(I do not own Naruto or ATLA, but I strongly encourage those with the means to support both TV series)

Chapter 19: "Altruism"

THE ISLAND OF PAIN

The island stretched out before them, full of hills and valleys with several mountain ranges close to it's center so that the ocean of it's opposing side was blocked from view. The trio moved so quietly that even the birds nested in the branches upon which the humans stepped didn't flutter so much as a feather at their proximity.

The clothing of the three figures was indistinct, no longer sporting forehead protectors with the symbol of the leaf on the front, they were dressed in indistinct wraps of dark blue with green lining.

Closer and closer they moved inland, pausing now and then so that the man with the stalk of white hair could consult a map and examine the trail they were following.

Naruto and Aang both followed along in silence, absorbed in their respective thoughts.

Naruto knew more than he wanted to about the Land of Myst, and what he knew made him constantly edgy. The people of the myst, from what he had seen, were as different from Konoha as two clans could be. The Mysts Genin training was sadistic and heartless, and Naruto couldn't help but fear that the people of their country were much the same.

Aangs thoughts were much more mundane. In his mind he saw a girl with beautiful dark skin and startling blue eyes, wearing a robe of green and white. He saw himself next to that girl in robes of pale yellow, turning toward each-other on the balcony of a teashop they moved ever closer, her eyes looking deep into his until finally...

"Aang-Kun, STOP!" hissed Naruto, holding out a hand to pull the monk back to the branch he had been jumping off of.

Aang wavered in mid Air a moment before finally regaining his balance and crouching down on the branch beside his companions. Kakashi glared at him for a moment, then turned his head toward a small clearing beneath them.

Eleven or twelve men all stood in the small clearing, huddled together discussing something quietly, every now and then one of the men would glance up and look around carefully eyeing the tree line with an expression of mingled anger and fear.

The group was dressed in what looked like rags, their appearance exuding a quiet desperation, sallow skin and sunken eyes were visible upon many of the features and one or two of them looked rather ill.

Aang listened closely and could just make out their hurried conversation from his vantage point above them.

"We need food!" rasped a rather emaciated looking man, one arm clutched defensively to his stomach. "We should raid the supplies in the north camp again."

"We can't afford to do that, it's what they're expecting!" growled a rather scruffy looking man with a slit over one eye. "We need to find shelter for the night, lay some traps..."

Another man cut in, he looked a bit healthier than the others, the effect made him appear younger though he was probably about the same age as everyone else.

"I say we take the offensive, cut them down one by one and retake the island for ourselves!"

The others all rolled their eyes or muttered insults under their breath. The emaciated man glowered "You think no one has tried Hashi? Even if we were successful reinforcements from the myst would be here in hours and it would all just start over again..."

A nervous, pensive looking man spoke up, his eyes wide and frightened, "We need to keep moving, we've been here too long... they're bound to catch up to us soon."

The others looked around as if expecting to be surrounded, and muttered consents to this seemingly undeniable truth.

Aang peered closely at the nervous man, his eyes were startlingly blue against his dark skin, and as he turned to look into the forest, scanning for unseen pursuers, Aang let out a little gasp, the back of his tattered rags were woven with an unmistakable symbol... a circle with a spiraling wave at it's center.

Aang glanced at Naruto who looked curiously back, and then at Kakashi. But the old copy ninja was not looking at the man, he was looking at the tree tops around the forest, an expression of concentration on his barely visible features.

Before either Aang or Naruto could ask the question, a shout emitted from the clearing, followed by a volley of whooshing sounds as arrows shot high out of the tree-top canopy angling downward toward the men, now screaming and looking up in terror, below.

Aang lept forward, hearing Kakashi's order to stay put from behind him. The monk landed in the center of the group, moving with such speed he looked like a dark blue blur. Then the monk spun on the spot, bringing his fists together before him and, seconds before the first of the arrows would have reached their targets, a large sphere of swirling wind expanded like a massive domed shield within the clearing.

The arrows glanced off of the swirling wind, their trajectories altered in random directions, sinking into the forest floor or nearby tree-trunks.

The men around Aang were still screaming, disoriented they continued to flee the clearing, running into the forest, only one or two of them even noticed the monks arrival or seemed at all aware of why the arrows had never made contact, but they two only paused for a second before fleeing into the cover of the thick forest.

Aang followed suit as Kunai shot at him from all directions, but his speed outmatched the others by far, he kicked up a trail of grass and foliage behind him as he shot into the forest.

The monk darted through the trees, dancing from branch to branch, upward into the canopy. Then he heard a scream to his right, the scream of a dying man. Aang dashed sideways leaping from tree trunk to tree trunk as though gravity had decided to give him the day off.

Soon Aang saw below him, two figures, one in rags lying on the cold ground and bleeding profusely from a wound in his shoulder, the other masked and wearing robes of green witched matched the fauna perfectly, barring down on the first with lightning speed.

Aang landed on the ground ten feet behind the assailant, and with a rumbling crash the ground between the two men shot upward into a wall.

The masked figure was startled and looked around quickly, he spotted Aang and began to turn but he was too late. Aang brought his stance back and low, his legs spread wide and steady, he pulled his outstretched arms inward as though tugging on a large invisible lever, and the wall behind the assassin crumbled, burying the masked figure instantly.

The disguised monk ran forward over the rubble, grabbed the nervous looking man with the dark bronzed skin and hefted him onto his back without saying a word, then took off like an arrow, leaving a trail of wind and leaves, winding through the dense trees.

THE ISLAND OF TEARS

Sakura walked purposefully behind the boy before her, wrapped in an old-hooded-robe to hide her bright pink hair (and abnormally large forehead). Hinata trailed behind her, sullen and disinterested. The boy lead them down a side road with buildings covered in moss until finally turning in at what looked like a large mound of earth.

Sakura watched curiously as the boy removed a large weaving of leaves from the front and revealed a tunnel which stretched downward at an angle before turning flat some ten feet below.

"You live here?" Sakura asked, a little startled.

The boy nodded and beckoned them in, sliding down the loose earth and disappearing into the tunnel beyond.

Sakura looked around nervously, then shouldering her back and trying her cloak tight, she followed the boy, pulling Hinata after her reluctantly.

The tunnel was wider at the bottom, high enough for her to stand and surprisingly light. She moved forward twenty paces before turning right and finding herself before a shabby make-shift door, opening onto a low cielinged room.

The medical Ninja gasped as she stepped forward cautiously, their were bodies here, twenty or so, strewn around, some lying on the damp earth, some in bed-wraps. Sakura could tell at first glance that not all of them were alive. The boy was standing expectantly over a small figure who appeared to be lying on a bed made from old clothes, covered in a large, dirty coat.

Sakura stepped closer but Hinata remained statuesque at the entrance. The girl looked to be about five years old, she was shivering, sweat dripped down her forehead and her eyes were shut tight as if by not seeing she could hide from the horrifying truth of her condition. The most immediately noticeable thing to Sakura however was that the young girl had locks of shockingly pink hair, though paler than her own.

Sakura knelt down, running her hand over the girls body, trying to get a sense of the illness before her. "Jubu..." she asked, turning to the boy guide "... how long has she been like this?"

"A week." said Jubu, kneeling down and running his hand gently across his sisters forehead, wiping sweat up into her hair.

Sakura concentrated on the girl again. There was something very very off about this illness. It was like nothing she had ever seen. The girls chakra lines were, in places, running in the wrong direction, a symptom of one or two very deadly terminal illness. What's more their were no foreign organisms outside of the norm that Sakura could detect, and the girl had no more or less than the average amount of antibodies in her system.

Sakura finally stood up and looked around.

"The first thing we need to do is get the dead bodies out of here." Sakura motioned to three of the supposed invalids. Then turning to Jubu she asked "Has anyone been taking care of these people or is this just where your village sends people to... " she hesitated looking at the boys hopeful face "... who are sick?"

Jubu looked a little defensive, clearly catching Sakura's unstated accusation "Zho-ma has takes care of our ill."

"And where can I find this Zho-Ma?" Sakura queried, hoping to find someone to compare notes with and get an idea of the history of the outbreak from.

Jubu pointed slowly, his outstretched finger finally directed at one of the bodies Sakura had instructed to be removed.