Chapter-120

"I'm not feeling well."

About half an hour ago, Toph kicked me awake. She needs to find a nicer way to wake people up.

I feel really bad; my mouth tastes like sand, all my muscles hurt, and I've got a killer headache.

"Do you feel better?" Katara used a few drops of water, which glowed blue when they touched my forehead.

"Better," I feel improved now, though my head still hurts. This is the last time I drink from a cactus. "My mind is blank, what happened?" I can't remember anything since I passed out after drinking that stuff.

"Well..." Katara smiled forcedly. She doesn't want to remember what happened a few hours ago.

"You went crazy and talked nonsense. I had to hit you to make you shut up."

"And you sure enjoyed it, didn't you, Toph?"

"Who wouldn't?"

"Look! It's a giant turtle that's going to kill us all!"

"He's just a rock, Sokka," Katara growled under her breath, still having to deal with a neurotic Sokka.

"…" The only member of the team who remained silent was Aang, who was still looking at the horizon where the sun was rising. He hadn't been able to sleep at all. All night he could only think about where his best friend could be.

"We must keep moving." Katara knew that the atmosphere was tense. Everyone was tired and thirsty, even with dawn, they could already feel the intense heat. They didn't know how much of the desert they had traveled, but they still couldn't see anything but sand.

"You know what? Screw it!" With the headache I've got, I just want to find the way out of this hell. Forming a hand seal, I made hundreds of clones appear around me. "Guys! We have to find a way out of this dump!"

"Yes!"

A sand whirlwind had almost been created as all the clones shot out.

"What the heck was that?" Toph was confused. From one moment to the next, she felt the footsteps of hundreds who were now running away at full speed. "Can you clone yourself?" This is the first time she has seen it.

"Yes!"

"Clones, superhuman strength, you never get tired, and with the intelligence of a chimpanzee," I listed the main characteristics of the ninja boy, although the last one made a vein stand out on my forehead. "I can only say... poor whatever your wife."

"Toph!" Katara scolded for the double meaning of the word.

"Hey! You make it seem like any woman who is with me is doomed." Apparently, the shinobi was not good at detecting the double meaning of the word. "Just so you know, I'm a good catch."

"Oh yeah? Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

"Well… no."

"Have you ever kissed a girl?"

"Well…"

"On your lips."

"No."

"Have you even held hands with one?"

"Well, I did it with Katara."

"She's like your mom; she doesn't count."

"Do you enjoy making me look bad?"

"Actually, yes."

"And I enjoy seeing."

"And I know that, in addition to being a little girl, I'm also a loser."

"Shorty."

"Idiot."

"Stinky feet."

"Little flower."

"Plan-" I couldn't finish that word when a pillar of sand came out, almost leaving me without offspring. "Stop trying to hit my balls!"

"Do you have balls? I thought I crushed them last time."

"I'm going to teach you a lesson, you little psycho!" Before I could lunge at the girl, I received the memories of one of the clones that I had dispelled. "Great!"

"Naruto wait!" The others had to follow me, who ran off at a speed random to them.

One hour later….

"Finally, land! I'm so happy I could kiss you, little girl!"

"Thank you is enough," muttered Naruto, watching as his clones covered the various caves of the mountain. He didn't want to know what things could be in there.

"Ahhh~"

The shinobi raised an eyebrow at how happy the blind bandit seemed, somehow making little angels out of solid ground. Was that even possible?

They had come here with some kind of sand ship, and after Aang dug it out of the sand, they had more freedom to navigate the vast sea of sand.

"Any luck with the water?"

"Why am I the one digging?" Sokka complained exhaustedly, leaning on the shovel she found on that ship. A while ago, she was digging, hoping to find water.

"Why did Naruto already cover all the caves, Aang is still in the sky collecting water from the clouds, and Toph was very happy making little earth angels."

"And you, dear little sister?"

"Are you really going to let your little sister dig under the hot desert sun?"

"Yes, now take the shovel."

"You are a bum."

"I'm your brother; this is our relationship. Now dig in."

Growling under her breath, Katara took the shovel and was going to dig but stopped when she saw in the distance several of those boats manned by those sand workers from that small town.

Naruto stood with his arms crossed, calmly watching the various ships come towards them. And his hair was blown by a strong breeze, the unfriendly face that Aang had made even the shinobi think twice before wanting to speak to him.

"Let me do the talking; maybe they'll know where Appa is."

"Good," was the monk's short response to the shinobi, who gave a sigh, hoping things wouldn't get out of control.

The entire Avatar team descended to the foot of the mountain and came face to face with easily two dozen of these sandmen, who did not seem happy at all to see that one of their ships was in the hands of strangers.

"We don't want problems," Naruto wanted to avoid conflict. They were all tired, thirsty, and very angry; a fight now would make things end very badly.

"Neither are we, Orange Pillar," the one who seemed to be the leader of the group of dunkers took a step forward, with his hands raised in a gesture of peace. "It seemed strange to us to see one of our boats here in our hiding place, and it's more 'strange' to see who used it. We have heard stories about you; it is an honor to know you, especially the boy who freed our people from the clutches of the Fire Nation soldiers."

"Please, father, do you really think that this weakling is the Orange pillar?" mocked another of the sand workers, which made his other companions smile mockingly, agreeing with him.

"That voice…" Team Avatar's attention fell on a serious Toph, who had her attention focused on the person who had just spoken. "He's one of the ones who kidnapped Appa."

"You took Appa?!"

Naruto had to step aside when the monk used his staff to create a current of air that shattered one of the sand sliders. Obviously, this angered the sand people.

"You're accusing me of theft when you have one of our speeders?! This won't stay like this!"

"Stop, stupid!" The father could not prevent his son from attacking with a wave of sand, which was split in half before he could even touch the group of boys.

"Where's Appa?!" With a single swing of his staff, the monk had knocked down the nearest sandmongers who tried to attack and aimed it at the leader's son.

"What proof do you have that I took your bison?!"

"You were there... you told him to put a muzzle on him."

Toph's words were the trigger for Aagn's explosion of rage, which sent everyone flying due to a powerful tornado that revolved around them.

"What have you done, idiot?!" The sandmen had no chance against the Avatar; with just a wave of his hand, he sent everyone flying.

"I…I…I didn't know it was from the Avatar!"

"How many flying bison are there in the stupid world?!" Sokka had to take Toph and back away from the ever-growing sand tornado; if it continued like this, they themselves would be swept away by it. "Just tell him where he is! You're dooming us all!"

"I sold it! It must be heading to Ba Sing Se now!"

Although the thief spoke the truth, this had not appeased the blind fury of the Avatar, who raised his hands, and the great mountain behind him began to levitate and break into pieces, forming sharp stakes of earth that pointed straight at the sandpits, who were paralyzed by fear at such a display of power.

"Aang! Don't do it!" Katara tried in vain to get closer, but the wind pushed her away from the Avatar, who with his marks and eyes shining as brightly as the sun, was going to finish off those who dared to hurt her friend.

But all that overwhelming pressure disappeared in one moment when a sharp thump was heard.

Naruto had given the Avatar a strong blow to the back of the head, knocking him out, trapping the monk. The shinobi landed on the sand and carefully left his friend on the ground to slowly look over his shoulders at the sandboxes.

"Tell us how to get out of this desert, or I promise you all will end up with every one of your bones broken."

They had no choice but to say everything and escort Team Avatar out of the desert.