Azula's monster
It had been a long gruelling year and a half for Iroh, being raised in this war torn world with his brother had certainly left its effect. The great and powerful Fire Nation had started a war for conquest, now spanning a century.
Ever since he was a boy, all he's known was war, forced upon himself and his younger brother Ozai. Both having been trained and tutored from birth. As the crown Prince of the Fire Nation it was forced into him, how to act, how to behave & how to rule.
His father claimed he had done many great things but nothing would compare to his conquest of Ba Sing Se.
The unreachable city. Many before him have tried, many before him had failed but he was Iroh, the dragon! Nothing could stop him.
Or so he thought.
Iroh lost much in this war: soldiers, friends but worst of all, family. His only son.
Prince Lu Ten. Died in the line of duty, serving under his father.
The loss was too much for Iroh, breaking the hardened General like fragile glass. It was well known that something about the man had changed. No longer were his tactics effective in battle, his once amazing fire bending that once made armies tremble. Now? Dwindled to nothing more than an ember.
This was the start of his massive decline, having enough sense to know when he was fighting a losing battle, the general began his long retreat to the coast where he could lick his wounds and return home.
His army marched with him tired, depressed and defeated. All wishing to be with their families or mourn for their fallen brethren.
Though that would have to come much later as they stumbled on an Allies' village. Once thriving with life, now ashen ruins.
Iroh held his hand out, watching with a critical eye as a grey little flake rested in his palm "Volcanic ash?
"Sir", the once fierce General was broken out of his thoughts, brushing his hands as he turned to face his Lieutenant "Our orders?"
"Search the surrounding areas. There might be some survivors if we're lucky"
"Sir…if we can't find any survivors?"
"…" Iroh's silence spoke for him.
With a hesitant nod and bow, he left the pondering General to his thoughts.
The great Dragon of the West, felt his heart break. Every man, woman and child brought a deep sorrow, plaguing his thoughts full of 'what if's' and 'if only'.
Iroh didn't know how long he spent walking and mourning the dead. He did have enough sense to notice that the sun was beginning to set and a cold chill ran up his spine.
Setting a brisk pace, the general started a match back to his men, hoping to meet some survivors. However, something caught the old dragon's attention. His years of military service, sharpening all his senses to a fine point.
With no hesitance, Iroh followed his instincts. Eyes widening at the small building. The only way you would find such a place would be if you went out of your way to find it, meaning someone built this with the intention of keeping it hidden.
Ember coloured eyes narrowed in precaution, his heart steadying to a single beat.
It wasn't hard to notice the poor condition the building was in but it wasn't like the other from the village no. This was very much the same as a prison or a dungeon.
Wearily, he inspected every nook and cranny until he rounded the corner. Aghast at what he found. It was indeed a prison but it was what was behind the bars that was so stomach turning.
Piled up inside the prison were two large bodies, clearly adults. They laid side by side, no different to a couple who went off to bed. Iroh couldn't be sure of their cause of death but he hoped it was quick.
As the saddened General was about to leave, he noticed something in the corner of his eye. Near lifeless blue eyes met his ember.
Iroh rushed inside the cell, being mindful of the dead, he made his way over to the small malnourished boy, crouching so as not to frighten the child.
Offering a kind smile, the general tried asking some questions, but unfortunately received silence in return.
Pale blue with flecks of orange, like fire and ice melting together in form of unholy matrimony, there was no fear within those orbs, only pure unadulterated hatred and a deep feral anger.
Just as Iroh was about to open the cage a scream of pain sounded, then horns of war & then the rumble of moving earth.
The Earth kingdom had found them.
Iroh rushed back to the main square to see his army engaging the earth bending forces, for every fire bender that fell, 2 earth benders fell yet more took their place, the combat was wild and fierce, huge shelves of earth moved and crushed all those in their path. Enormous storms of fire raged and ate all that stood before them. But, it wasn't enough. Even as Iroh and his personal guard joined the fray, blasting and scorching bender after bender, none could stand against his flames. All that challenged him became naught but ash in the wind. Even then however, it wasn't enough.
Firebenders started disappearing into the ground, dragged down by unseen earth bender soldiers. Iroh cursed, the death of his son still weighed heavily upon his mind, hampering his usually incredible fighting ability.
That's when everything changed.
The village that the two opposing armies clashed in was surrounded by three large volcanoes acting as the guardians to the village known as the 'Three Sleeping Kings' for they had been dormant since the time of the first avatar- or so the legends go.
They weren't dormant anymore. The ground rumbled and cracked, magma spewed up through the cracks as if a wrathful spirit was breaking free, Iroh had never seen anything like this. Hot ash spewed from the three volcanoes. Both earth bender and fire bender alike struggled to gain their balance as the ground rumbled and shook, an earth bender screamed as a meteor of hot rock crushed him, thrown from one of the volcanoes. a roar cut through the sounds of battle, a primal hair raising sound.
Iroh turned, the hair on the back of his neck rising rapidly with the temperature. A small shape flew past him, and Iroh's eyes widened, the shadow he'd seen in the cell. It was a child. A child that now tore through earth benders and fire benders alike with reckless abandon. The most surprising part however was the molten rock covering the child's arms forming long crimson claws that steamed with each swipe, cutting through multiple bodies like a knife through butter. The kid roared and stomped on the ground creating a huge chasm that swallowed a dozen earth benders. He paused. And turned, looking at Iroh he approached slowly, his dark blue-orange eyes filled with curiosity. The child had shaggy long blonde hair, matted with dried blood, gore and dirt. His body was malnourished and scarred, his gauntlets of molten rock dripped off his hand and fell onto a body of an earth bender that lay below him; melting straight through the body of the already dead bender.
He took another step forward, the rags that formed his clothes were stiff with dust and crinkled with every movement. Around them the volcanoes finally started to slow in their eruptions. Their rumblings beginning to slow after their explosions.
The child approached Iroh and his remaining bodyguards, the guards stiffened and prepared themselves to fight, stepping forward to defend their lord, only for Iroh to lift his arm.
"My lord we do not know if he is…." the guard began only to be cut off by a sharp look from Iroh.
The child stopped and stared at the guard, he bared his teeth in anger, however Iroh slowly knelt down to the child's level.
"Do not worry, you have nothing to fear from me or my men" Iroh said softly as he gauged the child's reaction. He hadn't stopped staring at the guards but he'd at least stopped baring his teeth, a good sign so far.
"What is your name child? "Iroh asked as the child approached him slowly. The child cocked his head to the right in a curious manner, "What is your name?" Iroh repeated, this time in a slower manner the child still looked confused.
"My name is Iroh" he said slowly as he pointed to himself, trying to get the child to understand, the child's eyes seemed to light up slightly at that, it seemed he finally understood.
"Naruto" the child basically whispered his voice hoarse and rough. "I..am...Naruto" he whispered out before breaking out into coughs, his grimy head shuddering with the movement.
Iroh looked at Naruto, concern flashed across his eyes, "How old are you and where are your parents?" he prodded, he winced as tears began to gather in Naruto's eyes and the child started to sob uncontrollably.
"My…..parents" he paused hiccuping, "were…...killed..in….cell" he finished lifting his head to the sky and letting out a soul piercing wail. The soldiers around them turned away from him and some even shed a tear barely seeming to understand what it was like to lose a family.
Iroh on the other hand, eyes widened in sadness and shock as he remembered the state of the bodies, "If no one was here when we arrived, he must've had to eat the flesh of his… this poor child" Iroh thought somberly to himself, he then squared his shoulders and brought him into a hug, the boy stiffened his clawed blackened digits almost brought to bare against the man only for Iroh to tighten his hold on naruto.
Iroh slowly rose to his full height, looking down at Naruto he spoke quietly "Come child, let us get you cleaned up" with that he began to walk towards the centre of the broken and battered husk of a village. Around him the soldiers both tended to the wounded and began to wearily set up camp, some just slumped in doorways or layed down in the houses that were left as skeletons after the attack. As Iroh and Naruto walked through the camp, many men stared at the child beside their lord. Some whispered telling each other the story of his attack and his unusual bending abilities, others simply glared eyes boring straight into him & Naruto stared back unafraid until they finally reached Iroh's tent.
What Iroh did not see however, was the messenger hawk taking off from the back of the camp. On its back was a canister strapped to it a black ribbon.
It had been 2 weeks of long travel and hard fought retreats since Iroh had found Naruto in his village. The child had learned much from Iroh, the man teaching him basic meditation among other things including basic bending, however it was found that Naruto's bending was different to the bending of the earth benders, he could bend both earth and fire mixing the two to create one of the hottest substances they could find. Lava. His earth and fire bending came to him naturally as if he were born bending, his proficiency with fire however is what drew Iroh's attention.
Flashback
It had been a week since they had found the boy and Iroh had taken him under his wing, for meditation to both calm his nerves and help him with his trauma. One day, Iroh was going through his usual bending stances in a clearing in a forest they'd stopped for rest. Flowing through the movements resulting in a huge gout of fire, behind him he heard an almost silent grunt, he smiled in amusement as he turned to see Naruto trying to copy the forms. For an apparent earthbender, he had an extreme and unusual proficiency for the dance of dragons. Iroh turned to him with a small smile
"Naruto, if you wanted to learn you could've simply asked. I am always willing to teach" Iroh admonished lightly, Naruto bobbed his head up and down in acknowledgment.
"I didn't want to bother you during your exercise" said Naruto, staring at the ground, head held down, Iroh simply shook his head before sliding into the opening stance, Naruto lifted his head and smiled slightly before taking the same horse stance as his teacher.
"Feel the warmth flow through you even as an earthbender, the feeling of mother earth should be clear and when it builds up let it out as a fluid movement" with that Iroh flung a fist forward and a jet of flames spewed forth before burning out, Naruto nodded in excitement before concentrating.
"Feel the warmth and mother earth, let it flow, let it flow" Naruto thought,as he felt a different sort of warmth flow through him and it built up till it was painful "and let it out " with that Naruto flung his arm forward copying Iroh move for move. However, it wasn't what they were expecting; it wasn't the earth that moved with his movement. Fire, almost liquidised fire erupted from Naruto's hands. The heat was immense as it burned the surrounding foliage, reducing most of it to ash, it was a dark bloody crimson colour and it shocked both Iroh and Naruto, himself, not expecting the ability.
"You…. you can bend two elements? That should be impossible" Iroh gasped his eyes wide with curiosity and confusion filling them. Iroh stood abruptly and grabbed Naruto bringing him close "You cannot let anyone know about this my boy, if they do, who knows what they'd do to you" Iroh whispered urgently grabbing Naruto's attention. The boy nodded silently not understanding the sheer magnitude of his ability, Iroh pulled him over and they both sat down seiza style beginning their meditation practise.
Naruto slowly lost himself to the meditation, his spirit delving deep within his own body. He finally felt at peace.
Flashback end
Naruto was brought out of his meditation as Iroh approached and stood in front of him, the man looked down at the boy. "Naruto we still have 2 weeks before we reach the fire nation with our ships, we are moving slowly to avoid Earth Nation patrols, because of this we will be training and meditating every day till then on the deck for now" he said warmly getting Naruto's direct attention, the boy nodded and stood following Iroh as the man walked down the gangway toward the rear of the warship.
Reaching the quarter deck both stripped down to training trousers and began moving through the training katas, flowing through the movements as if it were natural, each movement was smooth and concise. Iroh nodded as he watched Naruto continue the movements.
"That's enough, Naruto. Now, I am going to teach you one of the bending routines that allowed me to gain the name 'Dragon of the West.' Naruto heard a small crack in the man's voice as he mentioned his title, Naruto's eyes softened slightly understanding the man's pain to an extent.
Standing next to the older man he watched as the man went through the manoeuvres he called The Dance of the Dragon Naruto watched closely the movements being fluid and powerful, he could feel the fire within him begin to bubble and boil as the dance finished with a massive gout of flame.
Iroh nodded to himself and signaled to Naruto to copy his movements, step by step the boy flawlessly copied the older man's movements, each phase was powerful and clean letting out huge blasts of molten fire, Iroh stepped away in awe. Even a master of the technique did not show the sheer proficiency for the technique when he was this boy's age. It was as if the boy was raised by the dragons himself, the boy finished off the dance with an enormous spout of flame that simply hovered for a couple moments before dissipating into the air.
Iroh strode over, his eyes wide filled with pride and curiosity among other things. Slight fear was present too, which Naruto picked up on but he pushed it to the back of his mind, storing that thought for now.
"Good job my boy, that was amazing. I haven't seen anyone be so attuned to the Dance of the Dragon since my great grandfather. It is almost like the fire itself loves you" he said, proudly placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. The boy felt a surge of happiness stream though him warming his heart ever so much.
The wholesome mood was then broken as the large doors to the training deck were pushed open. two guards wearing full red armour with helmets fashioned into human skulls walked into the training deck, Iroh pushed Naruto behind him slightly and stood to his full height.
"What is it, why have you interrupted ?" he asked, a singular eyebrow raised in slight confusion. The guard on the left stepped forward and bowed speaking as he did so.
"Lord Iroh, we have arrived at Capital island and are roughly an hour away from docking in the harbour" the guard spoke in a low reverent voice. Iroh's eyes flashed to the small curious form of Naruto who still wore his training gi. Iroh finally made up his mind on what he had to do.
Iroh kneeled down in front of Naruto "Naruto, go to your room and get dressed, there will be special robes waiting for you on your bed." Iroh smiled slightly after he'd said this, "You'll soon be somewhere where you can be looked after and cared for'' Naruto nodded and gave the man a slight smile before running off to his room, Iroh slowly stood and watched him leave, his smile turning thoroughly into a frown.
Iroh stormed onto the bridge of his ship, a scowl etched onto his face,
"Why was I not informed of our arrival into Fire Nation waters, as I had asked for earlier?" he asked, his voice stern and filled with heat. The bridge crew all bowed before Iroh in apology.
"I am sorry my Lord but warships from the capital itself forced us to change course to the main harbour, something about the Firelord wishing to see you immediately when you arrive, with or without your approval" The captain answered his head low but it was obvious he didn't care for Iroh's feelings on the matter.
"Alert me when we arrive at the palace docks and send a message to my father that I have arrived home" Iroh spoke, his voice now frigid and terrifying. The captain nodded and Iroh left the bridge.
He was concerned. What if his father had found out about the young man that had become something akin to a son to him. There was no way he'd give up Naruto without a fight, the boy had too much potential and was too dangerous to end up in Ozai or Azulon's hands.
Iroh walked down the hallway, he strode quickly toward Naruto's room and knocked on the something that sounded like a "Come in" he pushed the large ornate door open. Standing in front of the bed, Naruto was dressed in the crimson and gold of the royal family. He had an ornate gold fire hairpin which held a few of the larger spikes together forming something similar to a pineapple shape.
Naruto looked up at iroh asking a silent question, "You look great my child, like a true firebender" at which Naruto smiled slightly and nodded in thanks. Iroh knelt down and drew up a serious grimace.
"Now, Naruto. We will be docking soon and my father has requested that we go and see him. I'm going to need you to be brave but when they ask you anything you need to answer, okay?" Iroh asked him seriously. Naruto nodded, Iroh could see the slight apprehension within the boy and hugged him lightly; the crackle of the intercom drew Iroh's attention.
"Lord Iroh, we've arrived and begun the docking process." the radio's crackles silenced as Iroh cursed silently wishing for a bit more time, he turned to Naruto and gave him another reassuring smile before signalling for the boy to follow him up to the main deck. Once they arrived onto the deck, Naruto was taken aback by the sight before him.
Hundreds of thousands of people, all stood arrayed in a parade like form. Once Iroh had come out into the light showing himself to the crowd, they burst into cheers. Despite the loss, the safety of the most favoured son of the royal family was enough to raise some spirits. Despite this however, Iroh could still see some of the mourning families and mothers grieving for their lost sons.
Iroh bowed his head slightly as he walked down the gangplank toward where the palanquin awaited him. Behind Naruto was wide eyed, his head swivelling from side to side taking in all the sights and sounds, never before in his short life had he seen or been around so many people.
Many of the crowd spotted him and began to whisper while others pointed and openly called out however, these were silenced when Iroh helped up Naruto onto the palanquin, it was something akin to the silence before the storm.
The crowd exploded into cheers. Somehow seeing the young boy the prince had brought home had raised spirits immediately. Some believed him to be foriegn dignitary captured in the retreat from the citadel while others believed him to be some young prince captured in a daring raid on the Earth kings summer palace.
None however, realised him to be something even greater.
Naruto stayed silent for the entire journey, His eyes being locked onto the fast approaching palace. It was at this moment he wondered could Iroh actually help him fulfil his dream of wiping away the Earth Kingdom? Although he believed Iroh to be something similar to a father figure he still didn't truly trust the man afterall, all he had known had left him.
At that thought a small tear slid out of his eye and trailed its way down his cheek. However, he was quick to wipe it away once they arrived at the gates of the large palace.
Iroh stepped off the palanquin first, he carried an unusually serious air about him as he entered the palace, his young ward following dutifully behind. the air changed immediately as they entered the palace's throne room, Naruto could feel it. Pure danger, pure anger. The throne room would have been sweltering for anyone but the strongest of firebenders, merely breathing at first seemed to scald and burden Naruto's throat and lungs. However, he slowly grew used to the heat despite only being there for a couple minutes at most.
He followed behind Iroh as they made their way toward the base of the throne itself, a absolutely enormous blaze stood in between them and the Fire Nation's seat of power, on the throne Naruto could just about see the outline of an elderly man behind the raging flames, however he could feel the immense presence the man gave off.
To their immediate right, a door opened and in walked in a man, a woman and two kids, the tall man that resembled Iroh to an extent however he wasn't as well wide as his older brother however his form conveyed both power and agility, the woman behind him was the picture of beauty, her long black hair falling down to her knees held up only by the ponytail it was formed into with the symbol fire holding it together.
Behind her, stood a very cute girl .Her gold/amber eyes peering into and capturing his own blue orbs. Her black hair was held up in a bun with the flame hair pin holding it together, bangs fell either side of her head framing her small face. Naruto could see the visible curiosity behind those bright orbs.
Behind her, walked a scrawny teen, his hair held in a top knot. The boy didn't give the image of confidence for if he was a prince and Naruto was sure a stiff breeze would probably blow him over. His coal black eyes also locked onto Naruto's however, they were more jealous than anything else, sparking some confusion from Naruto.
The group stopped and bowed down to the figure in the fire, their heads touching the ground, Iroh and Naruto following suit a short time after it was silent for a time before He spoke.
"Who is this child you have brought before me Iroh?" The voice was low and croaky, yet it still demanded respect.
Iroh sat up and looked at his father, his eyes never reaching the figure's own.
"Father, He is the child I found on the march toward the coast. He showed an almost unnatural bending ability" at which the fire grew intense.
"You. DARE bring a filthy EARTHBENDER to MY palace" as he spoke it & it was as if a dragon itself had responded to Iroh's words, Naruto could see the sweat rolling down both his father's figure and the other's faces but the other man's face however was as strong as ever.
Naruto stood, ignoring the whispers to kneel down from Iroh, "My lord, my name is Naruto, no last name. Born in a disgraced village and left to rot by those same bastards you call Earthbenders" he paused slightly, and the Fire Lord sat up slightly the flames surrounding him began to grow hotter and hotter becoming wispy and turning into a bright vermillion colour drawing all eyes to him.
It was completely silent for a time, before the Fire Lord let out a loud booming laugh. "Child, you believe yourself arrogant enough to speak to me in such a way." The man spoke, the controls of the flames wrestled away from the boy, blue overcoming the bright red.
Iroh stood quickly "Enough Naruto, Father the boy is trained within the ways of our own, he can bend in a way I have never seen before" at hearing that the flames surrounding the Fire Lord cooled slightly.
"Show me."
Iroh turned to the boy and kneeled down "Despite your" he paused slightly giving Naruto a dry look "outburst, you have to show father your bending, I know your bending is powerful but do not show everything" He whispered his voice low and serious, Naruto simply nodded filing away the man's warning for later.
Stepping forward the man's young ward bowed before the Fire lord, the man leaned forward slightly and at an invisible signal, two men entered the room. Both wore the fire guard armour, their helmets fashioned into the shape of a human skull with iron horns protruding from their skulls, they marched forward completely in-sync as if they were automatons. Both men kneeled at the foot of the throne.
"These men shall be your test boy. They shall show me if you are truly worthy of my attention" with a single clap, the test began.
The centre of the hall was cleared as an almost impenetrable barrier of flame appeared around all three combatants sealing them in, the two men stood tall and began to circle the boy between them, their stances low and maneuverable.
The first man threw a fist forward sending a cascading wave of fire toward Naruto, who had stayed completely still. And remained so even as the fire washed over him. The cascade of flames began to swirl, forming a whirlpool around the boy; the flames themselves seemed to not harm him as if the spirits of fire and ash seemed to favour him.
The flames surrounding him began to compress, growing smaller and covering his arms.
At this the Fire Lord sat forward and narrowed his eyes.
The flames formed two claws of intense flame, he lifted his right hand pointing at the guard who'd instigated the battle the flames around his arm pulsed as it shot forward in a stream of intense death.
He dived out of the way, barely avoiding the heat death. The other guard capitalised upon Naruto's distracted state and flung two fireballs at him both of which circled around each other before exploding into a hundred smaller fireballs peppering Naruto's positions and forcing him to jump out of the way, as he did so he formed an orb of compressed liquid fire in his hand.
The orb was about the size of a marble and a bright gold/white, it emanated pure heat, Naruto flicked the orb toward the guard on the left catching him slightly off guard by how unassuming the attack looked, that was until the attack punched a bullet sized hole through the guard.
As it did so the area around the hole dried out completely turning to ash as he fell forward dead onto the ground. Behind the fight, Ozai's eyes narrowed and plans began to formulate within his mind.
The other guard had no reaction to his companion's death, apart from spewing a wide stream of fire. Forcing Naruto to jump away from him and us his claws to absorb any excess fire, Naruto responded with his own fire blast as if emulating an enraged dragon liquidised fire .erupted out of his opened maw burning the air itself, the guard barely managed to raise a defence which shattered under Naruto's relentless onslaught.
Half of the man's upper body had been burned away, behind him he heard retching however Naruto payed it no mind focusing on the target in front of him, he winced slightly as he could feel the slight burns on his arms, despite his resistance to the flames extended use did hurt him somewhat especially, with how close it was to his skin coating it like a second layer around his arms and hands. He watched the man's charred body breathe in and out slowly, he could feel something building up. An intense heat.
The half dead man breathed in and out the flames forming the barrier rose and fell with him. Naruto crouched, preparing for any attack- the guard appeared in front of him, his charred half melted hand reached toward Naruto's face aiming to kill him in a single shot. His hand came close, his palm almost touching his nose.
Naruto's eyes widened, his pupils dilating and his body reacting on its own.
The man's hand fell away before he could touch him. Burned completely to ash, followed by the rest of his arm. The guard grunted in pain as he fell backwards, his body burned beyond healing.
Complete silence filled the hall, no one dared to speak.
"Leave us" Azulon spoke, his voice conveying no feeling.
The woman standing next to the man on the other side of the room left followed by her apparent children all leaving with their heads bowed, Naruto himself left not wishing to draw the wrath of Iroh nor Azulon.
Outside of the hall he stood silently on the balcony, looking out over the fire nation. Uncertainty filled him at Azulons decision, would the old man allow him to continue to live and learn under Iroh, or would he have him killed outright.
"Hello what is your name?, mine is Azula, princess of the fire nation" Naruto turned to face where the voice had come from and came face to face with the girl he'd seen earlier.
"Your fire bending skills are impressive, who taught you those styles" her eyes narrowed slightly as Naruto continued to stare his eyes filled with uncertainty and confusion.
Finally he spoke "Lord Iroh taught me most of what I know the rest came naturally" she leaned back slightly a small grin stretched across her face.
"Hmm I would like to see some more. if my grandfather doesn't have you killed, would you like to be my friend?" She leaned closer into Naruto, her amber eyes gripping him tightly.
Naruto froze, he couldn't remember the last friend he'd had. Spending most of his time in a cage had done nothing to help with the social skills of the 11 year old. Naruto nodded slowly, his eyes warming slightly.
Azula's grin seemed to widen, with such a powerful friend who wouldn't be happy, "now, let's hope grandfather decides to keep you alive, after all we can't be friends if you're dead". Naruto gulped slowly however he seemed to grow more confident in that moment too. He wouldn't lose his newest friend if he could help it.
"Azula, come on mother is calling us!" a slightly squeaky voice called out from behind the two, both of them turned to face the voice. Azula's face showed exasperation while Naruto's own portrayed curiosity.
Walking quickly toward them was the boy Naruto had seen earlier, the boy eyed him warily. Slowing down near to but not close to them keeping at least 2 feet between himself and Naruto. " You didn't have to kill them, you know. You could've forced them to surrender or something, it wasn't a fight to the death."
Naruto stared at him in both disbelief and annoyance, "if you had been in that fight you would've known why i had to do what i did. It was nothing but self defence." Azula grinned slightly as she watched the sparks fly between the two, her eyes moving from her brother to her new friend rapidly.
"Oh poor Zuzu. this is something you have to learn, big brother, sometimes you have to be vicious, we're fire benders, we don't allow our enemies to escape" Azula responded, breaking into the conversation before it could get any frostier. Before anyone could speak the large doors were opened and outwalked two fire sages.
"The Fire lord has finished his Azula Prince Zuko" the older one said, his voice low and gravelly, the three kids bowed, and turned to follow the sages. Azula and the now known Zuko walked directly behind the sages while Naruto walked a few steps behind them as even at his age he knew that he couldn't stand near the Royals.
As they reentered the room Naruto saw the two kids walk over to what he assumed to be their mother, Iroh and their father also stood off to one side together however neither looked nor talked to each other and even Naruto could feel the tension between the came to a stop in the centre of the Throne room, his heart began to pound in his ears as he kneeled down and awaited the Azulons decision.
"Boy, I should have you killed for your insolence today. I should strip the skin from your bones. However you have shown me something incredibly interesting, you have garnered the attention of both of my sons. And as such I shall do you a favour" the man paused, taking in a deep breath. "You shall be taken to the island of the rising sun where you shall be trained by the captain of the Phoenix legion, until you either die or become strong enough to best the and only then shall I assign you to one of my Sons. Now leave my sight and prepare yourself"
Naruto stiffened at first but he stood and bowed to the fire lord, slowly walking backwards to the grand doors of the throne room where Iroh and the other men were waiting. Between Iroh and his brother stood a tall powerful man wearing bright red and gold gilded armour, over his shoulder laid a blade handle. The man had a short cropped black beard and a buzz cut.
Iroh saw him and smiled, "welcome Naruto despite the outcome, this is the best with my training and the infamous training of the Captain here you will grow up to be a fine man and warrior, remember to take care of yourself and don't forget your studies for intelligence can make you as strong as any master bender" Naruto nodded and smiled slightly as he turned to face the captain and Ozai.
"I will be watching your career with great interest, do not disappoint me" after he said this Ozai turned and left Azula waving to Naruto as she left with her parents. Iroh gave Naruto a final hug, turned and walked toward the exit of the balcony leaving Naruto and Captain alone.
"Boy these next years will either forge you or break you, i do not care if you are dying you will succeed" with that the man placed his helmet on "you will refer to me as lord captain and nothing else, now let us be on our way." He started to walk down the steps toward the Harbour where another ship awaited them.
Little did anyone know, they would create the greatest Monster since the days of the first Fire Lord, one who could shift the Earth and embody the sun.
One that would stop at nothing to protect those close to it, and would bring the Avatar himself to ruin.