War in The North

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Chapter 16 (End of The Northern War), Chapter 17 (Avatar State), and Chapter 18 (The Fire Princess) are already available for Patrons.

Naruto silently pulled himself up out of the water on the anchor's chain. He silently climbed the chain to the opening at the top, pulling himself inside and then carefully scanning the room before helping the others in. Once they were all inside, he silently led them through the room to a hatch in the floor, lifting it and slipping inside, the others dropping down after him. Once they were all in the small maintenance shaft, he closed the hatch, silently making his way deeper into the ship, the others following. After a few moments, they reached an area with a grated floor, and Naruto stopped, looking up through it carefully. He spotted a single soldier on patrol and lifted the grate, climbing out of the floor behind him and slipping into the shadows. He knocked on the wall, and the soldier turned, looking around. Then, just as he stepped toward the shadows, Naruto stepped out of them, grabbing him and slamming his back into the wall.

"How did you get onto the ship?" the man asked as Naruto pulled out his club.

"My friend, do you have any idea who I am?" Naruto asked.

"No," the man said, confused.

"Good," Naruto smiled, slamming the club into his helmet, knocking him out, and then dragging him into the maintenance shaft.

He quickly took the armor off and tied him up, passing the armor off. The Northern Water Tribe member, who was now wearing the armor, climbed out of the shaft, walking away to find his position for the escape, following Naruto's directions. Naruto and the others continued through the shaft, getting more and more suits of armor, each disguised warrior taking their places as they did. Finally, Naruto's mental count reached two. Himself and Hahn.

"Alright, Hahn," Naruto said, turning. "Time...to...son of a bitch!"

"Freeze intruder!" a voice said from behind Naruto.

Naruto spun, ducking under a spear and stepping forward, grabbing the soldier by the head and slamming it into the wall with a resounding boom. He quickly dragged him into the shaft, bringing the spear with him, then pulled the armor on, tying up the Fire Navy soldier and making his way quickly toward the command deck. Finally, he crawled out of the shaft, sprinting toward where he knew Zhao would be.

"Admiral Choi!" Hahn shouted, stepping out of the ship wearing the outdated armor that Naruto had expressly ordered him to leave behind. "Prepare to meet your fate!"

Then, he charged, stabbing at Zhao, only for Zhao to knock the spear aside and then hurl him off the balcony. Naruto watched him fall, his neck breaking on the railing before he splashed down between two icebergs, which then crashed together as the ship hit one of them. He sighed. Predictable, yet still unfortunate, even if it was only Hahn.

"As I was saying," Zhao said to the older man in a red cloak beside him. "Years ago, I stumbled on a great and powerful secret. The identity of the Moon Spirit's mortal form."

"What?" the older man gasped.

"I was a young lieutenant serving under General Shuu in the Earth Kingdom," Zhao said. "I discovered a hidden Library, underground, in fact. I tore through scroll after scroll. One of them contained a detailed illustration and the words 'Moon' and 'Ocean.' I knew then that these spirits could be found...and killed. And that it was my destiny to do so."

"Zhao, the spirits are not to be trifled with!" the older man snarled.

"Yes, yes, I know you fear the spirits, Iroh," Zhao said. "I've heard rumors of your journey into the Spirit World. But the Ocean and Moon spirits gave up their immortality to become a part of our world. And now they will face the consequences."

"You there!" a voice shouted from behind Naruto, Zhao, and Iroh, both turning at the same time.

Naruto turned, seeing several soldiers pointing spears at him.

"This is a restricted area!" the soldier said. "Identify yourself!"

"My apologies," Naruto said. "I'm a bit new. You'll have to forgive my ignorance. And my action."

He knocked the spears aside with his own, spinning them and swiping the other way, knocking all three soldiers over the railing. Then, he grabbed the railing, flipping over it himself just before Zhao's fireball shot past. He flipped under the balcony, dropping to a lower level's window and catching it, jumping to his right to a lower one, then again to the ship's deck. He landed in a roll, stabbing a Fire Nation Soldier as he stood, then spun, blocking a slash from another's sword and breaking his arm before taking the sword and stabbing him. Then, he took off at a sprint into the ship, sliding under a slash and knocking the soldier's legs out from under him before sliding into a maintenance shaft and scurrying out of sight, heading for the rendezvous.

The others would probably know that something had gone wrong and would be headed there. After a few moments, Naruto climbed out of the shaft in the vehicle bay, where troops and tanks would deploy when the ship reached the shore. Just as he arrived, several other hatches opened, the rest of the Water Tribe soldiers running over, a couple short.

"What happened?" one of them asked.

"Hahn attacked Zhao," Naruto said. "The ship was put on high alert instantly, and I got spotted in a restricted area. They'll probably be-"

"You!" a voice shouted, soldiers beginning to charge into the room, Naruto and his remaining allies turning to meet them. "Capture them!"

Naruto drew his knives as the soldiers reached them, and they all began to fight. It was chaos instantly. Naruto ducked under a sword, stepping forward and slashing the wielder's throat before taking the sword, putting the knives away, and then sweeping a spear aside, killing the soldier holding it just as a fireball blasted one of the withers. Naruto spun, sending the sword spinning through the air and into the firebender's chest. He caught a spear that someone tried to stab him with and kicked the soldier's knee backward, flipping the spear and driving it into the soldier's face, then ripping it back out. Another lunged for him, but he slammed the base of the shaft into the soldier's head, smashing the spear's shaft. Then, he leaped backward from several slashes. One of the Water Tribe warriors glanced at him before turning back to the fight.

"Get out of here, kid!" the man said. "Get back to the tribe and help the Tribe fend off the Fire Nation."

"I'm not leaving you all to die," Naruto said, drawing his knives.

"The mission's a failure," the warrior said. "There's no need for a kid to give his life in service to a place that's not his home."

Naruto knew all of them would die if he did nothing, suddenly a rush of heat ignited in his chest, his whole body felt on fire, his eyes turning red for a split second, both of his hands engulfed in black flames, the very presence of the flames caused many to stop, feeling the heat despite being meters away, the water around started heating up, slowly turning to steam.

"What Is That?" One firebender shouted in fear; none of them had a chance to do anything when Naruto sent a wave of Black Flames towards the Firebenders, the heat causing the metal to start melting like ice; all of them screamed in pain, the heat causing their eyeballs to burn away, the melted metal to fuse with their skin, as they desperately tried to run away from the heat, the northern water Benders had backed away. Still, many of them got small burns around their hands, neck, and face. The blonde stopped his attack when he saw almost nothing left, where the enemy soldiers had been, now only corpses, dark smoke coming out of their bodies, the water around the area had turned to steam almost instantly...

Cough Cough, Naruto fell to his knees, his hand on his mouth as he kept coughing; he felt his chest burning, his throat feeling as if little blades were piercing his skin as he coughed.

"You alright?" One of them asked, his face as pale as snow, reluctantly putting his hand on Naruto's shoulder, who nodded his head after a short pause.

The blonde looked at his palm with drips of blood on it, wiping it away; he stood up before addressing the others, breathing heavily.

"Let's leave," he said; the others nodded a little too quickly.

Aang

After Naruto returned, telling them the mission had failed, the Avatar decided to do something else.

"The legends say that the moon was the first water bender. Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves." Yue spoke as we looked off the balcony of the snow palace.

"I've always noticed my water bending is stronger at night." Katara nodded in understanding. Naruto hummed in thought.

"My fire bending's stronger in the sun," Naruto added absently. Yue nodded in affirmation as she continued.

"I assume so. Our strength comes from the spirit of the moon and our life from the spirit of the ocean. They work together to keep balance." She explained. Suddenly Aang's eyes widened, and he stood up straight with a smile.

"The spirits! Maybe I can find them and get their help." He offered in excitement. Yue looked at him in confusion as Naruto smiled, liking his plan.

"How can you do that?"

"The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the spirit world. Aang can talk to them." Katara explained.

"Maybe they can give you the wisdom to win this battle!" She said excitedly.

"Or maybe they'll unleash a crazy, amazing spirit attack on the fire nation!" Aang insisted, spreading his arms out with a wide smile. Naruto nodded in agreement with the awesome idea as Katara and Yue just sent Aang blank looks. Psh, they just don't understand the cool possibilities at hand.

...

...

"Or wisdom, that's good too." He corrected, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Katara cut in, ignoring his abrupt and superior suggestion.

"The only problem is last time you got to the spirit world by accident. How are you gonna get there this time?" She questioned. The whole group thought about it for a second before Yue suddenly smiled.

"I have an idea; follow me."

"So, is this the way to the spirit world?" Aang asked as we stood in front of a small, circular doorway in a wall. Naruto tilted his head at the statement. For some reason, he had the urge to press a button and say, 'that was easy.

Yue laughed lightly as she shook her head. Well, never mind then...

"No, you'll have to get there on your own. But, I can take you to the most spiritual place in the entire North Pole." She corrected, opening the doorway. Aang stepped through first before the rest of us followed. Immediately after stepping in, Naruto smiled; this place was beautiful despite being the second time he had come here.

There was a waterfall running over the far wall into a pond in front of them. In the center of that pond was a little island of land. There was actual green grass on the ground and another, smaller body of water at the island's center. Bushes bordered the back of the land, and some sort of wooden archway stood at the back also.

Naruto noticed the warmth in the area and smiled at the feeling. It was so weird to have a place like this on the North Pole. Aang suddenly laughed and ran over one of the bridges in front of us onto the little island and began rolling on the ground.

"I never thought I'd miss grass this much!" He exclaimed with a smile. The rest of us ran over to him also. Naruto pulled off his thick parka leaving him in thinner, blue clothes that he had gotten while staying here.

He lay down on the grass and breathed in, smelling the scent of nature that didn't exist in snow.

"It's so warm here; how is that possible?" Katara questioned as she and Yue followed his example. Aang walked around to the back of the island and stared into the center pool of water, as Yue explained.

"It's the center of all spiritual energy in our land." She said. In the center pool of water, there were two koi fish swimming in a circular fashion after each other. One was black with a white dot on its head, and the other was white with a black dot. He stared at the two figures, feeling...something as He looked at them. The moment was suddenly broken as Momo batted at the fish, hoping for a free meal.

Katara and Yue both glared at him, making him sheepishly back away from the water. Naruto snickered into his hand before looking over at Aang, who was still looking around in awe.

"You're right, Yue; I can feel...something. It's so tranquil." He stated, speaking his thoughts. Sitting down, he got into a meditative position. He was so tempted to go over there and push him into the water, but the North Pole was at stake, so He resisted. After a few minutes of silence, Yue broke in.

"Why is he sitting like that?" She whispered quietly. Huh, guess she's never seen someone meditate before. Weird.

"He's meditating, trying to cross into the spirit world. It takes all his concentration." Katara responded. Naruto figured they didn't realize that Aang could hear everything. He smirked as He saw his face scrunch up in annoyance.

"Is there any way we can help?"

"How about some quiet! C'mon, guys, I can hear every word you're saying!" Aang cut in after Yue in irritation. Both of them shut up quickly after that. Aang huffed, closing his eyes again and trying to concentrate, but after another minute, he groaned.

"I don't understand why I don't feel different!" He complained, holding his head in his hands. He put his hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but as soon as he touched him, a weird sensation covered him, and Naruto backed up quickly, feeling dizzy. Aang gasped in surprise, so Naruto guessed that he felt it too.

"Wait a minute, that might be it! Naruto, you are good at spiritual energy. Maybe you might be a catalyst to get into the spirit world!" Aang exclaimed in realization. Naruto tilted his head. He didn't think it would work like that, but it made sense.

"Well, no harm from trying it, at least." He replied and sat down on the other side of the center pool and put his fists together like he did. They settled in and began to meditate. At first, his eyes were closed, but something inside him told him to open them. As soon as he did, his eyes locked onto the koi pond.

He watched the two circle each other. The colors of the fish almost made them look like...yin and yang. Balance. He stared at them in a trance until suddenly, he felt a pull in his gut. Looking back up, he gasped as he realized that a swampy area surrounded him.

"Naruto, we made it!" Aang shouted excitedly. Naruto turned to his side and saw him smiling brightly. Naruto smiled in return, but suddenly he fell to the floor with a yelp as something pulled on his sleeve. Looking at his arm, he saw a little lemur spirit trying to pull him in a different direction. Aang looked at him with a tilted head.

"Looks like he wants to take us somewhere; maybe he can help." He offered, about to stand up to follow the lemur. The animal looked at Aang and promptly shook its head vigorously and pulled harder on him. He gave Aang an amused smirk.

"Sorry, man, looks like it's cool kids only." He replied smugly. He whined with a pout before nodding in acceptance.

"Fine...you can abandon me for a lemur."

"Thank you."

The small animal pulled him far into the swamp, making different twists and turns and constantly making him face-plant. Suddenly it let him go and disappeared. He blinked at the area the ghost lemur was just in.

"Okay...now what?"

"Naruto! It's so good to see you in person!" The blonde turned around to be met with Avatar Kyoshi.

"Kyoshi, good to see you." Naruto greeted respectfully with a little bow; the old Avatar smiled in amusement.

"Good job on getting to the spirit world, Naruto. Your abilities have been growing stronger." She complimented, making him smile.

"You've done really well with your fire bending too! Now, Naruto gets the feeling we won't have much time together, so before you go, I wanted to give you something." She said with a smile, making him tilt his head in confusion. What was it?

Suddenly something flew straight at us, making him squeak in fear. That thing was huge! He covered his head with his hands and hit the floor quickly. Stop, drop and roll.

Noticing that he wasn't eaten, Naruto slowly opened his eyes only to come face to face with a giant, golden dragon. He gasped and fell back on his butt, and he heard Kyoshi laugh in amusement.

"Don't worry, Naruto. She's not going to hurt you. This dragon is your spirit animal. Just as Aang's is a bison, yours is a dragon. Everyone has one, but not very many people meet theirs." She explained, petting the dragon on its, sorry, her head. She let out a puff of breath before giving Kyoshi a look almost as if to say, 'Really? Am I stuck with this stupid human'? He huffed in offense and glared at her.

"Hey, I'm not the happiest to meet you either, bub. Dragons are awesome and all, but not so awesome when it looks like one is about to eat your face." He stated in irritation. The dragon looked back at him and almost seemed to laugh. He sighed, patting her nose before standing up.

"Okay, you're still really awesome..." He grumbled, ignoring the little nudge she gave him on the side.

"So, are you gonna be my spirit express ride around this place from now on?" Naruto questioned with a raised brow. She seemed to glare at being called an 'express ride' but nodded in affirmation. His face split into a smug smile.

"Sweet, I'll totally rub this in Aang's face!" Naruto laughed. Suddenly pain filled his head, making him gasp and fall to the ground.

"Naruto!" Naruto heard Kyoshi exclaim as his new dragon nudged his arm in concern. He felt a hand be placed on his shoulder as Kyoshi gasped.

"You're being forcefully pulled from the spirit world! Aang was your catalyst just as much as you were his. If this is happening, that means you must have been separated." She said with a frown.

"We'll talk to you later, Naruto, be careful." And with that, Naruto passed out.

"...-uto!"

"Naruto! Are you okay?" His eyes snapped back open as yelling filled his ears. He looked up at the concerned faces of Katara, Yue, and Sokka. He sat up with a groan of pain and held his head as it throbbed.

"Ugh, what happened?"

"I don't know; you just suddenly fell over," Katara said as she put her hand on his shoulder. He nodded, right. He was forcefully pulled from the spirit world, and now He has to find Aang, or else He'll have the biggest migraine forever, and we'll probably lose the war without him. That's important too.

"Right, okay, we've got to go find Aang now," Naruto grunted, standing up. Sokka nodded in agreement before tilting his head.

"Yeah, Zuko couldn't have gotten far, but how did you know that?"

"It's a long story." Naruto sighed. He climbed onto Appa and looked down at the others.

"We going? I think I can sense which direction he's in." He offered. He noticed that when facing a certain direction, his head felt slightly better. That's probably the direction Aang was in. The three on the ground shared looks before shrugging and climbing up too.

"You're rushing a lot for someone who just woke up." Katara mused as He took the reins.

"You would be too if your head felt like someone was repeatedly smashing a hammer into it." He retorted before turning towards a despondent Momo.

"You should stay here, boy, just in case he comes back." He said with a sad smile. Momo just made a little sound before curling up in the spot Aang was in. Naruto got Appa into the air and began flying him in the direction of less pain. We flew in silence for a second before Naruto broke it.

"So...I got a spirit express dragon today."

"What?"

"*Sigh* You get used to things like this, Yue..."