Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: I just want to thank everyone that reviewed the last chapter and everyone that added this story to their favorites and follows.

The skies were colored with golden hues and shades of orange as the sun lowered itself from the sky. It would have been a beautiful evening in Naruto's eyes if it were not for the fact she was standing on the deck of the Fire Navy Ship, surrounded by so many men and their weapons.

Almost all of the men wore some kind of mask with only a few men showing their face to her. They must be the top dogs. Her blue eyes took in their weary faces, noticing the tiredness and coldness in their eyes. She traded a cold place filled with warm people to be in a warm place filled with cold people.

Well maybe not all of them seemed cold.

There was an elderly man, who had amber eyes filled with so much warmth and curiosity. He looks almost weak. Naruto paused at the thought and recalled Kakashi-sensei words to her and the other members of her team. Look underneath the underneath. She chewed on her bottom lip and stared at the old man.

He might be stronger than he looked.

"You went out there to get the Avatar but you came back with a very pretty girl," the elderly man commented, taking another step forward. His amber eyes fixated on her blond hair, looking at it with a familiarity that made Naruto pause. Had they met before? She would definitely remember someone with such a strange eye color. He turned to Zuko. "You are finally acting like a boy your age."

The scarred teen, who stood right beside her, bristled at the man's words. His nostrils flared and there was so much tension in his shoulders that Naruto wouldn't have blink if he hit the old man. From in front of her, the soldiers glanced at each other before flickering their eyes at her.

"I didn't bring her because of her exotic looks, Uncle." Zuko growled. He glared at the soldiers before flickering his eyes at her. Naruto only tilted her head. Was she supposed to be happy? Should she be embarrassed? She didn't know. All she could do was shrug her shoulders. "I brought her in because we made a deal."

"A deal?" His uncle asked, raising an eyebrow. He tilted his head and stroked his greying beard as his amber eyes flickered to her. "And what type of deal did you make with her, Prince Zuko?"

Did he just say Prince? Naruto blinked and blinked as her mind tried to process what the old man had just said. Finally, when her mind finally caught up to what had just said, she swirled her body around and yelled. "You are a Prince? You?"

Zuko's eyebrow twitched and he balled his hands into a fist, nostrils flaring at her words. "And what does that mean? Of course I'm a Prince!"

"It means I can't believe an asshole like you is a Prince!" Naruto explained, throwing her hands up in the air. The other soldiers took a few steps backwards as the teen grinded his teeth at her. Weren't Princes supposed to be charming? Kind? Gentle? And all that bullshit Sasuke's mother would read to her and Sasuke when they had been kids.

"Do you know who you are talking to!" He roared. "You can't call me an asshole!"

"I can call you whatever I want!" Naruto snarled right back. She clenched her hands into a fist and tried to steady her trembling shoulders. "You are an asshole! You knew those civilians were terrified and threatened them with their lives! How does that make you a Prince!"

The boy bristled and clenched his jaws. "Do you believe that all Princes are like those stories? This is real life! And I'm not some charming Prince!"

"Stories are just stories but I thoughts Princes don't act like assholes in front of civilians!" Naruto grinded her teeth together and narrowed her eyes at the boy. Zuko did not even flinch at her words, only scowling even more. "I thought Princes knew how to control their temper and be kind! If anything, I'm certain you are going to be the most hated guy in the world."

"Do you know who I am!"

"Yeah, a pain in the ass." Naruto retorted. She clenched her hands into an even tighter fist as Zuko grinded his teeth together at her comment. It really would not surprise her if he wanted to punch her for the comment. One of these days, your mouth is going to get us into even bigger trouble. That had been Sakura-chan words.

Sasuke used to snort at those words.

She shook her head and flickered her eyes to the other soldiers. The men only coughed, looking away from her. Cowards. If they thought her words were funny then they should laugh. The bastard made a deal with her because he thought she would kill them. If Naruto were in their shoes, she would let him know it was funny.

The elderly man chuckled, only to cough when Zuko turned to him. Clearing his throat, the elderly man looked at her. His amber eyes stared at her blond hair before flickering to the Hitai-ate wrapped around her head. Amber eyes widened and Naruto felt a stirring of hope inside of her.

If this old man recognized her Hitai-ate, then maybe he knew about Konoha and maybe there was a chance she could go home.

"You don't come from any of the Four Nations, do you?" The old man asked, stopping right in front of her. The words hung in the air and Naruto paused. How did she go about this? She should be honest. Maybe he knew how she could go back home to Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan and Sasuke. But she made a deal with the Prince.

She had to honor the deal or else the Southern Water Tribe would have to deal with the action of her selfish choice.

"Does it matter? I made a deal with Mr. Arrogant Prince." Naruto answered, shrugging her shoulders and offering them a large smile. "And I honor my deals."

She would stick around until the war was over.

Either the Fire Nation would win and she would just free them or Aang would save these people. But either way, she was going to leave the Prince and his crew when she was certain the Water Tribe was fully protected.

"This will be your room."

Naruto bobbed her head as she flickered her eyes to the elderly man that she only came to know was called Iroh. In the one hour he had shown her the ship, she came to realize that the old man was probably one of the warmest people here. Almost everyone in this ship looked at her with such cold eyes. Only this old man looked at her with warm eyes.

"It's cozy." She offered the old man a smile as her blue eyes took in her small room. There was only a bed and a small bedside table but it was fine for her. She just needed a closet for her clothes and things were fine for her. Maybe she should also get some flowers too because those metal walls made it seem too cold.

Iroh hummed a small tune and shook his head. "This is the only room we have available, we weren't expecting a female to come and live here."

She nodded and looked at the flag of the Fire Nation. A part of her wanted to curl her lips into a frown but she stopped herself. As long as she stayed with them, she needed to pretend she was fine with this nation. This was probably going to be hard for her since Kakashi-sensei always told her that she wore her emotions on her sleeve.

But she was going to learn because the Southern Water Tribe needed her to act like this.

"I like it." She slipped her hands into her pockets and smiled even larger. The words coming out of her mouth weren't a lie. Being a shinobi meant she lived in the tents with Sakura-chan and that had been terrible experience for her. God, who knew Sakura-chan could snore? And her apartment in Konoha had been terrible when the Hokage gave it to her. But she made do with it.

It would not be hard for her to make this small room a home for her.

"When we go ashore, we can find some decorations that you can use to decorate the room." Iroh suggested lightly. He darted his eyes to the metal walls, grimacing slightly before looking back at her. Naruto only pressed her lips into a very thin line as her bright blue eyes took in the flag. "This isn't a room for a girl."

Naruto quirked her lips. "And what do you think does a room for a girl looks like?"

"It should be filled with nice decorations," the old man commented lightly. "Not filled with these terrible walls. If I had known that Zuko was going to bring a girl here then I would have tidied the place up."

The cheerfulness of his voice made Naruto pause. It was strange for her to have someone looked at her with this much warmth from the very beginning. It took most of the Southern Water Tribe weeks to look at her like this. She must be a spirit. That had been one of the whispers the woman would whisper to each other as she brought them their food.

With her golden hair, bright blue eyes and peach-coloured skin, Naruto understood why they believed she was from another plane.

"To be fair on him, I practically forced him to bring me with him." Cheerfulness leaked out of her tone as Naruto took a seat on the bed. She bounced slightly. Not too soft for her to sink but not to firm the bed wouldn't bounce. She chewed on her bottom lip, pushing it back and forth as the old man eyed her.

"I figured that out," Iroh chuckled and shook his head. "My nephew isn't the type to bring in a pretty girl for no reason even if she looks very exotic."

Naruto laughed. "For an old man, y'know how to flatter a girl with compliments."

The old man chuckled and shook his head. His eyes shifted to the side, amber eyes softening slightly as if something troubled him. Naruto only knitted her eyebrows. There was something about his eyes that made it seem like he was not really looking at her but at someone else. Tilting her head to the side, Naruto flickered her eyes to her left and then to her right.

Just like she thought, there was no one there.

"So what did you do to make my nephew decide to bring you along?" Iroh asked, tilting his head to the side.

The blonde hummed a small tune as a smile played on her lips. She rubbed the back of her neck, destroying any tension behind her neck as those amber eyes looked at her with curiosity. There was no point for her to lie to him. The soldiers would gossip about what she did, she knew she would do it if she had been in their shoes.

"I threatened to kill all of his men if he didn't leave," Naruto said, shrugging her shoulders. She schooled her expression, not willing to allow the man to know if she would actually go through with it or not. She straightened her shoulders, waiting for the elderly man to laugh and accuse her of being too weak to do it. "And he only agreed to leave if I agree to be his sparring partner."

The old man stroke his beard. "Why would you make a deal with my nephew? Looking at you, I can tell that you don't come from any of the Four Nations yet you still decide to intervene."

"The Southern Water Tribe gave me a home when I lost my way to home." Naruto admitted, looking away from the old man. She rubbed the back of her neck as those amber eyes continued to search her. "And I couldn't live with them without feeling some kind of bond with them, could I? Beside, they have no men to protect them so I did what their men would have done."

"They would have attacked, not make a deal like you did." Iroh stated. "Perhaps you are a lot more softer than you try to be."

Soft? That was not a word people would associate with her. Sure her arms and legs did not have the same scratches or any other indication she was a fighter, but that was the Kyuubi's fault. No matter how many times Naruto trained and trained, her hands could never become as rough as Sasuke or even Sakura-chan at times. I wish I have your genes! That had been Sakura-chan's words.

Her teammate would have never wanted the cause of her soft hands if she knew what was the price.

"What makes you think I'm soft?"

"You made a deal with Prince Zuko instead of just going through with your threat," Iroh pointed out. His amber eyes locked into her and for the first time since they met, Naruto could feel the power radiating from him. That stance in his body told her that he wasn't some fragile old man but a man to be feared like the Third Hokage. "If you were a cold-hearted killer then you wouldn't make a deal, but you somehow knew Zuko would agree to your terms."

Naruto chewed on her bottom lip as Iroh stared at her. His amber eyes questioned her about what made her think to make a deal with that angry Prince. She leaned her body to her right foot, flickering her eyes to the shut door before going back to the curious old man standing right in front of her. She let out a small sigh.

"Even though he was furious, the asshole kept his composure when he threw those flames." Naruto stared at the elderly man, who nodded his head. "If he avoids hurting civilians then he can't be a complete bastard. I mean he must have a heart somewhere down there, so I just decided to threaten his soldiers. I mean if he reacts like that to civilians then I can figure out what he does with his soldiers."

The old man let out a huge laugh and his amber eyes twinkled with mirth. Naruto only knitted her eyebrows, uncertain of what had been funny about her words. He did ask her how she knew Zuko would agree to her terms, didn't she? It wasn't like she gambled with these people lives. She could read people even if Sakura-chan thought she was blind to people's feelings.

Honestly how could she not learn how to read people with the life she lived.

"You are probably one of the few people, who can see the good in my nephew."

Naruto only knitted her eyebrows together as the old man strolled out of the room, leaving her alone to ponder over what the old man had just told her.

It had been hours since Naruto left the village and Katara still could not believe her friend was gone just like that. Every time she turned around, she expected to see the girl strolling through the village with a smile on her face as she patted the hairs of the little kids. But she wasn't there anymore. Her friend wasn't here because she made a deal.

It wasn't right.

Naruto should have never made that deal for them. Her friend did not know much about the world and still had no idea of what she had signed up for. Katara clenched her hands into a fist as her blue eyes fixated on the ocean that seemed to be mocking them. This was all their fault. If Naruto felt like they could take care of themselves, then she would have never gone.

"We have to get to that ship, Sokka!" Her brother did not seem to pay much attention, only picking up some items and putting it somewhere else. She clenched her jaws. Was this really the time for her brother to do this? Naruto had done what he always claimed to do if the Fire Nation came here. "Are you even listening Sokka? Naruto made a deal to protect this village and we are going to just abandon her! She doesn't know anything about the Fire Nation!"

"Katara, I—"

"She didn't just protect your village." Katara blinked and swirled her body around, blue eyes growing wide at the sight of Aang standing before them. He looked down on his feet as Sokka paused, dropping his items onto the icy ground. Silence hung around them as the boy patted his bison. "She also protected me and Appa."

Sokka eyed Aang. "What do you mean? And why are you here? Didn't I tell you to leave!"

"I was about to leave but then Naruto's words got to me," Aang admitted, closing his eyes. "And then your words came too about the Fire Nation. I'm not really sure but I think Naruto knew the truth about me because how else could she know to call me a coward?"

Katara knitted her eyebrows while Sokka looked at her with raised eyebrows. She bristled. That look in his eyes was all she needed to know that her brother believed because she was a girl, she would know what went through Naruto's mind. But Naruto was always so different from everyone. While the villagers prided their females to be soft-spoken and feminine, their friend just did what she wanted to do.

Her Gran-Gran would make a joke and say Naruto could have been an airbender with her behaviour.

"What do you mean?" Katara finally asked, clearing her throat. "What does Naruto know about you that you haven't told us?"

Aang hunched his shoulders but did not say a single word. His eyes only kept flickering from her to her brother, looking so hesitant and defeated that Katara could only knit her eyebrows. Her brother simply clenched his hands into a fist, eyebrows twitching at the lack of answer. She guessed her brother was going to explode soon. Even though Naruto and Sokka argued at times, they were friends.

If friends meant that Naruto kept messing with her brother.

"She must have known that I'm the Avatar."

Blue eyes widened at those words while Sokka blinked and blinked, jerking his head at the boy. They waited for a couple of seconds but the lack of smile on his face meant those words were true. Katara felt her legs wobbled as her mind processed those words. She was not really certain of what to feel. Happy? If Aang was the Avatar then he could defeat the Fire Nation and the whole war would be over. Upset? Because they wouldn't be in this situation if Aang had been out here.

Wait, if he was the Avatar then what was he doing here in the South Pole?

"Aang, if you are the Avatar then what were you doing here?"

"We can question the Avatar later, right now we need to go and save Naruto." Sokka declared, drawing their attention to him. He picked up his bag and gestured to the canoe. Several items were neatly packed up, stacked up to the corner and Katara only blinked. This whole time her older brother had been packing for the trip, not to go fishing for food. "Who knows what the Fire Nation is doing to her."

"You are really going to—"

"She shouldn't have done my job for me! I could have scared those bastards away if she hadn't kicked me out of the way!"

That was the beginning of their very first adventure.

A/N: I am sorry for the shortness of this chapter but the next chapter would be longer, I promise. What do you think of the interaction between Naruto and Zuko as well as the interaction between Naruto and Iroh? I hope you enjoyed the interactions between them.

Do you think Naruto shouldn't have called call Aang a coward in the previous chapter? And do you think Naruto was right to believe that there is some good in Zuko from the very beginning? Or do you think she took a big risk with what she did in the previous chapter?

Please do review and tell me what you think about this chapter.

STLHero