Phoenix Flight

Chapter 1: A Recapturingof Events Done Before

Hello, this is xxKarinka19x here. A long time ago, I began a story called Blue Fire Trapped in the Land of Nin, or BFTITLON. This is its sequel. Although there is a short recap here (hence the title) the recap focuses more on the story after BFTITLON. By now Azula's been here (Sasuke's world) for some time (half a year I think but I'm not too sure, I wasn't keeping track).

So, I hope you enjoy this first installment. I do not own neither Naruto nor Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Once upon a time, in a land far away, add your own cliché, a pretty fire princess (me)from another land fell into a rabbit hole where she received a mission in exchange for her powers (that were taken away by the Avatar), and got saddled with a magical annoying cat who taught her the necessary skills needed to complete her mission. The mission required her to drag a very antisocial boy back to his hated hometown. She met up with one of the boy's friends and defeated him. The defeated friend later joined with the pretty princess as a comic relief. In order to gain esteem in the Shinobi World and find him, she allied herself with Nagakure and went off to complete a mission, where she met the boy. When the two met there was something in the air, mainly a miasma of hatred. At first the pretty princess reveled in the knowledge that he was going to die at the hands of his hometown , after the loss of the comic relief, a conversation with the magical cat made her realize how similar the two are. Not wanting to kill something so like herself, and she didn't want to go back to her realm, she decided on another path.

One day, while on a "mission" the boy received an injury protecting the princess. In order to save him, the princess sent him to a secret location where the boy would be allowed to heal. Then she visited the boy's hometown to rescue the comic relief. Unfortunately, she was caught trying to escape with the comic relief, so she sacrificed herself and faced off against the guards. A week later, she escaped from prison and was saved by the magical cat.

The night's cold dark , broken only by little stars glittering like pure white lightning bug diamonds, teases me with its promise of freedom and fresh air. I squeeze my way through too small vents and I worry about capture, or worse fainting due to my less-than-humane conditions for the past cruel guards only fed me a cup of congee with hairy water, at irregular intervals, and the cell had no furniture or privacy. The worst part was the torture. In order to get me to reveal my alliance he even cut my hair once. The fact that I'd been able to get off that lightly was due to my subconscious manipulation powers (given to me by Izumi).

Konoha says it's a nice place, but in its deepest shadows bloodlust rages on relentlessly. The blood-splattered past never loosens its grip on the shinobi of the village, who are just aware enough to grasp at it. All around corruption reigns within the council and the mindless shinobi follow a Hokage unable to stop the wicked council. The council may say that they care for the village but their love is demented and overprotective. Instead of trusting the shinobi to protect the village, their lack of powers make them prone to hate, fear, and mistrust. The ANBU may believe that they are following the direct orders of the Hokage, but honestly they are under the thumb of the council.

I recall meeting the council members. When they approached me the air froze and I had to clench my teeth to keep from shivering. Then I received the "Zuko look" from them. The "Zuko look" was one of my father's primary expression when my brother came into view. His face would screw up as if a rotten feast had been spread before him, or a dirty peasant made his presence known. It was the look of disdain, as if I was a rotten feast, as if I were the one "lucky to be born" instead of "born lucky".

My brother had to live with this look all the time after she left.

They sent me to Prison with the "Zuko look" still decorating their faces. They believed that a little torture would open me up but my father taught me better.

"Fear is for the weak - the losers in life, like Zuko. You are a champion, a prodigy, the true winner in this family. You were born lucky," My father would instill this into me after every training session I had with Li and Lo. His words, cruel as they were towards my brother, helped me endure everything the torturer, Ibiki Morino, had to offer, even when he cut my hair. The pure silky locks falling to the floor that was covered in dirt and blood. They were mangled from the kunai he used to saw my hair off. It was through skillfull manipulation that he only cut it to chin length. But soon my hair became dry and wavy from not being washed properly, and it was also oily on top.

One day, a week in, the guards were distracted by a commotion in the torture Konoha ninja managed to find one of Sasuke's old friends from Madara's mansion, the yin-yang plant called Zetsu.

When Zetsu started attacking the Ibiki, the guards left and I opened the vent (that they cockily put inside the cell) and crawled into it.

Here I am now. Swiftly crawling towards the end. When I first came here, I noticed that the vents led to the outside. Foolish considering one could escape that way, but apparently the architects of Konoha never heard that pride comes before the fall. I reach the end and in a very complex maneuver Ty Lee taught me, I bring my legs forward, lean back, and prop myself on my elbows. I draw my legs back and kick out, breaking through and jumping out at the same time.

Thud! I hit the dirt harder than I expected and my legs buckle. I kneel there for a moment to catch my breath and regain my strength. I shakily get up, feeling like a baby deer-horse. The fresh air caresses my entire body. It reminds me of the time I fell into the river of lake or body of water in the Spirit World. A type of lukewarm comfort and freedom hits me and I feel as if everything I was before melted off me.

Go faster! They'll find out I'm gone soon. I have to get out of here now!

I shake my legs out, first the left, then the right, and start running.

"Stop where you are!"

The dark was night and cold with little stars glittering like pure white lightning bug diamonds. I have to get away soon. I don't look back, it'll only slow me down. I race faster, pretending to be Sasuke, letting him posses me and influence me.

"Hey, princess! You look great," a cheeky voice chimes. I collapse in relief and let the darkness take over me. One week without training leaves one weak.

"Hey, Azula. I brought you back to the hotel room. There's mint-scented shampoo and chamomile soap in the shower. And I'm currently drawing the bath," a tan little girl with brown hair and green eyes. Izumi, well Chun technically. Izumi is a cat and Chun is a little dead girl.

"How do I look?" I ask her. I am more concerned about my looks than the thought of a shower followed by a bath.

Chun frowns. "You look worse than you did when I first met you. I think you lost a lot of weight and there's bruises all over. But that might be dirt. You were gone for a whole week. Sasuke woke up recently, I said that you were on a recon mission, but he saw Suigetsu and sent me out to retrieve you. That's why I was there," Chun confessed. She looks at me uneasily. Like I'm going to start crying and go crazy or something.

I was never really that bad. Sure there was the Mercenary Incident, but I regained sanity soon.

Instead, I blink. "He sent you?" I ask, curious. She flinches. I sigh. "I know you missed me and would've looked for me sooner or later, but why did he send you? What's his motive? He left Suigetsu behind," I ask her.

"Oh," Chun seems relieved.

Really, the way Chun is acting one would think that I'm an abusive sociopath.

"He said you were a greater asset than Suigetsu and that you were probably smart enough to notice all the weak points and escape the village. I think he missed you. You are the one person who he sees as an equal," Chun explains.

"I think I'm going to take a shower," I stand up to quickly and I have to mask the dizziness I feel. However, I fail and sway like a gyre.

"Azu..."

Suddenly, the door opens and an arm steadies me. Warm arms wrap around me and intense black eyes make me feel small. I shiver. I push him away before he could speak and say, "I'm fine," a bit too sharply. "I'm going to take a shower now. Please leave my room." I walk to the adjoining bathroom as he quietly heads towards the door. I step in, he steps out.

I head for the shower and notice that the bath is half full. I tear off my burlap sack to no avail and find that I have to pull it over my head. I step into the shower and scrub the dirt out and vigorously scrape at my scalp until all the grime washes down the drain. Chun was wrong about the bruises, they aren't there.

The door opens and the bath shuts off. I wait until the door closes again before turning off the shower and walking over to the bath. The foam of bubbles on top makes the bath resembles a fluffy cloud. Both water and foam smell like mint. I step in and feel refreshed instantly. The water feels like relief on my sore bones and aching body. I soak until my skin turns into raisins.

Then, I stand up slowly and bend down to reach for the towel. I step out of the bath and drain the water before patting myself dry and grabbing another towel and tdrying my hair. I grab yet another towel and wrap it around myself, clipping it shut with the pink clip Chun on the rim of the bath. I leave the bathroom only to come across Sasuke sitting on my bed. He stares blankly ahead. His hair is back to its original blue-black color and he seems tired.

"Sasuke! You know it's rude to walk into a lady's room unannounced! What will people think?" I tease him.

"What happened to your hair?" he ignores me. Typical.

"I wanted to update my image! A new look!" I exclaim, fluffing my hair. I act frivolous so he won't know I'm upset.

Why did he have to bring my hair up? I saw it in the mirror, it looks awful. And short!

He frowns and looks at me with a lot of intensity. In fact he's been more intense lately. I frown now.

"So, did you find anything out in Konoha or did you just sit around waiting for someone to rescue you?" He asks, changing the subject. He's never done that before.

Maybe I don't know him that well. Maybe I should get to know him more. And then I could find out his weaknesses and play them to my strength. If I manipulate him enough, I should be able to convince him to help Konoha out in the war, which will put the people in debt to him just enough to spare him.

Then, for one strange moment, Sasuke looks like Chan. The boy with whom I shared my first (and only kiss). I remember how he ignored me and how jealous I was of Ty Lee for having so many boys like her.

I remember how unsophisticated and how terrible I was at flirting. Everything was stuffy about the party and I had to get out, and that's where he found me. Without the influence of his friends we were able to connect and then kiss. The kiss was sweet and good and he seemed to like it. Now that I think of it, his expression said "more". I shake myself of nostalgia and focus on Sasuke. He seems concerned.

"The city has only a few guards. Most of the shinobi are found in the prison. The only time shinobi on the battlefield come in is to send the enemy shinobi to prison. The guards were watching me the whole time. I only escaped because a strange half-black, half-white, plant man attacked the weird, scarred torturer," I tell him.

"That would be Zetsu attacking Ibiki," Sasuke says. He seems intense, yet again.

I knew that, so why didn't I say it? Best change the subject.

"You know, there's a lot of bloodshed because of the war that started because of you," I accuse him.

"Hn," he glares at me.

"Don't you feel any remorse?" I ask him. It's a very impressive war. The blood shed is excessive and the sights bothered me. The dead bodies. I've never seen one before. Well I have, but I never gazed closely at the face of one whom I killed while still sane. channeling Kun, the idiot nurse in the mental hospital. I always hated her, how she talked to me as if I were her equal, how she was always so happy, how she thought I was wrong.
And now I realize, quite suddenly, that she was right. I was wrong. I have done a lot of bad things and never felt guilty, until this journey. Maybe it's something about the air that changes me so.

I recall the panic that set in me while I was following Suigetsu. I realize that I sacrificed myself for someone else. Like Sasuke sacrificed himself for me.
"They started it," Sasuke insists. He does. I believe he's changed too. First he saved me, then he sent for me, and now he feels remorse. Maybe, there's a way we can find light and redemption. Maybe we aren't monsters. Maybe.

"Leave," I say. He listens and leaves once again.

I flop down on my comfy bed and sleep.

I wake up groggily as if I've been poisoned.

"Hey, Sasuke! You're awake!" Izumi's voice chirps.
I stare at the little girl before me.

"Azula's on a mission. A special reconnaissance mission," a girl chatters. "Oh! This is my real form. It's still me, Izumi! But I prefer to be called Chun when I'm in this form," The green-eyed girl with the brown hair and tan skin smiles.

"Hey! Izumi, er Chun, is he awake?" Suigetsu bursts into my room. My eyes slightly widen.

"Oh, Sasuke, hey!" Suigetsu chuckles, embarrassed.

I narrow my eyes at him. He's supposed to be in prison. "Where's Azula?" I ask. Both flinch.

Tsk. She must have been caught rescuing Suigetsu. Which is a waste since she was the better asset, and less annoying.

"She rescued me from Konoha prison a week ago. Some guards caught up to us. I was pretty weak. But she seemed to have a handle on it. I turned into water and she put me in a pouch and threw me. I was found some time later by Izumi. She was looking for Azula. We only came back because ... um, it's unimportant. I think she's in prison," Suigetsu doesn't look at me the whole time he tells me theses things. He seems embarrassed and a bit frightened.

He should be.
"Chun, go back to Konoha and find Azula. She's a better asset than Suigetsu, and she's probably smart enough to gather intelligence," I order.

That cat-human better do as I say. I'm in no mood to deal with insubordination.

"Yes, sir," Chun slumps away. Suigetsu follows. I sigh and lay back in bed.

The evening brings the arrival of Chun and some dirty thing in a burlap sack.

It can't be.

I wait a bit in my room, stewing.

What have they done to her? Why must everything in my vicinity be turned to dirt and beaten and killed?

I can't wait anymore. I walk towards the room that I know is Chun's, and therefore Azula's. I have to make sure she's still an asset.

I walk briskly down the hallway and slam open the door when I see it.

I see Azula sway crazily and I move quickly to catch her. Her body seems frail and I notice that she shivers in my arms and stays there for a bit before finally pushing me away and snapping, "I'm fine,". But even her push seems weak and here words are too harsh. Not the usual Azula banter.

"I'm going to take a shower now. Please leave my room," Azula walks towards the bathroom and I respect her wishes out of shock. Azula never genuinely says please.

Soon after I walk out of the room, I mask my chakra and walk back into the room. I look at Chun and go to sit on the bed. She doesn't leave. I hear water from the bath and the shower running and, after a while, Chun goes into the bathroom and prepares Azula's bath, before she finally leaves. I stare ahead, waiting for the moment when she'll come out the door.

She comes out of the door, wearing only a towel with a pink clip on the side.

"Sasuke! You know it's rude to walk into a lady's room unannounced! What will people think?" she teases me.

Her hair is jagged and chin-length, and her frame seems thinner, weaker.

It's only been a week. Did they starve her?

"What happened to your hair?" I ignore her dramatics.

"I wanted to update my image! A new look!" She exclaims, fluffing her hair.

The light-hearted remark reminds me of the time Sakura was attacked by the Sound Genin. Her hair was jagged and short and when Naruto questioned her, she said the same thing. I frown. Azula frowns back, for some reason.

"So, did you find anything out in Konoha or did you just sit around waiting for someone to rescue you?" I ask, changing the subject.
Azula's eyes glaze over as she loses herself in nostalgia. From the faint blush on her cheek, she must be thinking of a boy. I suppress a frown.

She's never been this expressive before.

"The city has only a few guards. Most of the shinobi are found in the prison. The only time shinobi on the battlefield come in is to send the enemy shinobi to prison. The guards were watching me the whole time. I only escaped because a strange half-black, half-white, plant man attacked the weird, scarred torturer," She informs me.

"That would be Zetsu attacking Ibiki," I tell her. The fact that Zetsu has been caught must be a big blow to Obito, or whatever, and his forces.

"You know, there's a lot of bloodshed because of the war that started because of you," I accuse him.

"Hn," I glare at her.

Who is she to judge me?

"Don't you feel any remorse?" She asks me. Her face turns curious and I could tell that she's contemplating something. Her eyes are unusually expressive and I see worry and a new haunted look in her eyes. She reminds me of Sakura after the first time I used the curse seal. There is a look of innocence being stolen, a look I despise.

"They started it," I retort.

"Leave," She orders. I listen to her, grudgingly.

After a while the pretty princess regained her strength, and she and her group traveled around the world. One day they encountered the mean boy's brother. After the meeting, the mean boy disappeared for a week. When he came back, his eyes were puffy and red.

"Sasuke," I follow him as he goes into his room at the villa (Izumi's treat). He ignores per usual and slams his door shut. But he doesn't lock it, so I step in quietly.

I find him on He goes straight towards the middle of the bed and lays down, closing his eyes. I join him on the bed and he rolls away from me. I ignore the gesture and sit on the bed next to him .

"Sasuke. It's not like you to be emotional. Did something happen?" I ask him, mock concern in my voice. The black-haired lump on the bed didn't react.

"I remember the last time I saw my big brother," I begin.

According to The Troubled Child's Guide to Making Friends (a present from Kun - I only read it because I was bored), one should talk about common experiences in order to comfort one's friend. Actually it said, "When a person who you want to be friends with is sad, you should try to cheer them up by telling them a story of a similar situation you had. If you've never experienced a similar situation then make something plausible up." I only remembered it because it was so stupid. Anyway to continue my story.

"I was very far away from home at the time and he was with his young, pregnant bride, Peasant. Anyway, he came for his weekly visit in order to alleviate the guilt he felt in leaving me behind to rot by the sea. This week my brother came by to tell me that my ... his mother came to visit and we got into a fight. It was just a sibling quarrel, but I remember stalking out of the room and almost crying. Not because we had a fight, but because we have a lot of ... sad history," I finish.

"Did your brother ever kill your whole entire family?" Sasuke asks, well mumbles. He seems exhausted and melancholy.

"No, he was the moral child. Mother's favorite, as I was Father's," I answer him.

"Why was he your mother's favorite? Shouldn't he have been your father's favorite?" Sasuke shifts slightly towards me. I place my hand on his shoulder because the stupid book says "Touch is comforting. Try to touch your potential friend a lot."

"Father was the second child and his brother was a great man and the Dragon of the West. Father always tried to prove how strong he was and to him strength became an obsession. My brother was weak, but he was gentle-hearted and Mother loved him for that. However father hated him and favored me because I was strong. As father always said to Zuko and I, 'Some are born lucky, and others are lucky to be born'. Zuko was just lucky to be born according to father," I tell him.

"So, your brother is weak?"

"Weaker than I. But in comparison to others, he's quite strong."

"So you're the prodigy in your family," he looks at me full on and rolls over on his back, absently placing my hand over his heart. The beat is steady and strong and his shirt is warm. His fingers are long and lay on top of mine.

"Yes," I answer him.

I slid my hand out from under his and stand up. I turn towards the door and open it when he says, "You're like my brother."

"And you're like mine, mommy's boy."

Slam!

I walk into the inn knowing no one would dare confront me. Suigetsu and Chun would be too afraid of my wrath, and Azula ... she wouldn't care.

"Sasuke," apparently, Azula read my mind and decided to be perverse in her effort to anger me. I ignore her and walk into my room hoping that she'd take the hint.

She doesn't. Maybe she's just so bored that the idea of death entertains her, or the idea of me being in some sort of mood amuses her. Whatever the reason, I ignore her once again and lay on top of the bed, closing my eyes. She sits on the bed beside me and I roll away from her.

"Sasuke. It's not like you to be emotional. Did something happen?" She mocks me. I ignore her. It's a pattern by this point.

"I remember the last time I saw my big brother. I was very far away from home at the time and he was with his young, pregnant bride, Peasant. Anyway, he came for his weekly visit in order to alleviate the guilt he felt in leaving me behind to rot by the sea. This week my brother came by to tell me that my ... his mother came to visit and we got into a fight. It was just a sibling quarrel, but I remember stalking out of the room and almost crying. Not because we had a fight, but because we have a lot of ... sad history," She tells me.

How can she compare her troubles to mine?

"Did your brother ever kill your whole entire family?" I ask, but the anger isn't here anymore.

Does it matter? Has anger ever given me anything?

"No, he was the moral child. He was Mother's favorite, as I was Father's," Azula says, sadly This is the second time she mentioned her mother, and the first time she mentioned her father.

She also said big brother. But wouldn't the father prefer the first born?

"Why was he your mother's favorite? Shouldn't he have been your father's favorite?" I shift slightly towards her. She places her hand on my shoulder. It's small and warm and oddly comforting.

"Father was the second child and his brother was a great man and the Dragon of the West. Father always tried to prove how strong he was and to him strength became an obsession. My brother was weak, but he was gentle-hearted and Mother loved him for that. However father hated him and used to favor me because I was strong. As father always said to Zuko and I, 'Some are born lucky, and others are lucky to be born'. Zuko was just lucky to be born according to father," Azula's voice is soft as she explains the past.

Well, I'm not the only one whose father likes the powerful children.

"So, your brother is weak?" I ask her.

"Weaker than I. But in comparison to others, he's quite strong," Azula says.

The more she tells me about her family situation, the more I compare to mine. My own mother preferred me and I was weaker than Itachi, I still am. My father liked Itachi because he was the heir apparent, until Itachi turned against them. Azula is a bit like Itachi, both being the strong one's and the father's favorite. And she said that her father used to favor her. She must have done something to lose favor with her father.

"So you're the prodigy in your family," I finally look at her and roll over on my back to face her, while grabbing her hand and placing it on my chest. She looks down at me, wondering. I realize that my hand is over hers. Her hand is so small and warm.

"Yes," She answers me, her voice slightly breathless.

She slides her hand out from under mine and stands up. I watch her turn towards the door and open it. Before she leaves I say, "You're like my brother."

"And you're like mine, mommy's boy," She retorts and slams the door.

I smirk.

After the brother incident, the pretty princess and the boy wondered around the world, avoiding the war. The mean boy seemed embarrassed about all the bloodshed and tried to help the poor villagers that suffered from the war whenever he could, and the pretty princess helped him because she didn't like the bloodshed either. Two months later, the group decided to take a break in an inn near Kirigakure (the one great nation the mean boy didn't insult). That's where they are now.

Notes:

For more about Azula's time in the Spirit World, see BFTITLON chapter 2.

For more on the Mercenary Incident, see BFTITLON chapter 9.

The gyre is a reference to The Second Coming by Yeats. A gyre spins and widens, eventually collapsing in on itself.

Azula's being optimistic when she says the tub is half-full.

According to Herb Garden, mint means: eternal refreshment, wisdom, and virtue.

Azula borrowed Sakura's words from Volume 7, Chapter 57, Page 51, Panel 3 of Naruto. Owned my Masashi Kishimoto. Not mine at all.