stop until I agree are you?" He asked, looking between the other two boys before sighing when they shook their heads. "Fine, you win. I'll come."
"Yes!" The bald boy exclaimed joyously before running over and grabbing Naruto's hand. "Come on, you've got to meet Appa!"
"Who's Appa?" Naruto asked as he was pulled along.
"My flying bison!" Aang explained as he led his new companion behind a building to see a massive brown-striped cream colored creature with six legs and a beaver-like tail chewing eating a pile of dried swamp grass.
"Flying bison?" He repeated slowly as he looked at the horned beast.
"Yeah, it sounds impossible, but he really can fly." Sokka said from behind them.
"Sokka, I'm a ninja. Impossible for us just means that nobody has gotten to it yet." He stated with a smirk.
"Really?" Aang asked excitedly.
"You saw me walking on water that soaked you to your unmentionables, what do you think?" He pointed out quietly.
"Point taken. Hey, Appa, this is our new friend Naruto!" He said, quickly turning his attention to the bison. "Come say hello."
"Uh, hello Appa." Naruto said as the massive bison lumbered over- shaking the earth slightly with each step before stopping in front of the two boys and inhaling deeply. "Aang, what's he doing?" He managed to asked the monk a moment before a massive tongue rolled out of the bison's mouth and ran over him from toe to spiky-haired head.
"He likes you!" Aang declared loudly as Naruto shuddered heavily. "What's wrong?"
"The last time I got licked like that, I was swallowed whole by a giant snake." Naruto stated as he shuddered again. "Let me tell you, that... was, absolutely, the single most disgusting thing that has ever happened to me."
"How'd you get swallowed by a giant snake?" Sokka asked, raising a curious eyebrow at him.
"It was during the chunin exams, I got blown away from a freakishly strong blast of wind- five minutes of defying gravity later, I smacked into a tree and about ten seconds after that I was eaten." He recalled with another shiver. "Stupid snake ate my onigiri."
"How'd you get out alive?" Katara asked curiously.
"Like this." Naruto said, moving his hands in front of his chest to form a cross seal as he focused his chakra- unaware of the winding seal that appeared on his stomach as he did so. "Shadow Replication Technique." An exact duplicate appeared at his side as soon as he finished the name, lasting only an instant before it dispersed in a cloud of smoke while the real Naruto passed out and fell to the ground like a puppet with it's strings cut.
"What happened?" Sokka asked as he and his sister ran over to the boy.
"I don't know yet, give me a minute." Katara said, drawing her water around her hands with a smooth motion as Sokka turn him onto his back so she could lay her hands on him properly. "He'll be fine, he's just exhausted himself again."
A/N: And That's a Wrap for Chapter one. Alright, this is my first attempt at an Avatar/Naruto Crossover- why? I dunno, the idea caught my attention and I was bored I guess. It's not much, but it's what I've got for now. So, please tell me what you think by posting a review whether you think it's good, bad or you are impartial to it. Also, if you spot any blatant errors that I missed I would really be grateful if you were to point them out- and no, for the obsessive compulsive among you, that is not permission to nit-pick my entire story apart. I'm not really sure what the full plot is at the moment, I'll probably keep it near to Avatar's plot for the moment because I do want to get Toph into this little chaotic mix of mine before I start to diverge too far. Well, that's it for now and thank you for reading.
P A/N: I can't tell you when the next chapter will be out because it is just being started so it'll be a while.