A Spirit of Elements Chapter 53 (A Promise Kept) (Patreon)

' "Father, you called for me?" Tenzin asked solemnly as he slowly closed the door behind him.

Before him lay the Avatar, the one people called 'Larger Than Life' itself, the one people around the world loved and feared the most. The one who had stopped the hundred-year war. Yet, all the power and glory were gone. In front of him lay a man who looked like his father, yet for Tenzin, it felt like he was looking at a stranger.

His cheeks were hollowed, his eyes exhausted, and his fingers skinny, but his eyes still appeared strong. "I did. Come here, my son," Aang said in a hoarse voice as he patted the place for him to sit.

Tenzin did so without saying a word. At a time like this, he really wished Bumi was here. Despite the dire situation, despite the feeling of death in the air, he would still somehow be able to crack a joke and make their father smile. Tenzin envied him sometimes. He was never the funny sibling; that role belonged to Bumi and Kya to an extent.

Tenzin sat down on the chair next to his father's bed and remained silent, waiting for him to say something.

"How is Kya?" His father asked, sounding exhausted.

"She's fine. I saw her showing Naruto to Fire Lord Zuko and Princess Izumi. I think the Princess likes Naruto a little too much. I'm sure I heard her invinting Kya to the Fire Palace to stay for a few weeks." Tenzin chortled fondly.

Since he joined their family, Naruto has been a blessing to them all, but especially to Kya. His sister had never looked as worse as she did the night he saw her after she lost her child, but the bags under her eyes, the glimmer in her eyes, they all returned back to her, and it was all because of the bundle of joy named Naruto. Tenzin was never one to believe in miracles, but Naruto was as close to a miracle as they come.

"...Good, she deserves it," Aang said with a dry cough. Still, a smile made its way into his face. "My son. I want you to listen to me. A Last Request before the next Avatar is born." His right hand reached out, grasping Tenzin's hand.

Tenzin wanted to say that he would get better, but he knew it was foolish to say after months had passed. Despite all the medicine they have tried. All they could do was watch as the most important person in their life slowly weakened and got sicker until he could barely even walk. They all had kind of accepted by now that it was over, and all they could do was be there for him.

"Anything, Father."

"Naruto...I believe a day will come when he will face hardship. I still don't know where he came from, but he saved my daughter and brought her joy. That's more than enough for me." A tear rolled down his old wrinkled cheek; his slender fingers curled around Tenzin's palm. "Tenzin, I want you to protect Naruto. If the day ever comes when he is in danger, you should be there for him. I believe Naruto can become someone who will make this world a better place. So Protect him." Aang said, for the first time in months, he sounded like the powerful Avatar that Tenzin knew.

Tenzin felt a lump in his throat, knowing this might be the last time he heard his father's voice. He placed his other hand on top of his father. "I will, father. Whatever happens in the future, I will be there for him."

At that moment, Aang smiled brightly at his son before drawing his last breath. '

꩜𖦹༄

꩜𖦹༄

Naruto was eating breakfast with the rest of his family, but despite everyone being together around the round table. Right now, it was oddly quiet; the only sound heard was them eating and Meelo trying to show a trick to Aunt Suyin.

Asami and Korra were sitting beside him, and his mother sat near Tenzin, who wasn't eating and instead was staring at the food. Naruto knew it wasn't easy, but he didn't want to leave, with this being his last memory. The last thing to remember before leaving was his family looking all grumpy. Finally, Naruto had enough of this.

"I know you all wished this could have ended differently, but it's not the end of the world. We will see each other again, Uncle." Naruto reminded him with a bright smile; his Uncle managed to form a ghost of a smile, his head no longer slumping down, but before another word could be uttered, there was a knock on the door.

"Huh, I wonder who it is?" Naruto wondered out loud as he stood up and strode towards the door. After leaving the Common Room and walking into the Entryway, he heard Meelo say something about the guards not being at their place.

Naruto found that odd. As he gripped the handle and opened the door, his breath hitched; a strange man stood before him, wearing black rods around his face.

The man had short, spiky orange hair and strange purple eyes; he wore a long black robe with a red line running down the center and armor covering only his mid-section with a pouch attached to it. He bore six piercings, a metal bar through each ear, three studs through the side of its upper nose, and one spike stud on each end of the bottom lip. It also had three piercings on each wrist, at least one on its upper wrist and some just under its neck. He wore a purplish-grey ring on his right thumb that bore the kanji '零.' He was also wearing red nail polish.

"You must be Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto's eyes widened. How did he know his real last name?

"Who are you?" Naruto questioned warily, holding the door frame ready to close it if needed. He heard someone from behind approaching the door.

"Naruto, who is it?" It was Korra as she, too, noticed the strange man standing before their door, and he wasn't alone. Behind him were five others, and all were wearing strange black robes with red clouds. Korra noticed the piercing in their faces and their eyes, metallic purple, with three rings in a rippling pattern out from the center.

"Who are you?" Korra questioned, a little tense, not liking the way they were looking at her.

"KORRA, THEY ARE ENEMIES. BE CAREFUL."

She heard Kyoshi scream in her head, and before she could process what she heard, the man in front of the door reached out, grabbing Naruto by the wrist before throwing him in the air.

"You Bastard!!" Korra shouted angrily as she kicked a piece of rock in his direction, only for him to move his open hand toward her much faster than she anticipated.

"Almighty Push!!" Korra was blown away along with the side of the temple. She screamed in pain as she was smashed against the wall. The sound of the wall falling apart reached her ears, and she opened her eyes just as the second floor was falling on her. But seven ground columns rose from the ground, stopping the temple from falling on itself.

The Kids quickly used their Airbending to create a small hole through which everyone could walk out of the collapsing temple.

"Korra, what happened?" Tenzin questioned, concerned as he ran up to her, but she quickly rose to her feet with a huff.

"They Have Naruto." Korra shouted at the top of her lungs as she quickly jumped outside through a window, using her airbending, rising high in the air, finding Naruto who was fighting them.

꩜𖦹༄

"You Bastards! What do you want?" Naruto screamed as he tried to deliver a punch at the guy who attacked him, but he easily moved much faster than he expected. Gritting his teeth, he quickly spread his arms, causing a blast of air to spread from him, sending the six enemies flying.

"Naruto, we are here." He heard his Uncle say as he quickly threw an air punch at one of them, but he didn't move one inch; he just stood there, taking the hit.

"You are unbelievably weak," the man said with mockery as the ground around them shifted. Suddenly, the ground cracked, and they all sank to their knees. Naruto was quickly pushed out, but not the six attackers, as a giant boulder loomed over their heads.

Naruto's eyes widened as Toph kept the boulder above them. They were still stuck on the ground, but the blonde noticed something that made his blood turn cold. They weren't trying to escape.

"Who are you? Tell me now, and I won't crush your heads." Toph threatened with a deep voice as her boulder was soon joined by six pairs of metallic arrows hovering above the attackers. Korra looked down at them, using a mini tornado to keep herself above the ground, waiting for them to answer.

"KORRA KILL THEM NOW. THEY ARE TOO POWERFUL." Yangchen screamed in her head.

But before she could utter a word, the head of one of them opened up as if he were some kind of machinery. Below the metallic skin was a glittering white ball that was only glowing brighter by the second. The man smiled, and BOOOM!!

"Naruto!!" Korra screamed in pain as hundreds of mini-projectiles flew toward her. She quickly formed a wind shield around herself as she yeeted in the air. She heard a round of big explosives, and as she opened her eyes, the entire Air Temple was slowly falling down.

꩜𖦹༄

Naruto shielded his face with his arms as he rag-dolled through the ground, standing back up, seeing nothing until he looked up at two flying projectiles with burning tails rushing toward him. He didn't know what they were, but every instance was screaming at him to run away.

With airbending, he quickly jumped upwards in the air, and the two projectiles blew up the moment they touched the ground he had been standing on a moment ago.

What is that? He wondered as one of them appeared right before him in mid-air with a speed that his eyes could never follow.

"Almighty Push!!" The man shouted, and Naruto was thrown away like a toy, his ribcage cracking as he slammed against the ground hard. Naruto spit out blood, hearing the screams coming from the other side of the temple.

꩜𖦹༄

Toph and her daughters were fighting against the one without hair, trying to pin him down, but he easily dodged every single iron rod they threw at him as if he had eyes at the back of his head. Toph tried to follow his movements, but he was way too fast for her. She had another way of taking care of him.

With a roar of anger, Toph raised a bolder above her head, causing it to crumble into hundreds of little rocks and hurtling them at the enemy. She didn't know where he was exactly, but it didn't matter as hundreds of small rocks rained down on him like rain. The ground exploded as each rock made contact, causing the entire area to crack.

Suddenly, a burst of smoke appeared before the enemy; Toph couldn't understand why she was suddenly sensing a giant animal nearby.

"It's a Giant Rhino." Lin screamed out in panic as the massive animal charged towards them, blowing away the smoke around him as he did.

"Earth Spike, my daughters," Toph screamed out, slamming her hand on the ground. Lin and Suyin did the same. A massive rock spike burst out of the ground, puncturing the rhino in the stomach. The spike kept growing until the tip burst out from the back of the rhino. As he was carried higher and higher, chunks of blood fell down until he could no longer move.

But Toph and her daughter's small victory was short-lived when someone appeared before her with speed much faster than an Airbender.

"You have good tricks." The man said menacingly before punching Toph in the stomach. Toph cried out in pain as the man slammed her against the ground with her face. A metallic rod sticking out of her shoulder.

Her daughters tried to help, only for someone else to punch Suying in the back of the head, knocking her unconscious before rushing toward Lin.

"Is not that easy, you monster." Her entire armor grew spikes right as his hand made contact with her armor, blood burst out from the wound, staggering the enemy, and Lin quickly used that rare opportunity to stab him right in the head with an iron knife. The man stopped moving, falling on his knees and dropping to the ground.

Lin breathed heavily for a brief moment, quickly reminding herself that she needed to help her mother and half-sister when a voice spoke behind her ear.

꩜𖦹༄

Zuko and Izumi tried to protect the children of Tenzin, as they all attacked the one in front of them, but this one wasn't affected by their fire and wind attacks. The flames faded away, and yet, there he stood unscathed.

"What the hell is he?" Zuko wondered out loud as he formed a ball of fire on his palm, remembering what his Uncle had taught him. If normal fire could not harm him, then he needed to increase the heat tremendously.

Their enemy grinned like a maniac, and the old Fire Lord knew they were losing this battle, but he could tell they weren't trying hard against them as if they weren't really that powerful to deserve their full power.

"Izumi, distract him," Zuko ordered in a hushed tone before quickly running away. Izumi turned to look at their enemy with a narrowed gaze.

"What do you want? Why are you attacking us?" Izumi demanded, hoping to buy time, but the man didn't say a word. Instead, she watched in shock as a pair of arms grew out of his armpit, and his chest area opened up as if he was machinery and not a human being; below his chest was a hole.

"Take this!!" Tenzin's kids shouted at the same time, throwing a blast of wind. The wind didn't even make him flinch as a bright white light started growing in the chest hole, growing brighter and brighter.

"RUN!!" Izumi shouted at the top of her lungs, grabbing the two young ones by the back of their tunics, quickly using firebending to launch herself upwards, blowing out fire from the sole of her feet. Jinora quickly followed behind, just in time as a bolt of bright lightning shot out of his chest, right where they had been standing a second age, evaporating a mass of land off the island; the bolt of lightning continued until it hit the water, causing a massive underwater explosive.

The strange man grinned despite missing his target when he heard a burning sound. He looked behind just in time to see Zuko had turned the ball of fire in his hands into a small ball of plasma.

Without thinking twice, Zuko shouted out the plasma right at him, intending to cut him in half, but the man quickly sidestepped; the plasma cut through his right arms, and all three of them fell to the ground.

Zuko's eyes widened in disbelief and shock, expecting to see blood pouring out, but instead, the man's arms seemed metallic, with wires instead of veins inside the arm, and what was dripping from his stomps was definitely not blood, but more like dark oil.

"What the hell are you?" Zuko asked slowly, feeling sweat on his forehead, knowing he had lost this fight as the man disappeared from his view before reappearing before him with a punch in the gut, and Zuko lost consciousness.

꩜𖦹༄

"Naruto. Run. They are after you." Tenzin cried out as he threw attack after attack at the strongest one, who easily dodged his attacks.

Naruto clenched his teeth in anger as he tried to pull out the iron rod from his shoulder, but as he gripped the rod, his body screamed in pain. He felt a trail of fire in his entire body, and Naruto screamed, thrashing around the ground.

""Naruto, let me help you, hehehe. You will die, and all your friends will die. Let me take control. I will kill them all."" Kyuubi promised with a wide grin of satisfaction.

Naruto heard his annoying voice, and for a brief moment, he thought of giving in; the Kyuubi would kill them all, but then he remembered all the people he had harmed in the Republic City, Korra's pleas for him to stop, and the many people he had killed because he had lost control. He had promised never to lose control again, and he would keep that word.

"Go to Hell, Kyuubi." Naruto replied with a snark, refusing to accept his power.

"Hhehe. The way I see it, we will soon be there, Naruto."

꩜𖦹༄

"Why are you attacking us? We have done nothing to you," Tenzin asked, hoping that his words would convince him to stop, but the man stared at him blankly, almost like a corpse.

"Give us, Naruto. And we will leave you all alone. Fair Trade, don't you think?" the man offered in a blank voice.

Tenzin narrowed his gaze. "He's my nephew. I will never abandon him." Tenzin claimed before attacking once again, but the man quickly spread his hands; Tenzin felt his body freeze, and his body flew towards the man, who grabbed him by the throat, slamming him against the ground. Tenzin cried out in pain as a rod punctured his palm.

꩜𖦹༄

"Blood Bending," Korra screamed in the Avatar State as she tried to control the man fighting her. No matter how hard she tried, the man didn't even acknowledge her attempt and kept throwing attacks at her.

"Why is not working? Why?" Korra's eyes widened as she noticed something. Usually, when she took control of living beings, their blood always felt warm, and she could feel it moving through the veins, but not this time. The blood of her enemy felt as cold as snow, and it wasn't moving, as if he were a corpse.

Korra gasped as the man grabbed her by the throat. She quickly hit him with her kicks, but nothing was working; the man wasn't budging when a creature appeared behind this man, a strange creature that made Korra freeze in fear. A giant head with the same eyes as their enemies and with purple flames surrounding it.

Suddenly, she felt something rushing toward her mouth from deep within her stomach; it tried to burst out of her mouth as Korra fought back...

Korra gasped in pain as she fell to the ground on her side, the hand no longer holding her throat, and as she looked up, three ice spikes were coming out of the enemy's chest, who was lying on his back on the ground.

Only now, Korra noticed Katara rushing towards, looking more concerned than ever before.

"We need to leave Korra." Katara said urgently as she helped Korra back to her feet.

"Wait, where's Kya?"

꩜𖦹༄

"You Bastard!!" Naruto cried out as he tried once again to pull out the black rod, only for the pain to explode in his body, he screamed until his voice turned hoarse, and he could hardly scream anymore.

Is this really the end? He wondered, feeling himself getting weaker by the second. A pair of sandals stopped before him as he lay on his stomach; Naruto creaked his neck upwards, looking up at his strange, lifeless eyes.

"Just Give Up. There's no point—" The man ducked as a large ice spike almost pierced his head from behind.

"Get away from my son," Kya screamed in rage as she threw a barrage of ice spikes at the man, but he easily dodged them before opening his hand towards her.

"Mother, run. Please!!" Naruto cried out in desperation as she was suddenly thrown into the air. The enemy brought his arm down, slamming her against the ground. A dust cloud spread and the man turned to look at Naruto.

Naruto gasped in shock, before glaring at the man with rage. "You. I will Kill You!!" Naruto screamed in rage as his eyes turned red, growling like an animal, but he didn't see four more iron rods coming towards him.

Naruto screamed in pain as his legs and arms were punctured, and his eyes turned back to blue. The blonde breathed heavily and watched as Korra and Katara joined the fight. His girlfriend even tried to help him, but she was defeated by the strongest one, who used his strange ability to slam Korra against the ground.

Within a minute, the fighting ended. And nothing could be heard but the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Naruto remained motionless as four out of six of them were still alive.

"It's over Kyuubi. You are coming with us."

꩜𖦹༄

Tenzin breathed heavily, watching in silence. Everyone else was unconscious, but not him and Korra, who tried to stand up with her right arm and fight again, even to the death. But Tenzin knew it would be a waste.

He watched as one of them made a strange hand sign; a creature grew out of the ground. He wondered what they were trying to do as the man threw the two dead bodies inside the creature's mouth. Tenzin watched in horror as the creature started chewing before opening its mouth.

He watched, mortified, as the two previously dead enemies walked out of the month, back to how they were before the fight; even their cloaks were fixed.

How is this possible? Tenzin wondered in shock. He watched as the strongest one spoke with Naruto. He couldn't hear them from this distance, but it mattered little. Tenzin knew he needed to do something, or Naruto would be lost forever, and not to mention they had someone with the ability to bring them back.

Tenzin's eyes widen for a brief moment. He knew what he had to do; it was the only way to secure a chance of winning this fight.

Father, forgive me for what I must do, he begged as he turned his attention back to Korra.

"Korra, stop. I have a plan." Tenzin spoke in a hushed tone, causing her to stop; she turned her head to face him.

"What plan?"

꩜𖦹༄

꩜𖦹༄

"You will come with us now." Pain declared with a neutral voice as he reached down, ready to grab Naruto, when something moved from the corner of their eyes with wind speed.

He quickly jumped back, as did the four others, avoiding the attack...Pain's eyes widened in shock at the sight.

Now he understood who had been hit by the wind attack. Naraka Path. The one who could revive the bodies after their death, his head flew in the air, followed by a trail of blood.

All the paths quickly turned their attention to Tenzin, who breathed heavily on his knees but with a look of satisfaction on his face.

Pain quickly tried to rush towards him when a large ball of air formed around them, pushing them back. He gasped in shock as he tried to breathe, but he couldn't, and Tenzin had formed a smaller ball of air around his body as some protection. He felt his entire body being compressed somehow.

Suddenly, multiple long tails made of water spring out of the ocean near them, quickly grabbing everyone on the island, including Naruto, before sinking back underwater.

Pain clenched his teeth angrily as the girl sank into the sea with everyone else and started swimming away towards North. Faster than any fish he had seen.

Finally, he thought he could use his Almighty Push once again, and he aimed his palm at Tenzin.

"ALMIGHTY PUSH."

Tenzin screamed out in pain as he was hurled away before slamming into a wall. He heard a SNAP sound, and all the feeling of his arms and legs faded away completely, his back leaning against a destroyed. He tried, but he couldn't even lift a finger.

He watched in satisfaction. Korra had already gained more than enough distance from them, heading North where she would find help, using her waterbending to gain as much distance as she could from them.

Tenzin heard footsteps approaching. He looked up, and in front of him stood PAIN, glaring down at him.

"You cannot bring back your buddy anymore," Tenzin said with a smile of grief. He knew he had killed someone, but it mattered not that death would give his family a chance to survive. That's all that mattered to him.

"And no one can save you." Pain growled as he raised his arm, a metallic rod growing from his palm.

Tenzin saw it coming, but he couldn't move anymore. The pain never came as the rod punctured his chest, but he felt the numbness spread—first his legs, then his waist, then his arms. Tenzin looked up at the sky with a glimmer of triumph in his eyes. He felt no pain.

"...Father. I did it. In the end. I protected Naruto." Tenzin gasped out weakly, feeling the numbness creeping into his neck.

"Pema, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, Rohan...Naruto...Bumi...Kya...Korra.....I...leave...the rest...to..."

In that moment. Tenzin, the Master of Airbending, son of Aang, drew his last breath.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do you think I should focus all my attention on 'The Last Woodbender' and focus on this story only after 'The Last Woodbender' story is finished?