Crossover Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ NAvatarUTO ❯ In the Hole, out of the Hole ( Chapter 10 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter Ten: in the hole, out of the hole

“Wow, it's so dark, I can't see a thing.” Sokka mentioned.

“That must really suck for you.” Toph retorted sarcastically. “You're welcome for saving your lives, by the way.”

“Thanks Toph.” The others chimed in.

Sokka groped around in the dark to find the others. “We need to figure out what we're going to do next.” He said.

Aang spoke up. “I say as soon as Toph senses that the centipede and Zuko are far enough away, we get out of here and look for the others. Then we finish this exam and tell the hokage that Zuko has infiltrated the village.”

“What'll that do?” Toph asked. “They can't interfere with the fire lord and Zuko is his son.”

Katara bit her lip. “Maybe,” she thought out loud, “ I know this sounds terrible, but if we don't tell Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura that Zuko found us, then they'd still be obliged to protect us.”

They sat in silence for a while. “I can't do that.” Aang said. “I don't want to impose any further on these good people. You heard how much of a burden Sasuke said we were.”

“That's right,” Sokka added, “Sasuke and Kakashi were downright hostile to us. I bet they wouldn't mind a bit if Zuko captured us. I think they really were colaberating with him from the start. Kakashi must have been the one to give him his facemask.”

“mmm… Let's not assume things.” Aang offered. “I doubt they had anything to do with it.”

“Either way, we're going to have to do the rest of the exam alone.” Katara concluded.

0o0o0o0o0

Zuko opened his eyes to a cocoon of sand surrounding him. Out side the barrier, Gaara's face twitched. His arm was outstretched and quivering. `Kill, kill, kill, kiiilll,' he thought.

“Don't do it.” Kankuro warned as Temari took out the centipede with a single wave of her fan. Gaara didn't move. With the clenching of his fist the sand would crush in on Zuko and pulverize him. “Gaara.” Kankuro pleaded. “We'll be disqualified if a team member dies. Remember our mission.”

Gaara did not hear him. “Mother.” He moaned. “Would you like to taste some royal blood mother?” Gaara gritted his teeth. `I must… I must verify my existence.' He thought. `I want to feel alive. His eyes are like mine, full of sadness. I must kill that sadness. Make it go away, I must crush the sadness until it no longer exists.' Sand flew up to protect Gaara from a shuriken that his older brother had thrown at him.

Kankuro had had enough. “Stop it Gaara.” He yelled. “You're not the only person in the world, you know.”

Gaara turned his death glare to his brother, but at least the crazy look and left his eyes. He let is arm drop and so did the sand surrounding Zuko. Walking over to Kankuro, the taller boy tried not to cower under his gaze. “Once I kill everyone else on this planet.” He murmured. “Then I will be the only one in this world. But then I will have no one else to kill and have no purpose to living.”

Zuko stepped over the pile of sand, not bothering to thank the sand siblings for saving him. “And where do you think you're going?” Temari hollered. She glared at the moody teen. She hardly knew the prince, but he seemed reserved and determined, like that Uchiha boy. Sasuke and Zuko had similar traits; both had curtains of black scruffy hair framing their handsome faces. Zuko was more in her age range, sixteen, one year older than herself. Temari found this appealing.

“I'm going after the Avatar.” Zuko said plainly.

Kankuro chuckled. “Sorry, pal, you had your chance. Now you're coming with us.” He held up his hand and waved the complete set of scrolls. Zuko begrudgingly followed them, reasoning that he'd have time enough to capture Aang in the final tournament in front of the crowd of spectators. He came up beside Temari and thanked her.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Temari snapped. “Gaara was the one to save your ass, not me.”

“You blew away those ninja with your fan who were protecting the Avatar. I would never have been able to get close to him if they had been there.” Zuko admitted.

Temari sniffed. “That wasn't me. I'd never help someone as weak as you. Couldn't even handle a bug.”

“Watch it, wind woman!” Zuko growled. She stalked off and ran ahead of the group, wondering who was the person who did separate team seven from the Avatar.

Over in another part of the woods, Naruto hung unconscious from a kunai that pinned his clothes to a tree. Sakura trembled as Orochimaru left Sasuke a parting gift before melting into the woods.