"Name?"
"I go by Lee ma'am."
"Purpose for entry into the city?"
"I'm a refuge looking for work ma'am."
The woman behind the desk at the ticket kiosk narrowed her eyes at the boy before her. He was dressed in a green poncho style shirt common for laborers, with a long sleeve tan shirt underneath that covered his arms. For pants he wore basic tan trousers and on his feet he wore a pair of basic farmer's boots. His hair was done simply, black and spiky on the top with the sides cut off almost entirely. The only thing about him of major notice were his eyes.
"You ever been told you have some interesting eyes, boy?
The boy blinked his ruby gems, giving a sheepish smile that caused his whole face to scrunch up as he scratched the back of his head,"Yeah, I get 'em from my mother's side of the family. People always talked about 'em back home."
The woman continued to stare at the boy for a few moments, and the ruby eyed boy couldn't help but focus on the giant mole situated on the woman's cheek. The woman's firm gaze finally relented, and she stamped the ticket on her desk, sliding across to the boy,"Welcome to Ba Sing Se."
Naruto nodded to the woman, giving a quick thanks before taking the ticket and quickly walking into the waiting rail car into the city, sitting at the far end of the car. A mere 2 days ago, the Fire Nations plan to drill its way into Ba Sing Se had failed. The next day Naruto had set off with the plan of entering Ba Sing Se. His plan was simple, and it was so far working beautifully.
Steal the clothes and supplies of some random schmuck on his way to the city: check.
Secure entrance into Ba Sing Se: check.
And as the car pulled to a stop and the doors opened, releasing the refugee and businessmen alike into the Ba Sing Se, Naruto considered his next move as he regarded the green roofs of the impenetrable city with slight disdain. He was to embed himself into the city and wait for Azula's signal to regroup.
Naruto walked through the streets of the slum sector of the city, wondering how exactly he was going to survive in the hostile environment. He couldn't really steal to get by, he didn't want to attract the attention of the Dai Li. He had seen a pair of them in the station on the way in, and while he was fairly confident he could take down more than a few, he didn't need a whole army of them coming down upon him. That pretty much left him with two options: be a beggar, or get a job. As much as Naruto detested the idea of helping build the economy of an enemy state, he hated the idea of begging even more.
Naruto quickly found a bulletin board plastered with jobs from assistant zoo keeper to cabbage peddler, but what finally caught his eye was a job working as a waiter in a small tea shop.
Taking the flyer off the board, Naruto quickly flagged down a passerby for directions before taking off.
LB
Elsewhere in the city, Team Avatar sat bored in their appointed house, disappointed in how their time in Ba Sing Se had proceeded thus far. They had spent a day being paraded around the city by Joo Dee, shown every part of the city while simultaneously being kept away from the palace, the only place they really wanted to go. When the tour was finally over, they had attempted to ask around the city to see what they could find out about Appa's whereabouts, but everywhere they had gone with Joo Dee, people had turned them away in fear. They had finally been able to ask their neighbor across the street, who had recently moved into the upscale inner circle of the city, some questions. He had offered them a simple warning: beware of the Dai Li.
And so they sat, waiting for an opportunity to either talk to the Earth King or find Appa.
Katara rushed into the room, waving a scroll around. "I've got it! I know how we're going to see the Earth King!" She unrolled the scroll,"The Earth King is having a party tonight for his pet bear!"
Aang raised a finger to interject,"Don't you mean platypus bear?"
"No, it just says pet bear."
Sokka spoke up,"Surely you mean his pet skunk bear."
"Armadillo bear?"Toph offered.
"Gopher bear?" Supplied Aang.
Katara reread the scroll,"It just says bear."
A brief silence ensued, which was broken by Toph,"This place, is weird."
"The palace will be packed, we can sneak in with the crowd!"
"Won't work." Katara looked over to Toph, who was leaning back on her cushion.
"Why not?"
"Well no offense to you simple country folk, but a real society crowd would spot you a mile away. You've got no manners,"Toph pointed out while reaching for a pastry from the giant platter she had situated to her right.
Katara took minor offense,"Excuse me? You aren't exactly madam lady fingers yourself you know."
Toph waved her half eaten puff at the older girl,"Hey, I learned proper society behavior and chose to leave it. You never learned it, and frankly it's a little too late."
Sokka, from his place sitting on the floor, perked up,"Aha! But you learned it, you could teach us!"
"Yeah, I'm already mastering every element, how hard can manners be?" Standing up, Aang rapped himself in a piece of hanging fabric,"Good evening Mr. Sokka Water Tribe, Katarra Water Tribe, Lord Momo of the Momo dynasty, your Momoness."
Affecting a "fancy" accent and wrapping himself in a similar piece of fabric, Sokka made his best imitation of a noble's face,"Avatar Aang how you do go on."
The two boys began bowing to each other, until finally they slammed their skulls together and threw themselves to the floor.
"Katara, you might be able to pass, but you guys," she pointed at the now sitting Sokka and Aang,"would be lucky to pass as busboys."
"But I feel so fancy!"
Naruto had finally found the tea house. It was small, with a simple wooden sign and green lanterns hanging outside in front of it.
Naruto inhaled briefly, and exhaled, before pushing open the door to the restaurant. The room was empty, and Naruto was about to call out, when a voice came from the back of the cafe style shop.
"Welcome to my tea shop, how can I be of assistance?" The man was a tad shorter than Naruto with a long thin mustache, a chin beard, and his hair done in a long braid. Over his hair he wore a small hat, and for attire he wore some semi formal clothing befitting of his status as the owner and manager of the tea shop.
Naruto gave the man his best smile, no matter how force it was. He held up the flyer,"I was actually looking for work?"
The man looked contemplative,"I actually hired two new guys yesterday," Naruto felt his inner anger ignite, preparing to go off on the man for leaving the flyer up despite no longer offering the position,"but what the heck. Do you have any experience brewing tea?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head, lying easily,"Not a lot, but I used to brew tea for my uncle when I worked on his farm. I'm sure I can pick it up in no time."
In reality, Naruto had learned the basics of tea brewing with Ko, who had hailed tea as one of the keys to his success.
"A sound soul lies between a sound mind and a sound body, and what soothes the mind or the body quite like tea? Now, brew me another cup, this tastes like dirt."
Naruto chuckled internally,'Looks like it is going to come in handy, thanks old man.'
The shop owner smiled,"Well in that case, when can you get started?"
"I can be here when the sun rises tomorrow."
"Great! Swing back by then! I'll have an apron for you, but if you could wear some more formal attire it'd be perfect."
Naruto thought about what he had on him. There hadn't been a lot of clothing on the traveler he had robbed, but there had been a nice sum of money, it was likely that the man was planning on starting a new life in Ba Sing Se and had packed just the essentials. It would be a tight squeeze with having to pay for housing now, but he was sure he could pull it off.
Naruto offered the man a hand for a handshake, which the man quickly took,"You've got yourself a deal."
Naruto left the tea shop, and went to the nearest clothing store. The tea shop was located in the middle ring area of Ba Sing Se, meaning the store was mostly items for the average working class joe, but they also had some access to some of the higher grade stuff available in the city.
Upon walking in the store, Naruto was greeted by a young woman, probably in her 20s by the looks of her, wearing a long green qipao style dress with gold accents. She wore minimal make up, just enough to accent her natural looks. Her hair was done in a simple bun.
"Hello, welcome to the finest clothing store in all the Earth Kingdom, how can I help you?" Her smile almost caused heat to rise to Naruto's cheeks.
"Hi, I'm looking for some formal clothing. I'm starting work at the tea shop nearby tomorrow and I don't really have the clothing for it."
"Ah, okay! Right this way!"
Naruto allowed the young woman to pull him through the store, putting a few shirts and a pair of ants in his hands, as well as a pair of nice loafer style shoes. He eventually found himself cashing out, but noticed a stand full of small wallets by the check out desk.
One of them was a small green pouch with legs and eyeballs made to look like a frog.
"Gamma-chan is happy when he's fat and full."
Naruto stared at the wallet for a moment. It would be a stupid purchase, buying a toad shaped wallet, especially at his age. He also wouldn't get much use of it, considering he didn't plan to keep anything from his Ba Sing Se expedition once he left. Regardless, he added the wallet to his pile.
As she used her quill to mark out the various prices of the items he was purchasing, the girl behind the desk stopped and stared at the wallet for a moment, looking up to Naruto, who did his best to look anywhere but at the women behind the desk. Letting out a brief "tee-hee", the woman added it to the sub total.
The woman quickly read out the price Naruto was to pay, and Naruto quickly fished out the money. After paying, he folded the clothing into his pack and took the receipt, placing it in his pocket.
"Make sure you check your receipt when you get back to wherever you're staying!"
Naruto nodded, bidding the woman farewell before heading out to find a place to stay.
LB
By this point, Aang had already not only exposed all of Team Avatar as intruders to the Earth King's party, but also attempted to charge the king himself in hopes of talking to the man. Instead of getting the audience with the king he desired, however,Aang had gotten the entirety of Team Avatar lead into a furnace room with Long Feng, the head of the Dai Li.
The man sat facing team Avatar, his face stoic, his braided hair sitting behind them and his stern gaze examining each of them.
"We have information that could defeat the Fire Nation! We have to speak to the Earth King, now!" Sokka tried to rationalize.
"The Earth King has no time to deal with petty political squabbles or the day to day minutia of military activities," Long Feng replied.
"Please,"Aang begged,"this could be the most important thing he's ever heard."
"What's most important to his majesty,"Long Feng locked eyes with Aang,"is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. All his duties relate to issuing decrees on such matters. It is my job to oversee the rest of the city's resources, including the military."
"So the king is just a figurehead,"Katara realized.
"He's your puppet," Toph accuse the man.
"Oh no, no! His majesty is an icon, a god to his can't sully his hands with the hourly changes of an endless war."
Sokka stepped forward, a pleading tone in his voice,"But we found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation defenseless. You could lead an invas-"
"Enough,"the head of the Dai Li stood up, folding his hands behind his back,"I don't want to hear your ridiculous plan. It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned within its walls. Constant news of an escalating war will throw the citizens into a state of panic. Our economy would be in ruin, our peaceful way of life, our traditions would disappear. In silencing talk of conflict, Ba Sing Se remains a peaceful, orderly utopia. The last one on earth."
"You can't keep the truth from all these people, they have to know," said Katara.
Aang stepped forward,"I'll tell them! I'll make sure everyone knows."
"Until now you've been seen as honored guests."The head of the Dai Li stepped forward making Aang aware of just how short he was in comparison,"But from now on you will be watched every moment by Dai Li agents. If you mention the war to anyone you will be expelled from this city."
The older man turned, looking into the green fire that lit the furnace behind him,"I understand you've been looking for your bison. It would be quite a shame if you were unable to complete your quest. Now Joo Dee will show you home."
A woman walked into the room, facing Team Avatar.
"What happened to Joo Dee?"Katara asked, concerned and confused by the appearance of this new woman. She looked similar, that much could be agreed upon by anyone having seen the two, but it was clear she was not the same Joo Dee that had ushered them through the city a mere day before.
"I'm Joo Dee, I'll be your host as long as you're in this beautiful city." The woman bowed her head, an almost painfully large smile still plastered on her face.
LB
The next morning, Zuko and Iroh arrived for their third day of work. Opening the front door of the shop a few minutes before the shop would normally open, they were greeted by the shops owner.
"Good morning! I hope you rested well! Just wanted to let you know there is a new employee working with you all!" He turned, calling over his shoulder to the back of the shop,"Lee! Come here for a second and meet Mushi and the other Lee!"
Whatever Zuko and Iroh had been expecting, they hadn't expect to find a ruby eyed teen dressed in a dark green shirt and brown pants with dark brown shoes.
In a moment, Naruto locked eyes with Zuko, and then Iroh, and then Zuko again, and Iroh once more. A minor tension filled the air, though the owner didn't seem to notice,"Well don't just stand and stare, introduce yourselves!"
Naruto glanced at the man, before smirking and giving the two his most dazzling manufactured smile, extending a hand forward,"Lee, it's nice to meet you both. Hope we can work well together."
Zuko looked at the hand like with disgust, but the interaction was quickly saved by Iroh, who grasped Naruto's hand with both hands and gave it a vigorous shake,"A polite young man such as yourself, I'm sure we'll get along like tea leaves in water. I am Mushi, this here is my nephew, Lee. Forgive him, he tends to be a little cold to strangers at first. Lee," he discreetly nudged Zuko with an elbow,"don't be rude, say hello!"
Zuko took Naruto's extended hand,"Nice to meet you." His tone suggested it wasn't a nice meeting at all.
The owner, seeing as everyone was introduced, smiled,"Okay then, the shelves in the back are stocked, I'm going to go run some errands. Mushi, you're in charge of the shop while I'm gone." Iroh nodded vigorously as the man walked by him and out of the tea shop.
As soon as the owner was gone, Zuko shoved Naruto against the wall, his hands wrapped firmly around his collar,"What are you doing here!?"
Naruto glared at him, sneering,"I don't think I like your tone, traitor."
"What did you call me you-"
"Enough!" Iroh pulled Zuko off of Naruto, standing between them two and fixing them both with a stern gaze,"We are in hostile territory. It would be best if we kept hostilities to a minimum and discussed this later, in private. The walls have ears."
Both Naruto and Zuko having military training understood that this meant that they were being watched, and that exposing themselves as Fire Nation would be much more harmful than beneficial.
With set jaws, the boys looked at each other, nodding begrudgingly but still staring each other down. Iroh sighed. It would seem that he was now going to be in charge of managing two of the most notorious tempers in fire nation history.
The day went rather smoothly, all things considered, with Iroh being responsible for the majority of the actual brewing, and Naruto and Zuko doing the got a pretty good groove going, until late that evening.
The tea shop wasn't too full, but the increased traffic that had started ever since Iroh began brewing the tea. A group of city guards sat at a table off to the left side, talking in somewhat hushed tones as they drank their tea.
It was peaceful, with Naruto and Zuko standing out on the floor, each holding a tray. Then the door to the tea shop was kicked in by a young man, probably a little younger than Zuko and Naruto, with wild black hair and clothing that seemed to be a hodgepodge of scraps of armor and nonmatching clothing. While Naruto had no idea who he was or why the hell he kicked the door in, Zuko recognized him as pointed an accusatory finger at Naruto and Zuko, the finger also pointing to Iroh who came out from the back upon hearing a disturbance.
"Those men,"he began,"are Fire Benders!" He then drew his weapons, twin hook swords with extra dagger like blades attached to the bottom the hilt, and a guard that completely covered his fingers.
A stunned silence overtook the room as Naruto and Zuko gave each other a quick side eye. Seeing no one make any moves to do anything, Jet further extrapolated,"I know they're fire benders, I saw the old man heating his tea!"
One of the guards, confused by how this statement proved anything, replied,"He works in a tea shop."
"I'm telling you, they're fire benders." Jet proclaimed, pointing his swords at the trio.
"Drop the swords boy,"the guards who had been enjoying a rather peaceful night out stood up, ready to intervene,"nice and easy."
Jet moved forward menacingly, looking specifically at Iroh who he had isolated as the weakest link. "You'll have to defend yourself. Go on, show them what you can do?"
Zuko stepped forward, quickly relieving one of the guards of his dual dao swords,"You want a show, I'll give you a show."
Naruto sat his tray of tea on a nearby table and dropped into a loose fighting stance,"Look, I don't know who you are or why you're doing this, but this is your last chance to walk away from this."
His answer was Jet tightening his grip on his swords, and Naruto had to suppress the urge to smirk. It'd been a while since he had a good fight, and with how his week had been going, this was a perfect way to let off some steam.
Zuko made the first move, dragging a table in front of him and kicking it at Jet, who used his swords to reduce it to splinters. Naruto used this opportunity to rush in, sending a snap-kick forward that Jet caught with his guard. Jet swung his right sword with attempt of taking Naruto's head off, but Naruto ducked underneath it, rolling to Jet's side. Zuko pushed forward, using his dao to bring down an overhead strike that forced Jet to bring both of his swords together to block. Naruto, who had at this point made it behind the boy, kicked out his back leg causing him to drop to a knee. Jet dropped his guard while pivoting on to his other knee to once again swing for Naruto's neck. Naruto leaned back, avoiding the blade entirely. Jet, realizing he now was completely open for attack from both sides, dropped to his back and rolled out of the way, saving him from a kick from Naruto and a sword swing from Zuko. Regathering himself, he quickly went on the offensive, using a single arm over hand swing to force Zuko to guard. Due to the nature of his weapon, Jet was able to hook onto Zuko's blade at the intersection between them. Using this leverage, Zuko dragged Zuko forward onto his hands and knees, rolling across his back, only to be met with a rising uppercut from Naruto that sent him staggering back.
Naruto, seeing his opponent was on the ropes, took three quick steps forward and, with a kick worthy of the Leonidas himself, sent Jet tumbling out the door and into the street.
Naruto and Zuko rushed outside, taking up stance in front of a recovering Jet. Jet, still not entirely comprehending that he was not going to win this fight, reengaged, quickly finding himself on the end of a double team.
"Please son, your confused! You don't know what you're doing!" Iroh tried to rationalize with Jet from the doorway of the tea shop, hoping still for a conclusion to this conflict that didn't end in someone dead on the ground.
By this point, a small crowd had formed in a circle around the 3 brawling boys. Out of the circle came 2 men in black and green uniforms with circular hats.
"Drop your weapons, and stand down!" The leading Dai Li agent ordered.
Zuko and Naruto stepped back and disengaged, though Zuko didn't drop the swords he had pilfered.
"Those two, probably all three, are fire benders! Arrest them!" Jet called.
"This poor boy is confused,"Iroh explained,"we are just simple refugees." His eyes wavered to Naruto,"All of us."
"That young hooligan trashed my shop and attacked my workers!" The irate voice of the tea shop owner came from the crowd.
The guard from which Zuko had liberated his weapons of choice spoke up,"It's true sir. We saw the whole thing. This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city."
Iroh blushed and lowered his head bashfully,"Ohoho, that's very sweet."
That was all the Dai Li needed to hear. Walking up behind Jet, the second agent ordered,"Come with us son."
Jet took a wild swing at the man, which was caught in the palm of the agent's stone glove. Jet's arms were quickly forced behind his back and cuffed.
Jet struggled as he was dragged away,"You don't understand they're Fire Nation. You have to believe me!"
The Dai Li quickly tossed Jet into a nearby cart and began to take him away.
After a moment the crowd started to disperse, and Zuko presented the handles of the dao swords back to the guard he had taken them from, who accepted them with a nod.
Turning back around, he was greeted by the sight of Naruto, with his eyes closed and a fist extended.
"What is this?"Zuko asked.
"Years ago, I learned that when you fight with someone, whether that means you were enemies or comrades, you learn about them, even if it's just a little." Naruto sighed,"Look, I don't like you, I probably never will at this point, and at the end of the day my loyalty is to the throne first. But for now, while we're stuck in this hellhole." Naruto extended his fist a little further,"I'll have your back if you have mine."
Zuko looked down at the fist, quickly looking back at Iroh. They were alone on the streets of Ba Sing Se, the owner of the tea shop having gone back in to bemoan the damages while the crowd had dispersed to go about their business for the night.
It was at that moment Zuko realized that in that day, in that singular day of working and fighting with Naruto, he had begun to understand just a bit more about the loyalty that filled the once blonde soldier. He also understood that Naruto was right, in a place like Ba Sing Se, the three of them were alone, three small flames in a forest.
"I don't trust you, and I don't like you, but right now, you're right."Zuko extended his fist out and bumped it against Naruto's,"I'll watch your back if you watch mine."
An image flashed briefly through Naruto's mind. It was him, but dressed in a strange black jacket with orange pants and black sandals. His face had three long marks on each cheek, and his face was scrunched in a wide smile that forced his eyes closed.
Standing next to him was a young man with black hair that hung over his face that looked extremely similar to a turtle duck's rear, covering an eye, wearing a grey jacket and black pants. He wore a minute smile on his face, one more of contentment than overwhelming joy.
The two each had an arm extended out, the alternate Naruto extending his left and the stranger extending his right, with their fist pointed towards each other, fist bumping in the middle.
Naruto blinked the image away, breaking the fist bump with Zuko. Iroh walked over to the boys, a smile on his face,"I'm glad to see you have made your peace. Animosity is not good for the soul. One thing remains to be discussed, however. Naruto," Iroh turned to the boy, his jovial expression replaced by one of seriousness,"why are you here in Ba Sing Se? And where is Azula?"
Naruto shrugged,"Would you believe me if I said that was classified?"
Alrighty, another one in the books. I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible considering the Ba Sing Se arc will likely have one if not two more chapters before it is totally wrapped up and in the books. I hope you all like this one, I haven't gotten any PMs regarding a beta however so if you are at all interested lemme know, I can only proofread so much considering what sounds right in my head might not be what is actually correct.
Also, friendly reminder to join the new discord! Link is in my bio. I think this story is probably going to get to at least 12 chapters, which would make it my longest story so far, and I'm already plotting options for the next one, which will probably be my YJxNaruto story to be honest.
In other news, by the time this goes up I've probably already started the production of the next chapter.
Kishi the goat,
Peace.
Ps: RIP Pop Smoke.