Crossover Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ NAvatarUTO ❯ Fight in the Fire Nation Forest ( Chapter 1 )

Fight in the Fire Nation Forest

“Oh man, this is such a drag.” Complained Shikamaru. “No wonder they put genin on patrol duty.”

Asuma sighed. Patrol wasn't his favorite either but they still had to stay sharp. “Don't let your guard down.” He reminded his students. “Keep your eyes open for any sign of life.” There came a buzz in his headphone as Ino's voice came over the intercom.

“There's something here” She said, “and it looks big!”

“What did you find Ino?” Choji asked.

“Better be on your top guard, because this is a frickin trail of destruction.” She answered.

Shikamaru cautioned his peers. “For the enemy to have not even bothered to cover their trail, they must be either really strong or really stupid.”

Appa sneezed.

“Who would have thought there'd be so many trees in the fire nation.” Murmured Sokka.

“Are you sure we're in the fire nation?” Katara asked, “It all seems so… Flammable.”

The forest that the gaang was traveling through was dense and Appa had a hard time working his way through the brush. When they finally made it to a clearing, the group was glad to have a rest. Sokka took out his map and Aang and Katara gathered around.

“Ok.” Sokka said, pointing to a patch of green. “We're somewhere in this forest. If we just head north, eventually we'll get to the edge of the tree line where there seems to a bunch of towns. One of them has to have some sort of fire bending teacher.”

Aang sighed, “This would be so much easier if we could fly.”

“Yeah well the whole point in entering the fire nation through the forest was so that we wouldn't have to fly over enemy territory.” Sokka explained. “Ten ton bison are really hard to hide, even if you make a make cloud to cover it up.”

Suddenly the gaang heard a snort from behind them. “I would have spotted that too. I pay very close attention to the clouds.”

Toph jumped. How had she not noticed them approach? They must have traveled in the trees. “Human Boulder!” She heard a voice yell as she felt the ground begin to rumble. Why weren't the others getting out of the way? Just in the knick of time, Toph erected a stonewall to protect them from the rolling human. Shikamaru cursed. He haddn't caught the last member of the group in his shadow possession jutsu. Choji slammed into the rock wall sending bits of stone everywhere. Out of nowhere, they heard a roar.

“Ino!” Shikamaru yelled.

Ino turned around to face an enormous furry beast. There was no one there to catch her. The wall had incapacitated Choji, Shikamaru was holding the enemies with his jutsu and Asuma was dealing with the earth girl. Her target was hard to miss. Without any hesitation, Ino transferred her mind into the beast that stood before her and her real body fell to the ground. When Choji had come to, he ran to get Ino's body to a safe place. Asuma had tied up the enemies and Shikamaru sighed in relief as he released his jutsu. He didn't realize holding three targets would be so much work. He really had to work on his stamina. At least his shadow hadn't bailed on him. He hated when it did that. Shikamaru joined his sensei and Choji in front of the prisoners.

The bald one spoke up. “Whatever you're doing to Appa, just stop it. He's no danger to anyone!”

The ninjas looked at each other. Appa?

“He means the flying bison.” An older girl explained.

Asuma nodded. “Alright Ino, You can come out now.”

Appa shook his massive head as control of his body was returned to him. Ino moaned as she sat up and rubbed her back. “Ow” she complained.

Ignoring their tied up prisoners, Asuma began to speak, seeing this as a good opportunity for a lesson. “All of your techniques work best together in formation InoShikaCho. Ideally you would be able to be there for each other every time but that is unrealistic. In battle, getting separated from the group is inevitable. You all need to work on your weaknesses as individuals. Ino, you need to practice getting into a standing position that will allow your body to fall and not get hurt.”

“I was caught up in the moment okay?” Ino grumbled.

Asuma continued. “Shikamaru, holding three enemies long enough for me to take out the girl was too much effort for you. If you want to make things easy, then you have to actually put in the work to practice them.”

Shikamaru sighed. “I know.”

“Choji,” Asuma concluded, “We can't always be there as your eyes when you do the human boulder. You need to increase your power in order to compensate for any obstacle that may come in your way.”

Choji groaned. “How am I supposed to be powerful enough to break down a wall?”

“Well,” Asuma smiled, “For one thing, you have to keep up your weight. How about I take you all out to barbeque after we turn these guys in?”

“Oh Boy!” Choji exclaimed.

“You're not taking us anywhere if I have anything to do with it.” Toph said as she stamped her foot. Stone shackles burst out of the ground and caught Ino and Choji. Shikamaru and Asuma had evaded the attack by jumping into the tree branches.

“Right. How rude of me not to offer.” Asuma chided himself. “I'm in the presence of the avatar and I don't even invite him to lunch.”

Ino and Choji looked at each other in surprise. The avatar?

The tied up gaang was just as confused. “Hold on,” Sokka said, “Who are you?”

“And how do you know Aang is the avatar?” Katara added.

“I hope you're going to untie us before taking us out to lunch.” Toph muttered.