Hiya, all you crazy fanfiction readers out there. I'm Zakstab. You may have noticed (probly not) that Reefstab is no longer alone in the name. Well, we both have come to a conclusion: Since my computer is better than hers, I'm too lazy to make my own account, and we live under the same roof, we're sharing accounts.
Now that the completely boring and unrelated stuff is out of the way, thank you for looking at this story, and, please, enjoy!
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The Test of Time
Chapter 1
Irregularity
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Uzumaki Naruto sat there, panting heavily. He reached up to grab the black spear-like object lodged in his shoulder, proceeding, with much pain, to yank it out. Biting back a yell, he tossed the spear to the side. Naruto got up on shaky legs, before slowly making his way towards his opponent.
The man, if he could even be called human, lay crushed in a crater. His long hair hung in front of his face. His cloak was in shreds, as two clones crouched down, one hand holding Pein's arms down, the other two pointing a kunai at his throat.
Naruto stumbled up to Pein, holding his bleeding shoulder, eyes alight with rage. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. "So, now what? You have another surprise or something planned for me? Something gonna pop outta the shadows to take me down?! Huh!?", Naruto's voice grew to a roar. "I survived all that you threw at me, from multiple summons, to hundreds of different 'you's'! Now, you're on the floor, waiting for your death! Is this all part of some 'better world' ideal?! Killing a bunch of people for something they had no control over?! Taking the Bijuu and destroying everything, killing every man, woman, and child, just so everything can be perfect!?", he screamed.
The self-described god looked up, his steel, piercing glare almost making the boy flinch. "Yes. This world is ruled by incompetents. Those that bring about strife and pain. Every single person under their banner follows their ideals. If they will not bring the world harmony, they must be eliminated from the picture altogether. Once that is done, peace will reign supreme.", he said with conviction.
The boy shook his head, a bitter laugh coming from his mouth. "Whatever. It doesn't matter anyways. You're finished. You're not leaving this cave alive, even if I have to die making sure of it.", Naruto spat out. He pulled a kunai out of the holster, ready to make the final move.
Pein's gaze went to around the room for a few seconds, before leveling his sight at the boy. "I am afraid I cannot let you do that. I can still accomplish the ambition without the Kyuubi, albeit a bit tougher without it. All I have to do is catch the Hachibi. You, however, are disposable. So, I am sorry, container of the kitsune, but it will be you that will not leave this cave alive.", he spoke, his eyes never leaving the boys'.
Suddenly, a pile of scrap burst forth, as a heavily-damaged Pein-clone slid out from the wreakage. It's short, sleek hair was singed with flames, while its legs were completely gone. Everything below the left elbow was gone, and a piece of it's face was caved in. Its right arm, though, threw two glittering, sharp spikes at Naruto.
The blonde went to dive to the side, but Fate had it in for him. The Pein, the one in the crater, threw both clones off of him, before throwing his arms forward. Using the last of his chakra, he used his gravity control to push Naruto forward.
Into the spikes.
Naruto screamed in pain, as the two spikes pierced each of his legs. Dropping to his knees, he fell onto his back, clutching his shins. His headband flew off his head, landing far away in the cave. He grabbed onto the spikes, and tried to pull them out, but they stayed completely still.
They looked like green crystals, but razor sharp. They couldn't have been very big, maybe only three inches in length. But, they burned. Like if he was being stabbed by a cattle brand. He was about to get a new shock, one that the boy couldn't have guessed in a million years.
The crystals began to grow.
At first, he just thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, until he noticed it had spread to his ankle. He couldn't move it at all. He looked at the man laying in the crater, who just gazed back at him. "Surprised? We unearthed those crystal a few months back. It almost gave Kisame a heart attack, but we figured out how to reverse the spreading. But, you will never know it. You will die slowly.", the man said.
As Naruto looked at the man, he felt the crystals growing up his leg. They were also digging into the ground. He tried shifting his weight to one side, but the crystals wouldn't budge. As they started to grow up his thigh, he grabbed a kunai, before throwing it at the man. Having no chakra left, Pein just craned his neck to the right, as the knife stabbed into the wall. Looking at the kunai, he turned back at the boy, before being reminded of a fact. One that he had overlooked.
The boy had another kunai in his other hand. That exact knife was about two inches from his face.
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Naruto watched, as the decoy kunai stabbed into the wall. As a few milliseconds ticked by, Naruto felt as if each one was a lifetime. Finally, the man's head turned. It may have been for only a second, but it was all that was required. Naruto threw the second kunai. 'It kinda kills his whole "I'm a god" thing.', Naruto thought, as the kunai pierced into the god's skull. It flew with such power, it was buried up to the grip tape.
"Go to hell, you psychotic fuck.", Naruto said, as he waited for the crystals to engulf him.
A half-hour later, his eyes closed, as the dark and cold filled his body. As he waited for death to take him, he saw a small red light, before he passed out...
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A long time passes...
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"Breath."
Naruto inhaled air. Sweet, free oxygen. He still couldn't see, but he could breath. That was a start. As he was pulled into the abyss of his mind, he saw color for the first time in... Well, time was now a foreign object to him. In fact, he squinted from the glowing red chakra flowing from his favorite tenant.
"Kyuubi? What the fuck? I thought I was dead!", Naruto yelled at the large fox. It just sighed. "That's not a nice way to talk to the one who's been keeping you alive for OVER A THOUSAND YEARS!", the fox said, its' voice raising. Naruto just blinked. "Say what now?"
The fox explained that, with its' chakra, it kept Naruto alive by keeping in his organs, and making sure his blood kept flowing. "It's not as easy as it seems, kid. I kept YOU alive, but your body is in bad shape. Your muscles are probably nothing now, and you'll need to take it extremely slow for a while.", Kyuubi spoke. Naruto sighed. Slow was bad in his book. "Hey, what about chakra? Can I still mold it?".
"Theoretically, yes.", it said. "What's the problem?", Naruto asked. His response was a sigh. "Basically, you know how it is when demonic chakra flows through you. Yours starts molding after mine is gone. But, and this is the problem, there has never been a time when a demons' chakra has had to sustain a human for as long a timespan as it's been. You may not start creating your own chakra for a long time, if ever again.", it explained.
It took a few seconds for his brain to process it all, but when it did, realization hit him. "Y-you mean... You mean I may never use chakra again?", he stuttered out. "Your chakra, but yes. I'll have plenty of time to test your chakra reserves while you recover. Now, your body is almost fully out of that crystal shit, so I'll send you back. Remember, take it slow.", Naruto heard it say, as he felt himself return back to the land of the living.
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Naruto just breathed for a few minutes. Next, he tested his arms. He could barely lift them. 'My muscles must really be fried.', he thought, and tried again. He got a little better response, since he was able to move his elbow joint.
Finally, he felt the crystals shatter from his legs. Instantly on his own weight, his legs couldn't hold it, and collapsed. Naruto's face hit the dirt. "Owwww.", he said, muffled by his face down.
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A few hours later...
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Naruto sat down on the dirt to rest. He had been testing his body out for a couple of hours, and could now walk and move most of his limbs with minimal pain. He had looked over his surroundings, and realized he was in a large cavern. A beam of sunlight from the surface was the only source of light in the cave. He had squinted for a good half-hour just waiting for his eyes to adjust, but they finally did.
"Now, kid, I'm going to start taking away my chakra from your body. Be ready.", the fox spoke in his mind. Naruto breathed deeply, and waited. Instantly, his breathing became labored, and it was hard to support himself, so he sat down. His entire body became cold. "W-wh-what's hap-ppening?", he stuttered, his whole body shivering violently. "Calm down, kid. Your body hasn't been self-reliant in a thousand years, so it isn't used to the work.", the fox said. Naruto started to feel tired. "How much chakra have you taken away?", he asked.
"Around thirty percent of it. I'll take away seventy percent in the next two days, to give your body time to adjust. So, just rest for a time."
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Three days later...
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Naruto sat down in a meditative pose. "Now, all I have to do is try to mold chakra?", he asked. "Yes. But, remember, steel yourself for what might, or might not, happen.", the beast warned. Naruto put his hands together in the ram seal. As he started trying to gather chakra, his body started to get cold again. 'I have to do this. I have to stay strong...', he chanted in his mind, as his whole body began shivering. Finally, when it seemed nothing was happening...
He felt it. A small warming sensation at the tips of his fingers. Slowly, the cold started to go away. As he heard the fox's comments of encouragement, he finally felt an emotion he'd not felt in a long time:
Happiness. True happiness.
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Two weeks later...
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"Well, you may not be able to perform any jutsu, but at least you have your muscles back in shape. That, and your small chakra supply will enable you to wall-climb. Eventually, you'll get your abilities back. Now, I think it's time to go to the surface world. Since I've been up keeping you alive, though, I am gonna take a good, long nap.", the fox said, his presence no longer felt.
Naruto took off his torn-up orange jacket, and started his climb. He had on his old orange pants, a black tank top, and his ninja sandles. "Wow, my stuff is ancient by now. Maybe I can sell my jacket, and get a mint for it.", he said to himself, as he scaled the cavern.
As he neared the top, he heard yelling, as the thick, unmistakable smell of smoke touched his nose. He poked his head up, and squinted. He waited a few seconds for his eyes to adjust. As he hauled himself up out of the cave he called home for a while, he took in his surroundings. He saw a village, but it looked like it was under attack, as many of the buildings were on fire, and there were screams coming from the center.
He walked a few feet away, and noticed he was on a hill, one overlooking the village. He could see people running from, what he assumed, soldiers. The soldiers had on black armor, which covered their bodies. They also had on helmets, with red horns, and a white mask covering their faces.
He also saw fights break out between the soldiers and a group of women (Naruto hoped they were women.) who wore green armor and robes, strange headdresses, and what looked like makeup.
Naruto made his way down the hill to get a closer look, but had to hit the ground, when a fireball came flying out of nowhere. 'What the flying fu-', his thoughts cut off when another zoomed over his head. "Maybe a standoff of fire jutsu...", Naruto muttered, crawling over to a busted cart.
The blonde peaked his head over the cart, and stared at one of the girls in green. She was fighting a soldier, as was apparently winning, until the man (and this is what baffled the shinobi) shot fire from his hand, nailing the girl in the gut. She was lucky she was wearing armor, but it was now charred and useless. The man was closing in with his sword.
And Naruto struck. With a hop over the cart, he blind-sided the soldier, slamming him into one of the huts. Not giving him a chance to retaliate, Naruto yanked the man's helmet off, before cracking it into the man's skull. He was knocked unconcious.
Naruto got up, and walked over to the girl, who looked at him warily. He offered a hand to her, which she took. "Who are you? Why are you in our village?", she asked harshly. Naruto shrugged. "Does it really matter? I'm obviously not one of them. I'd say that's the most important thing.", he answered.
She looked at him for a few more seconds, before nodding. "My name is Suki. Can you fight?", she asked. Naruto grinned. "All I need is a weapon.". Suki pointed to the downed soldier. Naruto saw the sword, next to his body. Naruto sighed. "Um..... Is there something a little... smaller? And throwable?", he said.
Suki grabbed something from her sash, tossing to him as she ran forward. "C'mon! To the shoreline! Their boat is anchored there!", she said, already a few feet ahead. Naruto looked at the item, before running after her. "A fan?! I have to use a friggin' fan?!"
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Zuko hopped off the beast, looking at the town. One of the defenders rushed him, almost striking him with a fan. He ducked, before leg-sweeping her. He was about to finish her off, when he felt his warrior's instinct go off. He looked up, shooting a fireball at the projectile heading towards him. It burned easily, falling to the ground.
Zuko looked up, seeing another girl standing there, pulling another fan out. He also saw a young man next to her, testing one of the fans out. He knocked the girl out, before standing up. She slipped into a stance. "Stop this. My village is peaceful, just leave now.", she said. Zuko looked around at the burning village, before focusing on her.
"Tell me where the Avatar is. I will withdraw my men and leave this village.", the Fire Prince said, slipping into his own stance. "Never.", she said, opening the two fans in her hands. "Then I will burn your village to the ground.", Zuko yelled in anger, shooting a fireball at her. She deflected it with her fans, rushing him. He blocked a strike, shooting another fireball into her chest, which she dove to the side, throwing a fan at him. He blocked it, getting ready to strike her down, when a thought occured to him.
He forgot the man.
By the time he turned, the man was in the air, about to tackle him. Zuko was caught by surprise, but grabbed the man's shoulders, as he did the same. They hit the ground, and Zuko tried to throw him off. But, his grip on Zuko's shoulder spike was like a vice. They rolled onto the man's back, and he launched Zuko off with his legs, the prince landing in a cart of hay.
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Aang flew towards the village, worried about what he would find. Zuko had chased them there, and the young Avatar felt that it was his fault Kyoshi was under siege. His plan was to lure Zuko out of the village, and have the prince follow him. But, as he soared over the main pathway of the village, he had a feeling the plan was going to change.
The airbender watched, as a hay cart burst into flames, before Zuko himself jumped out of it, aiming a flaming kick at a young man with blonde hair. The youth dove to the right, throwing what appeared to be one of the fans the Kyoshi Warriors used at Zuko. The Fire prince slapped it away, aiming a fireball at the youth, who just jumped back behind a barrel, which caught fire.
Aang flew down to the village, landing right in front of the young man, blasting another fireball that Zuko fired into nothing. Aang then swung his staff, blasting the young prince into a house. Aang looked over at Suki, who ran up to him. "Aang, you have to leave the village. These firebenders were searching for you.", she said quickly.
Aang pointed at the mystery youth, who was just getting up from behind the barrel. "Is he one of the Kyoshi Warriors? I don't remember seeing him before.", he asked. Suki shrugged. "He just came out of nowhere. I've never seen him before. I'm sure he's not part of the village.", she said, as the blonde walked up to the two.
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"Well, Hotshot's taken care off. Do you need any more assistance, Suki?", Naruto asked, looking at the girl. She shook her head. "No, I don't think so. In fact, I think you should go with Aang.", she said, pointing to the young, bald boy standing to his right. He grinned. "He's the Avatar. And he could use all the help he can get.", Suki said.
Naruto thought about it for a second. He was about to answer, when a fireball flew in front of his face, almost choosing the answer for him. "Alrighty. Let's get going!", Naruto said, looking at Aang. The Avatar nodded quickly, blocking another fireball with his staff. Aang ran forward, turning around for a second. "C'mon!", he yelled, running again. Naruto quickly followed.
They rushed down the pathway, which lead them out of the village. They kept running, until they reached the coastline, where Naruto saw two other kids, probably a little older than Aang. The girl came up to him, a worried look on her face. "Aang, are you alright?", she said, but the Avatar ran past her. "No time, we gotta go!", he said, helping the other boy put some cargo on th-
And that's where Naruto's mind stopped completely. He was so stumped, he stopped moving. After a few moments, he was finally able to voice his opinion. "That... Is a giant buffalo.", he said, surprising the other two. The boy pulled out a weapon, which Naruto would have reacted to, had his mind not been preoccupied with the huge bovine before him.
The girl also got into a stance, one Naruto had never seen before, calling out to the younger boy. "Aang, who is this?", she said cautiously. Aang turned around from his spot on the giant animal. "No time to explain. He's helping us, though. C'mon, we gotta go!", he said urgently, jumping down and picking more stuff up. Meanwhile, Naruto was still rooted to the spot.
After a minute, the group was getting on the buffalo, but Naruto was still just staring at it. "Hey, uh... Whatever your name is, come on, hurry up!", Aang called out, shaking Naruto out of his stupor. "Uh, y-yeah.", he said, running up to the beast. Climbing into the saddle, he sat on the side closest to Aang, as the boy and girl, who looked strangely alike, kept their glares aimed at him.
Naruto's mind was sent even further into gridlock, when the bison up and jumped, and started flying!
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Aang turned back, as he looked at the village. The homes burning, large smoke plumes rising up into the sky. The only good thing he could take out of this was, he could see the firebenders were heading for their ship. He put his elbow on the side of the saddle.
"It's all my fault. None of this would have happened if I had just never came here.", he said, obviously depressed. Katara crawled over to him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Aang.. There's no way you could have known this would happen.", she said. He shrugged her hand off. "But it doesn't change the fact that it's my fault.", he said. "Then, if you feel it's your fault, find something to do about it.", the mystery boy said. Katara quickly turned to him. "Your not really helping. We don't even know who you are, so yo-", she was saying, but was cut off.
"He's right.", Aang said, standing up, and jumping off his bison. Katara gasped, jumping to the side. "Aang! You idiot, why would you say something like that!?", she yelled, grabbing the guy by the scruff of his shirt. The guy blinked. "Well....... I didn't actually think he'd kill himself.", he said. Katara looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "What are you talking about? He's the Avatar, he didn't die. I'm just worried about him is all. Look.", she said.
Sure enough, when Naruto looked over the side of the buffalo, he saw the bald kid. Flying. He landed on top of a dragon. That was shooting water from it's mouth. The good thing was, it was putting out the fires. The village was safe. Naruto looked back up. "Wow. That's... Yeah, that sure is something.", he said.
"So, what's your name?", Naruto asked. The girl was caught off-guard by the question. "Uh... Um, K-Katara.", she said, stuttering a little. Naruto grinned. "Great. I'm Naruto. Mind if you get off me?", he said. Katara noticed she was still holding his collar. "Sorry.", she said, jumping away from him.
A few seconds later, Aang flew above the buffalo, landing in the middle of the saddle. "So, how'd I do?", the young Avatar asked. The mystery boy stood up and clapped. "Wow, that was quite the show. Now, will someone please explain WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!", the blonde yelled. "What do you mean?", Aang said, confusion written on his face.
"Well, to start things off, I'm on a flying friggin' buffalo-"
"Bison.", the bald boy corrected.
"Bison, buffalo, whatever. You can fly-"
"Airbend.", Katara now said.
"Airb- Whatever the hell that is! Then, you land on a damn dragon thing that shoots wate-"
"The Unagi.", Aang again corrected.
"WHATEVER! STOP CORRECTING ME!", Naruto yelled, pointing a finger at the two. They both nodded. "Now, there's guys shooting fire from their hands, and without handseals, an-", he was saying, before the two cut him off. "What are handseals?", they asked.
Naruto was caught offguard, and was about to answer, when a flying monkey landed on his head, further adding to his confusion.
Naruto stopped for a second, before pointing upwards. "What is this?", he asked, surprisingly calm. Aang grinned. "That's Momo. He's our flying lemur.", he said. "Huh. Well, he needs to be answered for, too.", Naruto said, picking the lemur up, and setting him on the saddle.
"Alright. I'm fine. Now, would you kindly explain?"
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An hour passes...
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"OK. So, you're Aang,", Naruto said, pointing to the bald kid. He grinned and nodded. "Katara,", he stated, now pointing to the girl. She smiled and nodded. "And Sokka.", now the blonde pointed at the boy leaning back, taking off armor that looked like the Kyoshi Warrior's. He huffed, but nodded, not looking up at the blonde. Katara shook her head. "Don't mind Sokka. He's wary of strangers.", she said, sighing.
"And, he's Appa,", Naruto said, now pointing down. The Sky Bison grunted. Aang nodded. "Yup. He's been my buddy since I was young... er.", the boy said. Naruto nodded. "And your on the way to the North Pole.", he finished, to which Katara and Aang nodded.
Naruto nodded. "I can accept most of it, but there is one thing I need to know. Why?", he asked. Aang scratched his neck, before trying to answer. "Well,... um... We're trying to save the world, I guess is the easiest way to say it.", he said, grinning sheepishly.
Naruto's eyes widened, before he looked down at his lap, and sighed.
The three watched the stranger get up, and walk over to Appa's tail. Naruto inhaled a large breath, before screaming, "YOU JUST HAD TO GIVE ME MORE SHIT TO DO, DIDN'T YOU!? YOU HORRIBLE BITCH-GODDESS!!!", shaking his fist at the blue sky.
As the group stared at him, he walked back, and sat down next to Katara. "Alright. I'll help you guys... Not much else I have to do, anyways.", he said, as they kept flying, headed for who-knows-where.
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As the now-foursome flew towards new horizons, Fate sat in her room, watching them. "My, my, whatever am I going to do with that boy?", she said, laughing a little. "Oh well, he'll be fine for a while. Now, onto this other kid, Zuko....."
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As Zuko walked the deck of his ship, he growled even more. The Avatar had escaped from him once more. Also, there was the matter of that one man, with the blonde hair. It seemed he was working with the Avatar. Another hurdle to jump.
'I swear, if one more thing happens to me tod-', he thought, until a random rock came out of nowhere, pegging him in the head. As smoke started spewwing off the young prince, Iroh came over two him. "Oh, yes, nephew, we must make port soon. I forgot last time to get tea leaves! Can you believe that?", his uncle said, laughing as he went down to his room.
A large flare could be seen for a few miles around the ship.
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Well, that's the first chapter, folks. Hope you all liked it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Avatar: The Last Airbender. Period.
Next chapter will feature fighting. I promise.... hopefully.
R&R, please! Til next time, this is Zakstab, signin' off.