Hey everyone! I'm back with chapter two of Spiraling Flames. I'm happy that so many people liked the story. I'll take the time to answer the two questions that people asked, for those who don't have instant messaging. First off this is an Azula X Naruto pairing. It will develop slowly over time. Right now she is fourteen and he is about to turn eleven so they couldn't really start dating or developing an adult relationship yet. Secondly yes Naruto will learn fire bending. He actually begins to do so in this chapter. For those who have concerns about this, don't worry, I'm not making Naruto super powered with his bending, and it will take a while before he can truly use it in battle. with all that said it is time for the disclaimer. I do now own Naruto, or Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor do I own any of the characters belonging to either series. I make no money off of this work of fan fiction. Please enjoy the chapter everyone!
Spiraling Flames Chapter two
Azula looked at the building in front of her with disdain. She had been left outside the apartment building while Neko and Naruto had gone inside to get his things, leaving her with plenty of time to observe the apartment complex. This is where Naruto, her distant relative, had been living? The building wasn't run down, or poorly built. It appeared to be rather sturdy actually. How it was built or maintained was not what bothered her though. No, what bothered Azula about this building was that it was, in her opinion, unfit for nobility. It was painted with a dull brownish white. The only real color seemed to be the railings around the building, which a brownish red. On top of this, based on the spacing between the doors of the apartments, the rooms were quite small.
This was unacceptable. No one who carried the royal bloodline of the Fire Nation within them should live in a place like this. Naruto may not resemble a member of the royal family at all, but the blood was in his veins. Azula found herself glad, that the ANBU woman had led them here to gather Naruto's possession's and move to a more suitable dwelling, and not to move her into this building with him. While Azula was in no position to complain about her living conditions or spurn any offer of hospitality that was given to her by the leader of this village, she could safely say that had she been forced to live here the apartments would have gone up in flames within a week. She could only assume that Naruto had endured living here, because he was either unable to live anywhere else or because he was simply ignorant of how someone with noble blood should live. It was more than likely a combination of the two. She would have to educate him on such matters at a later time.
She was brought out of her line of thought as she notice the blond boy and the masked woman exiting the building. As they walked towards her she noticed that they did not seem to be carrying any objects or possessions that the boy may have owned.
"Excuse me Neko, but where are all of his belongings? I was under the impression that you led us here to get them." Azula asked.
The ANBU held up a scroll and said. "All of Naruto-san's belongings are in sealed away in this scroll. Using fuuinjutsu for jobs like this makes them easier and faster. When we reach your new residence I will unseal everything there."
"I see." was the only reply Azula gave.
"I will lead you back to the main street before taking you to your new apartment, so that you will be able to find your way to and from the central area of the village." said Neko walking past Azula.
Once they were back on the main street of Konoha, Azula started making note of all the distinguishing land marks between the central area, where most of the stores were, to their destination. It helped that Hokage Tower was almost always visible, so if she ever got lost she could go there and retrace her steps.
When they reached their new apartment complex, Azula decided it was infinitely better than the previous one. It looked much more impressive, structurally, its apartments appeared to be at least twice as big, and it even had some actual color to it. While the light green paint that covered the building would not have been Azula's first choice, it was a definite improvement. This was still not a place she would picture herself or anyone of noble blood dwelling in by choice, it did give off at least some semblance of wealth and importance.
"I must say this place is a vast improvement over the last building complex we visited." Azula said, giving voice to her thoughts.
Neko nodded "That is because Naruto-san's last apartment was meant for civilians. This was built more recently and was made to house shinobi and their families."
This statement seemed to excite Naruto, who had been abnormally quiet. "Whoa! Really?" the thought of living in a place specifically designed for ninja was amazing in the mind of the ten year old boy. If he was lucky, maybe some of the shinobi could help him with his own training at the academy. Even if they didn't help him, living in a place like this encouraged him to train even harder.
"Yes, really Naruto-san" Neko said, breaking him from his thoughts. Turning to Azula the masked woman handed her two sets of keys. "Your apartment number is '210'. I will talk to the landlord about the Hokage's orders and then meet you in the apartment to unseal Naruto-san's things."
Naruto hearing this bounced with excitement. "Come on, Azula-hime! Lets go see what it looks like!" With that statement he ran towards the stairs to find their new living area.
"Again with the 'Hime'." Azula muttered to herself. "What does that mean?"
Hearing her question Neko gave a small chuckle. "Its an honorific, meaning princess. We use honorifics in most cases when we address people. You are a princess so it fits, but it could be used in other situations, involving a woman or girl of noble birth or wealth."
Azula blinked. "Interesting. I shall have to learn more about these honorifics. I suspect that learning what they mean and how to use them will make my life in this world much easier."
Neko gave Azula a nod. "That it will, but for now you best go catch up to Naruto-san before he gets himself into trouble."
"I suppose your right. He seems quite excited to live here." Turning away from the purple haired woman, Azula headed up the stairs and began looking for their apartment and the blond boy who would no doubt be bouncing excitedly outside it.
Azula did indeed find Naruto outside their apartment, he was not alone however. A man wearing a green vest over a blue suit and sporting a blue bandana over long white hair was standing in front of the boy. The man seemed to scolding or berating the boy when Azula walked up. At first Azula wondered if perhaps in his excitement the younger child had done something to anger the man. She quickly decided this was not the case, for once she got in ear shot she heard part of the man's words to the blond.
"Look, Naruto, I don't know why your here and frankly I don't care. But don't lie to my face. I know full well that you live on the other side of town so you can't try to tell me this is your apartment. If you think this little game will get me to help you with your training your wrong. It's bad enough I have to deal with you brats at the academy, but now your going to bug me on my time off?"
"But Mizuki-sensei" Naruto began, only to be cut off by the white haired man.
"But nothing Naruto! If you keep this up I will have to punish you in class once the weekend is over."
Everything that the man had said so far annoyed Azula. She got the feeling that she would not like this man at all. He seemed to have no trust in someone who was obviously his student, and whats more he seemed angry at the thought of giving his students extra training and help. That really rubbed her the wrong way. While Azula's father had always taught her that she was royalty and therefore above nearly everyone else, he had also taught her to respect her teachers. Likewise teachers were supposed to respect their students, especially those who showed interest in going the extra mile to learn from said teachers. This man's statement flew in the face of that respect. She could tell from the man's demeanor and posture that he was unaware of his surroundings, save for the boy he was yelling at. This likely meant that he was not nearly as skilled a warrior as the others she had met so far in this village. She also did not get the instinctual feeling of being on edge as when she had met the Hokage or Neko. Knowing this she was sorely tempted to give the man a lesson in respect and manners, but she decided that getting into a fight with one of the village's shinobi would not win her any favors with the Hokage or its residents. She decided to take a more peaceful approach.
"You shouldn't judge him so quickly. He really is about to move into that apartment, I know for a fact that the Hokage has provided orders for him to do so." She said as she walked up to stand next to Naruto, stopping the man's rant.
Naruto looked at Azula, obviously happy that she was there to back up his story and defend him. "See Mizuki-sensei! It's just like I said." The boy stated, eager to prove that he wasn't lying.
Instead of of showing any signs of believing Naruto's story, however, Mizuki turned towards Azula with a sneer on his face. "Oh, and I'm supposed to believe that your privy to the Hokage's decisions? You're barely more than a child yourself. I don't even recognize you, who are you anyway, little girl?"
Azula's eyes narrowed in anger. Little girl? Barely more than a child? This man knew nothing about her. He did not know her past or where she was from, yet he would judge her? She had commanded armies, she had gone behind enemy lines with only two others at her back. She had spilled blood on the fields of battle. She was royalty! This man dared to call her a child? Consequences be dammed, she would put this man, this peasant, in his place.
"Who am I?" she asked, repeating his question. She clenched her fists and caused blue flames to erupt around them. "I am someone you should respect. I am someone you should fear."
The words came out as little more than a loud whisper, but they had the intended effect. Her words, laced with menace as they were, and the blue flames engulfing her fists caused the man to take a step backward.
Mizuki's fear was short lived though. He quickly regained his composure and assumed a fighting stance. "So you want to fight, little girl? I am a chunin you know? I'm more than capable of beating down smart mouthed little girls like you" He spat out.
Azula smirked. She loved it when here opponents were so sure of their victory. It made the look of surprise on their faces so much more satisfying when she struck them down. She got into her own fighting stance, ready to attack the white haired man.
Before the fight could begin, however, Neko's voice rang out. "I hope you two aren't causing trouble. I would hate to have to detain the both of you for the rest of the week." The thinly veiled threat was enough to make both opponents stand down.
Azula, sighed inwardly. She would have to wait until another time to teach this peasant manners. Turning to the ANBU she said "Of course not. It was simply a misunderstanding I'm sure. This man seems to be under the impression that Naruto and I are out of place. We both informed him that we are moving into this apartment today, however, he seems to be of the belief that we are lying and are merely here to cause some sort of mischief. We both seem to have lost our tempers in our argument though. I apologize for that." It was the truth. Well everything thing except for the apology. Azula had yet to truly apologize for anything in her life, but she was fantastic as faking them.
"I see." replied Neko. Looking over at Mizuki she said " allow me to clear up any misunderstandings Mizuki-san. These two have been granted the use of this apartment by the Hokage, and are to live together from now on. I was ordered to bring them here and help them move in. Does this help resolve the situation?"
Mizuki looked back at the female ANBU with barely hidden frustration. "It does. Thank you Neko-san. I hope you will understand that I meant no offense, I was simply acting on what I thought to be true at the time. Please forgive me for losing my temper and nearly causing an incident."
"I will note your concerns, Mizuki-san. Please do make sure something like this doesn't happen again. As as a chunin of our village you have an image to uphold."
"Of course, Neko-san. It won't happen again. Now if you will excuse me, I have errands I must run." He replied, before walking past the small group and out of sight.
Naruto, inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Truth be told he had no idea how to handle the situation. He had been happy to have Azula defend him, and tell Mizuki he was telling the truth, but he didn't mean to start a fight. He had seen Azula fight off those bandits in the woods, and he really didn't want to see her get in a fight with one of his teachers. He had no desire to be the cause of a fight like that, especially if it got his new room mate in trouble. Still he had to admit that Azula had looked pretty cool when she was facing down Mizuki.
"Come one you two, lets get your things unpacked. Once we do so I'll be on my way." Neko said, breaking Naruto out of his thoughts.
Once they opened the door the apartment they looked around a bit before unsealing Naruto's belongings. The apartment consisted of Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living area, and a kitchen that doubled as the dining area.
When they unsealed Naruto's things, Azula was surprised to see that he considerably less material objects than she imagined. Being a princess, she had owned quite a few belongings. She didn't have as much as one might think a princess would have, as she valued fighting prowess and power over material objects, but it was still far more than what Naruto owned.
Out of the sealing scroll Neko had pulled a few pieces of furniture and a box of dried food of some sort as well as pots and pans. All in all they now had a table and two chairs, one small dresser full of Naruto's clothing, and one bed. Azula had hoped that they would have two beds to start with as only having one, meant that they would likely have to share a bed until as second one could be purchased. This was a fact that the purple haired ANBU was quick to point out. While Azula was not appalled by the idea of sharing a bed with the younger boy, she wasn't for it either. She wasn't embarrassed about sharing a bed with a boy like some girls her age might have been, as she knew it was out of necessity. It also helped that the boy in question was too young, at the moment, to have thoughts about what could be done with a girl in bed. That being said, Azula was used to having her own bed. She enjoyed having her own bed, it was one of the few places where she could relax and not have to keep up her image of the all powerful daughter of the Fire Lord. She was glad that his bed was easily large enough for the two of them to share comfortably, however, if Naruto hit a growth spurt anytime soon that might change.
Once they had finished moving all the furniture to its designated spot, the three people took a moment to observer their work. It was during this moment that Naruto's stomach decided to make its demand for sustenance known in the from of a large growl. As the other two occupants of the room looked over at the boy he rubbed the back of his head and had the good grace to look embarrassed.
"Heheh, Sorry about that. I guess I got kind of hungry." He said before walking over to the box of dried food. Picking up one the packages he said "Well I guess it's time for some ramen."
Azula looked at he package in his hands and asked "Ramen? I'm assuming that is the dried food you have in your hand?"
When Naruto heard this question he dropped the package back into the box and slowly turned around to face Azula. His face was mix of horror and disbelief. "You mean to tell me you have never heard of ramen?"
When Azula shook her head to confirm that she had indeed never heard of it, Naruto visibly took in a deep breath. Turning to the ANBU in the room he asked "Neko-san, is everything that we have to do here finished?"
Looking at the blond the woman the woman responded in a quizzical voice. "Almost, I wanted to inform you both that as this apartment complex was built for shinobi and their families, there is a small area behind the building where you two may train and practice low level techniques. If you wish to practice more destructive techniques or you plan to do intense training, the landlord asks that you use the training ground down the street. Other than passing on that message I was told to inform you that the Hokage will have your first stipend of money by tomorrow, and that you should pick it up sometime then."
Naruto nodded in a somewhat serious manner. "Good. In that case I must take Azula-hime to Ichiraku's as quickly as possible. You are welcome to join us of course Neko-san."
Put slightly put off balance by the intense expression and serious tone that ten year old was using, Neko waved her hands in a defensive gesture. "Thank you, Naruto-san, but I'm afraid that I must report back Hokage-sama."
"I see." The boy said. Opening the door to the apartment allowing the ANBU to walk out, before exiting himself. "Well we will see you another time then. Azula-hime, would you please follow me?"
Azula walked out the door, before Naruto shut and locked it. She was unsure of what was going on, or where this new attitude the boy was displaying had come from, but she was willing to go along with it for now. That being said if he was wasting her time, she would punish him properly.
"Where are we going, if I may ask?"
Naruto gave her a look that said that he thought it should be obvious. It made Azula feel like she were the younger of the two. She didn't like that, she didn't like that one bit.
"We are going to Ichiraku's Ramen Stand, so that you can try ramen." Naruto said as if he were the wisest sage to grace the earth.
Azula felt her anger grow. " And why could I not simply have tried the ramen you had back at the apartment?" She asked, her voice taking a dangerous tone.
If Naruto noticed the danger he was in, he didn't show it. He simply continued walking towards his destination.
Looking over at Azula he said "That was instant ramen. It's okay as far as taste goes, but it's a cheap knock off of the real thing. If you're going to try ramen for the first time, I'm going to make sure you have actual quality ramen."
Azula felt her anger grow a little more. She understood the need to have quality things in life, she was princess after all, but she was also tired and all but spent from her ordeals over the last few hours. She was hungry enough that she would eat anything edible regardless of quality. She also wanted to make prompt use of the bed back at the apartments. It was almost night anyway, they should be getting ready to rest, not going back into the village.
"Listen, boy, if this little excursion you're taking me on isn't well worth it you will be punished properly. I can and will singe your pants off. Am I understood?" Azula growled towards the younger boy.
Naruto looked a little taken aback, but he also seemed to understand what she was feeling. He continued walking onward with her in tow before stopping at a small building. It looked like one of the restaurants one would find dotting the streets in the Fire Nation during festivals.
"We're here." Naruto said. "This will be worth the trip I promise, Azula-hime." As he said he took a step into the small stand and sat down on a stool, before motioning Azula to do the same. Reluctantly she complied.
A girl appeared from the back of the shop. There was nothing really noticeable about the girl. She was of average height and size, had brown hair and wore an apron over her clothing.
"Oh, Naruto-kun! Good to see you." the girl exclaimed. Before turning her attention to Azula. "who's this? A friend?"
Naruto grinned and laughed "Yep. This is Azula-hime! She's a princess from another land. She doesn't have anywhere to go though so Hokage-jiji has her living with me. It turns out were distant relatives too!" Turning to Azula, Naruto said "Azula-hime this is Ayame Ichiraku. She and her dad are some of the nicest people I know,and they without a doubt the best ramen chefs ever!"
"Thanks, Naruto. That means a lot to us." said a voice from the back of the stand. An older looking man walked out to reveal that he was the one who had spoken. He like his daughter was plain looking and had no remarkable features other than this apron and short dark hair.
Nodding in Azula's direction he said "It's nice to meet you Azula-sama."
Azula nodded back. "It is nice to meet you as well."
Naruto chose this point to speak up again "Azula-hime here has never had ramen, so I thought I'd bring her here to try the best ramen there is."
"Well then," said the man "let's get her some ramen. What kind would you like Azula-sama?"
Azula had no idea what kinds they offered, and while she was able to speak the language of this world, she found that their writing was completely different from that of hers, so she could not read the menu. Not wanting to admit she couldn't read, she opted to go with a safer option.
"I'll have whatever Naruto Orders." she said.
"I'll have a miso ramen, Teuchi-jiji!" Naruto stated happily.
"alright, two miso ramen coming right up!" The old man said as he headed to the back of the stand.
Within minutes Azula and Naruto had two bowls in front of the them. Naruto had immediately started digging into his bowl, where as Azula was a bit more hesitant. She stared at the bowl of noodles like it was the greatest mystery she had encountered. It certainly smelled good, it even looked good. But it was nothing like the food the Fire Nation princess was used too. The food she had eaten in her home world were Fire Nation originals which consisted mostly of spicy and flame grilled foods. She had also had the pasty, mushy food that the soldiers were forced to eat sometimes, she'd only had that once, however. Picking up her chop sticks, she decided to brave the unknown and slowly drew the the first mouthful to her.
The two ramen chefs noticed Azula taking her first bite and watched intensely, wondering if she would like their food or not. They watched in fascination as a scene they had only witnessed once before unfolded right before their eyes.
The moment the food touched Azula's tongue, a shiver ran through her whole body. Her eyes dilated, her breath hitched, and her mind went blank. This food, this ramen, it was amazing. She couldn't believe she was only just now tasting something so delicious. How could such a thing not exist in the Fire Nation? The taste, the texture the seasoning were all perfect. She decided that when she returned home, she would offer these two chefs a place in the palace, so that they could teach others to make this wonder. This delicacy would be declared a food fit only for the royal family, she would make sure of it. She now had another thing to look forward to when she returned home.
Azula's brain took three seconds to go through this thought process. Once those three seconds were finished, her body which had gone stiff, unfroze. At that moment all of the manners that had been drilled into her as a child vanished, and she began devouring the ramen in front of her as if it were the only thing that mattered at all in the world.
Half an hour later both Azula and Naruto sat contented with several empty bowls in front of them. Naruto had eaten seven bowls and Azula had consumed four bowls of ramen. Behind the counter of the ramen stand stood a giggling Ayame, and a grinning Teuchi. The old ramen chef sensed that there would be a large increase in his profits soon with Azula around.
The sun had completely set by the time that Naruto and Azula left the ramen stand. Azula's earlier anger, at being drug out of the apartment by the boy had vanished completely. She had to admit that the boy was right, eating the ramen at the stand had been well worth the trip.
As they walked back down the streets, to their apartment, Azula took notice of how different the streets of Konoha looked at night. During the day the sunlight had made everything seem bright and cheerful, now that night had set in the streets seemed cold and lonely. The moon and starlight bathed the village in calm, but eerie, light.
Their progress towards their destination was halted when three men came out of a building in front of them. Judging by the smell of alcohol on the men, and the fact that one was stumbling around led Azula to assume the building they had come from was a bar or a tavern.
As Azula and Naruto started to walk past the three men, the man who had been stumbling called out. "Hey look. It's the demon brat!"
This statement made Naruto tense up, and stopped Azula in her tracks. She wasn't sure if this would lead to an altercation or not, but she was ready to drop into a Fire Bending stance if needed.
The man's two companions were obviously not as inebriated as he was, seeing as they had the presence of mind to grab the man and try to calm him down.
"Hey, you know that consequences for talking like that. Your close to breaking 'that' law. Look your drunk. So are we, lets just get home before we get into any trouble." One of the men said, trying to guide the man away from Naruto and Azula.
The man seemed reluctant to leave with his friends, but eventually relented and let them take him away. "Ah fine. I'll leave the little brat alone. He's still a monster though." with that statement the three men walked off into the village.
Azula was to see the men walk away. She found drunks distasteful in any situation. This particular incident could have become volatile quickly though. It was obvious that the men held hatred for Naruto, and although the Hokage had said the penalty for attacking him was death, she knew that the rationality of someone who was drunk was limited at best. It also would have been annoying to answer questions about why she had left three charred corpses in the middle of the street. The Hokage would likely not have found such a thing amusing.
As she started to resume her walk to the apartment she noticed that Naruto was standing still. Stopping and looking back at him, she saw he was looking at the ground, as sad and confused expression on his face.
"Are you alright?" Azula asked knowing full well that he wasn't.
"Why?" Naruto asked. "Why do they call me that? I've never done anything to them. Why do they say I'm a monster?"
Azula recognized his facial expression, and his tone of voice. He was feeling the same way she had, when her mother had called her a monster. Sighing inwardly, Azula walked up to the boy and bent down to his level. In an act of compassion, that surprised Azula herself, she reached out and cupped his cheek. Making him look up at her, she looked him in the eyes before giving him the same explanation that she had given herself, years ago, when her mother called her a monster for the first time.
"They treat you like that, they call you a monster, because they fear you. They see that you have power, hidden away inside you. They know that the power you have will outshine all of their own power. This makes them jealous and fearful. Their fear turns to hate, and makes them lash out at you. They will always fear you for your power, and as it grows so will their fear."
"I see." the boy answered sadly. "So that means I'll never have any friends if I get stronger? Why should I be a ninja then? I don't want even more people to hate me."
Azula smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, Naruto, don't give up on being a shinobi or a warrior because of their fear. They will grow more fearful as your power grows yes, but you will also find others who will respect and love you for that power. I know what the burden of power is like. My own mother thought I was a monster when I was your age. But I became determined to be even stronger. I found friends that liked me, and people that respected me. You can do the same. Know this, even if all the people in this world come to hate and fear you for that power, I will never do so. I will always respect you for it."
This statement seemed to cheer the boy up. He looked at the older girl in front of him and gave her a smile. It wasn't like the smiles she had seen earlier, those were from excitement and energy. This was a smile of true happiness.
"Thanks, Azula-hime. I promise that I won't ever fear you or hate you either. I promise I'll always be by your side, both because I will respect your power and because your a really nice person." Naruto said this with a cheerful tone, but Azula could tell there was more behind it than just simple joy. His words carried a strange weight to them, the like of which she had never felt.
She was unsure how to react to his words, so she just nodded and stood back up. The two managed to make it back to their apartment without encountering anyone else. When they got to their door they noticed a small package waiting for them. Naruto picked up a note that was attached to the package and read it out loud for Azula's benefit. Apparently it had been left for them by Neko. The purple haired ANBU had taken it upon herself to purchase a set pajamas, and several changes of clothes for Azula. The woman was not sure of Azula's exact size, but based on what she had observed the clothes would work until more suitable ones could be found.
Once Naruto and Azula were inside and had locked the door, they each went to their separate rooms to change. Azula came into Naruto's room, once she was done changing, seeing as they had to share a bed for now. She was wearing a set rather soft looking blue pajama bottoms and a white T-shirt with two dragons on the front; one red and the other blue. Naruto himself was in blue shorts, a plain white T-shirt and a frog night cap.
As Azula looked at the Naruto sitting on the bed she decided that as long as they had to share a bed, there needed to be some rules.
"Listen well, Naruto. We have to share this bed until we are able to purchase one for me, so here is how this going to work. This bed is bid enough for both of us to sleep in comfortably, so you are going to stay on your side, and I will stay on mine. I don't want to wake up and find you rolled on top of me and started drooling on my face. Understand?" The Fire Nation princess asked.
Naruto, recognized that should he break these rules, things might not go so well for him, so he quickly nodded his head to show that he did understand.
The girl seemed satisfied by this. "Good." she said as she crawled under the covers on her side of the bed.
Naruto, feeling a little nervous with the situation, but still not wanting to be awkward or rude, looked over at the older girl and said "Good night, Azula-hime."
Azula, caught off guard by the boys words, hesitated before offering her reply. "Good night, Naruto."
As the two lay in the bed together Azula felt her thoughts drift back to her words to boy when he had asked why he was called a monster. She was unsure of why she had decided to comfort the boy. She certainly wasn't in the habit of helping others. Still something about the boy drew her to him, made her want to keep him from being sad. Maybe it was her own experiences when she was younger that made her want to help him, or perhaps it was a result of their shared ancestry. It was then that she remembered the promise that Naruto had made to her, after she had said that she would never fear him. It seemed like a childish promise, made at the spur of a moment, but his words occupied her mind until she finally drifted off to sleep . Azula was unaware of just how important the boys words would be to her later in her life, or how much of an impact her words had on him.
When the morning sunlight streamed through the bedroom window it shown on the face of a very nervous, and worried Naruto. He was in a position that he was completely unprepared to deal with. Azula had broken her own rules. During the course of the night she had rolled over and wrapped her arms around Naruto's chest and her legs wrapped around one of his smaller legs. When he had awoken and noticed his position, he had immediately tried squirm out of the princess's grasp, only to find this impossible. The more he tried to escape the harder her arms squeezed him to her. He was getting really worried about what would happen when the girl awoke to find them in this position. She had obviously not wanted any contact with him in the night, although he wasn't sure why.
Naruto was unaware of the fact that he was now one of two people to know Azula's most closely guarded secret, the other person being her older brother Zuko. Yes, despite all of her vicious fighting talent, her cold and calculating mind; despite her aloof and often cruel personality she was extremely clingy in her sleep. Yes, Azula, mighty and feared Princess of the Fire Nation, was a massive cuddler. She had often had stuffed animals to sleep next to when she was younger, and the habit of snuggling into what ever was close to her at night had not disappeared with age. It was one of the reasons for the rules she had given Naruto the previous night. She had thought if they stayed on separate sides of the bed, she wouldn't grab the boy in her sleep. She underestimated her own abilities to seek out warm and comforting objects in her sleep, however, and now Naruto was stuck in quite the awkward position.
Naruto's fears were realized as the girl who had him trapped gave a small groan and opened her eyes. Seeing her face so close to the blonde's head made her blink in surprise a few times. Her expression of surprise quickly turned embarrassment and then rage, however, as she sat up. Naruto, now free from the girl's death grip scooted away from her, and quickly tried to defend himself.
"A-Azula-hime, I swear I didn't break the rules. I stayed on my side of the bed and didn't move at all I promise!"
Azula closed her eyes, and took a deep breath before speaking. " I believe you, Naruto."
Naruto sighed in relief "Oh good. I was really scared you were going to 'punish' me for for a minute." He said, chuckling.
Azula opened her eyes before looking down at him in a positively menacing way. "Oh, your still going to be punished."
"But why?" he stammered out. "You just said you believed me!"
Chuckling evilly, Azula ignited her a small blue fire around two of her fingers. "I do believe you, Naruto. But you know my secret now. I can't let you get away with that. Now hold still and your punishment will be over soon."
Naruto barely managed to dodge the tiny stream of blue fire that was shot his way. "Ahh! No way am I holding still for you. Your crazy, Azula-hime!" With that he ran out of the room, Azula hot on his heels.
The chase had lasted about half an hour before the two had finally calmed down enough to go to the kitchen and make breakfast, which consisted of ramen, because that's all they had at the moment. Naruto was still grumbling about his frog cap getting burned. by the flame wielding princess. She hadn't ever actually burned the boy, but she did make his clothes end up with quite a few singe marks.
"Don't you have to attend that shinobi academy today?"
Azula's broke Naruto from his inner grumblings about his singed clothes. He looked up to see her staring quizzically at him from across the table.
"No. We have the weekends off from class. I'll have to go tomorrow though." He replied.
"I see. What do you study there exactly?" She asked.
"Oh, lots of stuff. There's the boring stuff like history and math, but we train in lots of cool stuff too. We learn how to use kunai and other weapons, as well as ninjutsu, as well as taijutsu."
"Taijutsu?" Azula was familiar with what ninjutsu was supposed to be, after her discussion with the Hokage the previous day, but she was unfamiliar with what taijutsu was.
"Oh, I guess you could call it hand to hand combat. It's like those cool fire moves you used against those bandit's yesterday! Although my taijutsu is one of the worst in the class. I wish I could learn your fighting style, it was awesome." He said.
"Perhaps you can." Azula replied. "It's a long shot, but all the members of the royal line have been able to use fire bending. It's possible that as a descendant of the royal line you can use it as well." Azula stated. She had to resist the urge to laugh as she saw look of pure glee that appeared on the blonde's face.
"Really? Alright! When can I start learning?" He shouted enthusiastically
Azula smirked. "Hold on. We have to see if you can fire bend first. If so I'll begin teaching you immediately. Now go get dressed and we can head to the training ground down the street."
Naruto was running to his room to change into his day clothes, by the time the words "get dressed" left her mouth. Azula herself walked back to her own room to change. She decided to wear her fire bender outfit, rather than put on the new clothes that Neko had gotten her. She didn't know how this training would go and she didn't want the clothes to get ruined if they were less durable. As she walked out of her room she noticed Naruto bouncing by the front door, eager to go. Walking past him and out the door, she headed to the nearby training ground. Naruto bounced beside her the whole way.
The training ground turned out to be a small circular area of grass, rocks and a small pond. There were a few trees around it as well. While it wasn't what she used to training around, it would suit Azula's purposes for now. She walked up to one of the trees and plucked a leaf from it.
Walking back to Naruto she said. "What I'm about to show you is a lesson that beginner fire benders learn, in order to increase their control over the element, but it's also a safe way of testing whether you're capable of bending. I'm going to put a small ember into the center of the leaf, and then hand it to you. I want you to focus all you can on keeping the fire from spreading."
Naruto looked at her curiously. "How do I do that?"
"With your will. You must will the fire not to spread. If you are able to control it with your will, the fire will spread, but slowly. If you can't it burn the leaf to ash almost immediately, and it will mean that you are unable to fire bend." Azula said. She noticed Naruto looked a little nervous. It was understandable, many people were nervous when they tried to find out if they could bend. A few were lucky to discover it by accident when they were young, but most had to go through tests. Looking down at the blond she asked "Are you ready?"
Naruto gained a look of determination. "I'm ready. There's no way I'll fail, you'll see."
Azula smirked. She liked his confidence, it spoke of his Fire Nation heritage in her eyes. She also hoped he was able to fire bend. She didn't tell him, but this would determine whether he was truly of royal blood in her eyes. Placing her thumb on the center of the leaf, she ignited a tiny ember in it and quickly handed it to Naruto.
Taking the leaf from Azula Naruto stared at the leaf. Already the center of it was glowing red, and spreading outward. He started concentrating on the fire inside the leaf, wishing, willing it to stop. He stared at the spot where he wanted it to stop spreading, and inside him, he felt a strange sensation. It felt like a pull. No. Not a pull, it was a surge. That was the only word that described this sensation. It was power surging in him.
Azula watched as the fire slowly stopped spreading towards the edges of the leaf. This was astounding. She had hoped Naruto was a bender, although she would never admit it, she wanted the connection that it provide if he could fire bend. Yet, she could never have hoped to see this. Most beginners were only able to slow the spread of the fire. Naruto had stopped it completely.
She reached out and took the leaf from him, and turned it to ash herself. Looking down at the blond she gave him a genuine smile. "Congratulations, Naruto. You are not just a fire bender, but you seem to have an innate talent for it. I've never seen a beginner stop the fire completely."
Naruto's eyes widened, and his face split into a grin. "Yes! I can fire bend! Does this mean we can start training now, Azula-hime?" he asked, his enthusiasm obvious.
Azula nodded "Yes. We can begin now."
Naruto let out a giggle of excitement. "Alright! Now I'll be shooting fire our of my hands by the end of the day!"
At this statement Azula's face took on a more serious look. "Naruto. Listen to me. I am going to train you, but you must follow my every command. No matter what. If you disobey me even once, I will cease you're training immediately and never continue it. Do you understand?"
The boy's face lost its joyful expression, but he gave her nod showing he understood.
"Good." said Azula. "Now I'm going to walk you through the first few forms of fire bending, meant for beginners. Once we've done that, you will start the burning leaf exercise again. Then we will go back to learning the beginning forms, and then repeat."
"What?" he asked confused. "I thought I already mastered the burning leaf?"
Azula shook her head. "You have proven that you have naturally have a great control of fire, but you haven't mastered it. If you're able to do the burning leaf exercise ten times in row, the way you just did it a minute ago I will allow you to go to the next form of control."
"Okay. But how long do I have to spend learning the beginning forms? I want to be able to shoot fire, and fight like you!"
Azula smirked at him. "Until I'm satisfied that you know them well enough to move on. Now watch me, and repeat my actions and motions." She said, getting into a fire bending stance.
The two of them spent almost the entire morning, running through the exercises. Naruto could already tell that Azula would be a hard, and strict teacher, but she would be a good one as well. As he went through the first forms of fire bending beside her, he couldn't help but be glad that she had come into his life, and he hoped that she would never have to leave it either.
Well, there you go, Chapter two. I hope you all like it as much as the first chapter. You got to see a lot of interaction between Naruto and Azula, this time around. You also got to see Naruto begin to learn fire bending. there will be more of that in next few chapters. I've obviously tweaked their characters a bit, but I did try to keep them more or less in character. You will see them slowly start to change, however, as their personalities start to affect each other.
I had a tough decision to make when I started writing this chapter. I could write this chapter, or I could work on my project for college that's due next week...obviously I picked the more important option :p Anyway, please Review and let me know what you think, and what can be improved. Thank you for reading!