The Last Woodbender Chapter 43 (Between a Rock and A Hard Place) (Patreon)

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They walked inside the main room. It was quite large, with twin staircases leading to the second floor. There was a bar on the left side, and behind it, someone was filling three cups with what seemed like beer. The place was colorful and pretty, and they heard someone playing the violin.

A crowd had gathered around someone, with many tables and chairs placed around for them to sit.

Naruto noticed that Aang was holding the staff with his hands, and Toph was clearly tense, just like him. The crowd turned to face them when the frog boy pointed at them; he had large front teeth and a strange smile.

"Boss, the Arrow head and his friends are here." The boy shouted, surprisingly quiet loudly for a kid. Everyone turned to face them, looking at them suspiciously.

"Hey, I want to see our new guests. Get away you morons." A voice was heard behind the crowd, and Aang and Naruto's eyebrows twitched upon hearing that voice.

Wait! That sounds awfully a lot like...

The crowd cleared away, revealing the one person Naruto and Aang hadn't expected to see in this place.

"It's been a long time, Avatar Aang, and...Naruto."

"JET!!!" Naruto and Aang screamed his name in surprise. Before he could even move, a blast of air threw him up against the wall, and a tree vein quickly wrapped itself around him, holding him still. Each limb was imprisoned. Naruto was ready to demand what he was doing here when he noticed the others surrounding them.

"LET HIM GO NOW!!" Only now did Aang and Naruto realize that everyone else was glaring at them, pointing their weapons, knives, swords, axes, and spears.

Toph, who didn't know who this Jet was, quickly tapped the floor with her feet. The ground around them would form a wall if they tried to attack them. Naruto was ready to defend himself when Jet decided to open his mouth.

"Guys, calm down. Avatar Aang, and Naruto, let me explain first. Everyone else, put down your weapons, they are friends." Jett tried to control the situation, but his mouth was the only thing he could move right now.

"FRIENDS!! They attacked you!!" One of his biggest supporters quickly cried out, pointing his spear at Naruto's face, much to the latter's annoyance; he didn't like having that so close to his face.

Naruto and Aang exchanged a look. They realized they had made a small mistake and had attacked blindly. While they still remembered the way Jet betrayed them, they realized they had attacked first without any provocation.

Naruto quickly turned to face the group that still surrounded them. "We will put him down. Our group and... Jet have a history with each other, so forgive us for attacking without asking questions." Naruto apologies with his hands raised in the air; the people around them looked at him with wariness as he tapped the tree vein near his feet; once he did, the tree vein slowly sank back into the ground, freeing Jet, who fell down the moment he was freed, but Aang quickly used his staff to slow down his fall.

He dusted off his clothes before addressing Naruto, Aang, and the girl he didn't recognize. "As I said, we are friends here. I told you all I wasn't always like this, and if I was in their place. I would have attacked too, now all of you. Lower your weapons." Jet ordered with a demanding tone. His men did so without questioning, sheathing their weapons but still giving Aang and Naruto nasty looks, making it clear they would attack the next time they tried to pull another similar stunt.

"Jet, how are you here? Last time I saw you, I pinned you against that tree." Naruto questioned bluntly with a look of disdain in his eyes. Aang had been the one who stopped him from ending Jet's life that day.

"A lot has happened since that day, but..." Jet looked around as if searching for someone before looking back at Naruto. "Where are Katara and Sokka?" He looked at the girl. "And who is she?" He added, pointing at Toph, who had been silent this whole time.

"My name is Toph Beifong, Tree Hugger. Nice to meet you." Toph said with her usual bluntness that she always had, but her last name caught many off guard inside the room.

"Wait, Beifonf, you mean House Beifong? One of the richest Houses of the Earth Kingdom?" One of Jet's men asked, bewildered, looking at Toph as if she was a Princess.

She let out a groan; she had left her old life to no longer have to deal with this bullshit, she had hoped that no one would know about her here, and right now, she was regretting not just saying her name and not bothering with the second part. "The same, unless there's another Beifong that I don't know about," Toph answered casually with a hint of smugness.

Naruto chuckled in amusement at the sight of their bewildered faces, while Aang seemed like he wanted to move the discussion to something more important as many of Jet's guards looked at Toph with wide eyes, many even bowing their heads to her—much to Toph's annoyance.

"Anyway, Sokka and Katara are still up there. I think we should inivite them down here." Aang answered, pointing at the ceiling above them.

"No need, my men will use the ropes to get there very fast." Jet quickly added before pointing at two particular guys; both were quite short, as short as Aang and looked quite similar to one another.

"Ropes?" Aang questioned, and Jet smiled almost smugly when his two men walked out of the room, followed by the others. Once they walked out of the room, they pointed their arms upward toward the ceiling.

Naruto watched as ropes flew out of two small holes from devices the two had strapped to their arms. The ropes had a hook at the end, and the rope flew high, reaching a hole in the ceiling before he could ask what that would do. Something started pulling the two boys upwards. The ropes were being pulled inside the two holes in the ceiling until the two boys disappeared into the same holes.

"What was that?" Aang asked with a tilt of his head, sounding confused.

"That's our new tool, Avatar Aang, we call it Flying Hook. Quite a good name, don't you think?" Jet answered haughtily before putting his arm around his shoulder.

Naruto was a little annoyed by his voice, but he had to admit this sounded like quite a useful tool. As he looked up at the ceiling, waiting for Sokka and Katara to arrive, he wondered if Sokka could do something with it and make it even better.

"How did you create this place? Do you have Earthenders in your group?" Toph questioned, sounding a little amazed as she tapped the ground with her sole.

"I'm afraid not. We found this place. I'm not sure who managed to build it, but it is amazing," Jet explained, looking around at Undertown in awe.

Naruto agreed, but many questions lingered in his mind as he looked around the place. "How was this place even built? I mean, it's underground. How is the ceiling not collapsing on us right now?" Naruto questioned, looking up at the ceiling. He could see no supporting beams anywhere; there was nothing keeping the ceiling from collapsing, not one that Naruto could see.

The frog boy with long legs answered, "I once read in the Library that this place was the original Ba Sing Se, but centuries ago, maybe even a thousand years ago. This place was abandoned, and the Ba Sing Se we know right now was built on top. When we first discovered this place, the door was locked with chains, and there were..." The frog boy suddenly looked frightened, as if he remembered something unpleasant.

"What?"

"There were scratching on the walls, and even words from people that used to live here. They all had carved the same words. 'You Will Burn In Hell.'"

Naruto felt a shudder in his body; he wondered if this place had been a graveyard. Why would people abandon this place? Naruto didn't know, but perhaps it was better not to think much about it. Whatever happened here was in the past, and he had the present to worry about.

Naruto looked up at the ceiling and his head exploded in pain; his eyes burned like hot coal. The two holes started fading away, he felt the beads of sweat on his forehead, and the entire roof got blurry. Now he could see four different holes; he squinted his eyes, and more blurs appeared in his vision; he stumbled a little, struggling to keep his balance as he looked down, hoping it would go away, only to see that Toph's face had turned into a ball of blurs, her black hair seemed more like a piece of cloth rather than hair, the strands of hair were gone.

Naruto could feel his heart beating on his chest like a hammer as he breathed heavily. He closed his eyes tightly until they hurt, and when he opened them, everything was back to normal, and Toph was no longer just blurring in his vision. Naruto wanted to hug the girl when he felt a nudge on his shoulder. He quickly turned, and to his surprise, it was Sokka. When did he get here?

"Are you okay?" But Naruto didn't answer. He noticed that Katara was busy glaring at Jet as if he owned her money or something, and then he felt Toph's gentle and soft hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto?" she asked concernedly, slowly sliding her hand down his arm until it gripped his hand, their fingers interviewing.

"I'm fine, Toph. Just a headache." Naruto said, trying to sound dismissive, but he did not see the way Toph lost her smile, knowing he was lying to her. The two turned their attention towards Aang, who was trying to stop Katara from freezing Jet right where he stood.

"Katara, I think we can trust him. I mean look at all this, and Jet says that he has a plan to free the King and to free Ba Sing Se from Long Feng." Aang said enthusiastically as always, pointing his arms at the many houses that were built underground.

Jet was keeping his distance, looking downwards, with a look of shame on his face, but Naruto felt no sympathy for him. The man had tried to flood a village full of innocent people. If he wanted pity, then he better go to the nearest hospital.

"Really? Jet, is that true? You have a plan to free the King?" Naruto asked skeptically, making his presence known in their discussion. His tone earned many glares from Jet's man, but he ignored all of them; they didn't scare him.

Jet's face brightened up somewhat as he looked up at them. "Yes. We have been making plans for almost two months now. We tried to make a move when who we thought was the King held a party in the palace, but that was thrown out of the window when you unmasked the one who pretended to be the King. I had my doubts the whole time, but that night revealed to us that the King was no King and just an ugly motherfucker. From that day, we have been trying to locate him, and luckily we have managed that." Jet answered with the same cocky smile that he always had the last time they had met.

While Aang seemed happy to hear that, Sokka looked skeptical. Naruto and Katara, especially the watertribe girl, made it clear they did not trust him.

"How do you find out where his cell is? Because I doubt the Dai Li agents just allowed you to sneak into their Headquarters without stopping you." Katara demanded with a suspicious glare, something the others in Jet's group weren't appreciating, and Aang quickly tried to defuse the tension before they were kicked out.

"Okay, how about we calm down, Katara, we can talk—" "There's nothing to calm down. You tried to flood that entire village of innocent people. I bet you didn't even tell your own people about that." Katara continued, spitting her words with venom, pointing an accusing finger at Jet.

But much to her surprise, no one from Jet's group looked shocked to hear what Katara said; in fact, they all seemed mad at Katara.

"He already told us everything. I don't know about your group, but here. Everyone is honest with each other. We don't keep secrets." Koo said with a tiny voice. The little boy stood before Jet as if trying to protect him from them.

Naruto had to admit that he was caught off guard. The Jet he knew would have kept that a secret and would have used his tongue to manipulate them to work for him like he tried to do with them last time, almost convincing Katara to join him, until she came to her senses and saw that Jet was just a liar and not the future of the world.

"I will be honest, Jet. I didn't expect that. Perhaps you have changed truly for the better," Naruto said with a hint of sarcasm that wasn't missed by anyone as he stepped closer. We are willing to hear this plan of yours." Naruto added, suddenly sounding emotionless, until he approached him, stopping when he was close enough to whisper.

"But remember this, if you are trying to fool us again, this time, Aang will not be there to save your sorry ass. I Will. Kill. YOU. Understand?"

Jet gulped nervously before nodding to Naruto, sweat running down his face. The latter patted him on the back before walking past him back inside the building.

"What are you waiting for, Jet?" Naruto asked when he noticed the others had yet to follow him.

"Tell us your genius plan."

Later - Aang

After hearing Jet's plan, they all discussed it for two hours, but they didn't give an answer on whether or not they would aid Jet and his group.

He told them they had only one day to decide; otherwise, he would execute the plan without their help. Once the discussion ended, Jet told them they could use a house near the entrance as long as they stayed here.

Once they walked inside the two-story building, they checked every corner to see if anything was out of the ordinary. Once they made sure there were no traps around the house, they all grouped in the kitchen, with Aang being the first to break the silence.

"Guys, what do you all think?" Aang asked with newfound hope in his voice, looking at his friend before his eyes stopped at Naruto. "Naruto, what do you think?" he asked again. Everyone in the group had noticed that Aang valued Naruto's opinion more after the incident with the spirit.

Naruto, who was leaning against the wall, looked at the young Avatar; the headache was coming and going, thankfully, the fever wasn't as bad, but he still felt like shit, something the others could notice right away, even Jet had asked during the talk if he was feeling alright, and asking if he needed a doctor, but Naruto knew this wasn't something a doctor could fix if that were the case, Katara would have already healed him by now.

"I will be honest with you, Aang. This plan is risky. This Revolution, as he is calling it will have casualties. I would like to say there's another way, I'm afraid there isn't another out of this mess, not anymore. The Dai Li and Long Feng have their hands on the King, and now that their precious Face Keeper is gone, they cannot keep this facade anymore. Before I killed that bitch, they used him to fool the masses, but now that he is gone. Even Long Feng must know that he is in borrow time, people will notice the absence of the King and will start asking questions, all those questions will cause people to rise up, and sooner or later. The Revolution will start on it's own. But remember this Aang. Remember it well. Blood will be spilled by the time everything is said and done. A lot of it. The question is, are you sure you want to do this?" Naruto directed his question towards his friend.

Aang averted his eyes, looking insecure. He opened and closed his mouth several times, but no words came out of him; ultimately, he looked back at the others. "Is there no way we can do this without... shedding too much blood?" Aang asked with fear in his eyes, looking at the others for help.

"I have an idea for that, something that I think Jet has overlooked," Sokka suddenly claimed, much to Aang's relief, while Naruto looked at him expectedly.

"What would that be, Sokka?" Katara asked, hoping her brother was right. She didn't feel comfortable with the thought of starting a full revolution against the Dai Li agents.

"The General of Ba Sing Se controls the City's Shield. One thousand earthbenders are under his command. We need to make contact with him." Sokka insisted with a bright smile.

"And do what? How do we know he won't stab us in the back, because let's face it Sokka. Our record so far is not looking good, the only good thing that has happened to us since we arrived in this shitty City is finding this place." Naruto quickly countered him.

"We have to try. Long Feng controls only one hundred agents that make the Dai Li, while those guys are the best Earthbenders in the City. I'm sure with the General's orders, and having one thousand soldiers against them. I'm sure they will give up, knowing they have lost." Sokka insisted, with Aang quickly nodding in agreement.

"I agree with Sokka; it's worth a try." He quickly added, walking up to Sokka. Katara quickly did the same, showing that all three of them were in the same mind, but Naruto and Toph didn't join them.

"I'm not saying that is not worth a try, but the risk is high. This General. Whoever he is, I doubt he doesn't know that the entire City lives a lie. So, he is either a fool and just a figurehead for Long Feng to use, or worse. He agrees with Long Feng's way of thinking and agrees that not fighting back and simply living inside the walls is a better option. I doubt a General would never notice this happening right under his nose for over a decade. If he turns out to be an enemy, then we are done for. The only thing left to do is take Appa and leave Ba Sing Se to its fate. Take Zuko and Iroh with us so you can learn Firebending and one day when you master the Avatar State. We can start our retaliation against the Fire Nation." Naruto said bluntly, with a frown on his face, making it clear that he wasn't a big fan of this plan, but it was the only plan left if they lost Ba Sing Se.

Aang looked down at his feet. At a moment like this, he really wished Roku was with him right now. He needed to talk to his past lives and listen to their advice first.

"We cannot leave this place, Naruto. All these people would be left at the mercy of Dai Li and Long Feng. We came here to gain support." Katara quickly reminded her with a hint of passion and anger in her voice. She would never let these poor people here; she wanted to help Ba Sing Se, she wanted to help Aang, and she wanted this City to support Aang in his fight against the Fire Nation.

"She's right, Naruto. Remember what we learned in the Library. The Eclipse is coming closer every day, we need to use that day in our advantage." Sokka claimed, closing his hand into a fist with a warrior's look in his eyes.

"You guys are missing the whole point here," Toph suddenly interjected as she tapped the floor with her feet, causing an extra wall to rise around them so their words wouldn't be heard by anyone who happened to be nearby. "We came here for an army, for support, and all we found here is a city living a lie, and now this Jet guy wants to start a revolution to take back control over this City. I don't know how much you all have studied, but despite being blind. I was homeschooled. I rarely paid attention to the teacher, but even I know that taking over this entire City through a revolution is not something that can be done within a week. The day of the Black Sun won't wait for us until we take back Ba Sing Se from Dai Li and Long Feng. At least not in the way Twinkle Toes wants things to be done." Toph added, pointing her hand towards Aang, who swallowed thickly, not liking where this was going.

"What are you trying to say?"

"What I'm saying this Revolution can take months, maybe even years. I might not be able to see like you all, but I know this City is huge. The biggest in the world, and Naruto raised a good point. The chances that this General will really aid us and not stab us in the back are low, almost zero, and if he betrays us. Then it's all over. We cannot fight against an army of one thousand, and even if you had whatever the Avatar State is. I doubt you are willing to slaughter the same army we need to fight for us against the Fire Nation." Toph finished her point with exasperation in her voice.

Silence fell over the room. The others only now realized how bleak things were, and even Aang's smile had faded away. He gripped the wooden staff in his hands, his fingers curled around it, causing it to creak.

"Maybe there's another way." Sokka suddenly broke the silence, and everyone snapped their eyes at him except Toph. However, they quickly realized that this plan wasn't something that Sokka liked.

"Another way?" Aang asked with a tiny hint of hope in his voice as he looked up at Sokka, but the older boy didn't look happy.

"I was hoping we wouldn't need to do this, but Naruto has raised a good point. This General either agrees with Long Feng's way of doing things or maybe he's forced to keep his mouth shut, perhpaps Long Feng has a loved one of his, but this is all just speculation. Not something we can rely on, and Naruto and Toph are right. This Revolution can take a long time, time that we don't have. My idea is to cause a small riot in front of the palace, the Dai Li agents will be forced to deal with it since this riot would take place near the castle, and this should happen during the night. While they are busy with the riot. We should sneak inside the castle in any way possible, and find Long Feng, and cut his throat and the throats of all of his captains. Once they are dead, this will cause inbalance in the City, and we can—" "Wait, wait, hold on. Why his captains? Why not just Long Feng?"

It took a moment for Naruto to realize that Aang had said that, and he was astonished.

The one who frowned even when a single life was lost, now he seemed not to be bothered as much, and Naruto wasn't the only one caught off guard by this; even Katara and Sokka were shocked. Toph was the only one who wasn't as shocked as the others.

"...Aang. His captains...they can take his role after his death. That's why their death is important. Once they are gone. Dai Li agents will be left without any kind of leadership, and during the havoc this will create. We can find and free the King, and hopefully, that's enough to take back Ba Sing Se." Sokka explained with a grave voice, making it clear he wasn't a fan of this plan.

They were still only kids, yet, right now, they were planning on how to assassinate a group of people. Naruto was hoping this wouldn't get worse for them, hoping that from this point on, things would only get better, yet, a feeling in the back of his head was reminding him that their luck thus far had been quite shitty. Aang looked defeated; he gripped his head as if trying to shut himself from the world. Naruto watched as Katara hugged him close, saying sweet words to him.

"I will do it," Naruto announced abruptly as he stepped forward. The others looked at him with uncertainty.

"Are you sure? I mean—" "I will do it...I have done this before. You don't need to have blood in your hands. I will do it myself, just get me to their rooms, and I will...do what must be done." Naruto claimed, earning a sympathetic look from Katara, while Aang looked very troubled.

"I...I...I—" Aang bolted out of the room. They heard him walk upstairs and the sound of the door closing with force.

"Don't go," Sokka said. When Katara tried to follow him, she looked at her brother angrily, but he didn't let her go. "He needs to talk with his past lives, and we need to plan how to sneak inside." He added, opening his satchel and pulling out a folded map of Ba Sing Se.

"I brought this when I was in the market." Sokka explained when Katara gave him a questioning look.

Knowing there wasn't much he could do to help Sokka, Naruto focused on his new form of Woodbending.

Aang

As Aang closed his eyes, he allowed himself to be enveloped by a serene tranquility, like a gentle breeze caressing his skin. With each deep breath, he felt the world's weight slipping away, the burdens melting off him like wax under a warm sun. The cacophony of noise faded into oblivion.

As he finally opened his eyes, a sight materialized before him: Roku, whose entire being emanated a radiant blue glow.

"Aang, it's good to see you again. What can I do for you?" Roku asked with a smile, but it wavered when he noticed Aang's troubled look.

"Roku. I'm really not sure anymore—" Aang explained the plan to Roku, how bleak their situation turly was, and Naruto's offer to do the dirty work himself. "I'm the Avatar. I'm supposed to do what must be done, yet. I'm letting Naruto do the hard work. All I have done so far is sit on my ass and get angry when things are not going my way." He said, exasperated, as he gripped his head, trying to calm himself.

Roku felt for the young Avatar; he truly did; he felt pity for him; he was still young, and now he needed to decide on whether he should take a life or let someone else do it.

"Aang, just because you are the Avatar doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself. We all had help, even Kyoshi had help. No one will expect you to do everything. This plan, well. I would say that it all depends on you. Do you want to take the easy way out and let Naruto do the job? Or do you want to face the harsh truth of reality? This is your choice, and not mine, but my advice to you is to face your deepest fear, but don't feel like you have to do everything yourself. That's why friends exist." Roku disappeared, and Aang sighed heavily.

Kyoshi formed before him with a neutral look, as usual. "Avatar Kyoshi. I'm sure you already know why I called you here. Should I...should I help Naruto? Or let him do the job?" Aang questioned with a tiny voice. He could not believe he was even considering this. Every part of his body was reminding him that he was an Air nomad and that all life was precious.

But he remembered Naruto's screams and how little progress they have make since they arrived here because he got angry with Naruto for killing all those people. He was still angry, but he felt like he had forgotten the bigger picture and had allowed his own selfish desires to do the thinking for him.

"Avatar Aang, I understand your desire to not stain your hands with blood, but you must remember that you are the Avatar, and right now, my grandson, is in pain. What I think you should do is what is neccaseray as the Avatar." Kyoshi said, her voice cracking when she mentioned Naruto's name.

Aang let out a resigned sigh as Kyoshi disappeared, and Kuruk appeared before him.

"Aang. Remember what happened last time Naruto took your responsibility. He almost died after he killed that spirit. You should not let that happen again, this group. They are your responsibility, and you need to remember that you must fight your battles. If you always allow someone else to do your job, then you are just a coward. Remember your responsibility, and do not hand that responsibility to someone else just because it's easier."

Aang looked down almost in shame. Remembering Naruto's screams after he killed the Dark Spirit.

' "Naruto. Are you alright?!"

"Where does it hurt?"

"EVERYWHERE!!" '

Aang closed his ears with his hands and closed his eyes, trying to silence the screams in his head. He remembered the people that died in the North Pole because of him.

' "Do you remember back when we visited Jeong Jeong? General Zhao was there too. I had the opportunity to end him, to kill him, but you told me to let him go, you had the opportunity to kill him, but an Airbender doesn't kill. The same Zhao led the conquest against the North Pole, how many Waterbender warriors and innocent died that day. Their ships threw stones with their catapults, I watched as many families were crushed by the rocks. Those people wouldn't have died if you had just allowed me to kill Zhao. You say you don't kill people, but your pacifist decision led to those people dying." '

Aang felt tears in his eyes; he could almost see the people who had been crushed mercilessly. They had thought of him as their only hope, yet he had failed all of them.

' "I'm running away." '

His eyes burned with hot tears as he let out a weak sob from his throat. He had run away from his responsibilities, and the Air Nomads had paid the price. If he had been there, perhaps he could have helped them. His head slumped down until his forehead touched the floor.

"I'm sorry. I'm so Sorry." Aang cried as he sank to his knees...

.

.

"Aang."

Snapping his eyes open. He looked up, and Yangchen stood before him, but her body wasn't glittering blue like the others, and he was no longer in his room. Instead, he was in the Spirit World, near a lake, and Yangchen seemed as if she was alive, flesh and blood.

"...Yangchen..." Aang leaped to his feet and ran. He didn't know why, but he ran and hugged the only Airbender he had ever talked to since he broke from that Iceberg. His arms were around her, and he hugged her the same way he had hugged Monk Gyatso; he felt safe as her arms went around his shoulder, her hand rubbing his back gently in a motherly way.

"Shhh, just let it all out. I'm here for you, Aang." Yangchen said softly, kissing the top of his head.

"Yangchen, have...have I failed as an Air Nomad?" Aang choked out weakly, his words slightly muffled from her clothes as he hugged her.

"Oh, Aang. You have not failed anyone. Trust me. Your friends are still alive, and you have not lost sight of yourself. Your tears they are proof enough that you are still you—an Air Nomad. You care for life as you always have. You are still an Air Nomad, and nothing will ever change that." Yangchen said with a motherly voice, rubbing his back as Aang pulled away, looking up at her with the innocence of a child.

"But...But, I'm seriously thinking of taking a life. What does that make me?"

"A Human Being, Aang. The life of an Avatar is always filled with hard choices to make. That's just how we all lived. You will still be an Air Nomad. Nothing can ever take that from you. Yes, you might need to make choices that not all Air Nomads would approve of, but that's not your fault. That's just Life, Aang."

Aang didn't know what to say, but he heard every word she said; wiping the tears with the back of his hand, he hugged her again. "Thank You, Yangchen."

"I will always be here for you, young Airbender."

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