A Boy with Sun-kissed Hair

Year 94 AG

Royal Palace Gardens, Fire Nation Capital.

A young Azula was bored. Very much so, in fact. She was tired of watching her dimwitted brother, Zuko, miserably practicing his terrible excuse of firebending near the large water fountain.

As much as she enjoyed watching her idiotic brother struggle with the basics, Azula couldn't escape the bottomless boredom that plagued her mind. Beside her were Mai and Ty Lee, resting under the shade of an apple tree in the Royal Palace Garden.

No guards were there to watch over the kids. Azula didn't need such annoyances. One word from her was enough for them to back off.

Ty Lee blew a strand of hair from her face and groaned, "Ugh, I am so bored!"

"Welcome to my world," Mai replied in bored monotone. She bit into an apple while stealing a few glances at the young prince.

Ty Lee thought for a moment before her eyes lit up in eureka, "Ooh, how about we do some cartwheels?" She gleefully asked.

Azula rolled her eyes, "No, I am not going to subject myself in doing those stupid acrobat exercises with you again."

The last time Azula did cartwheels with Ty Lee, she landed flat on her face in humiliation while Ty Lee gracefully spun around the garden. Azula felt envious that Ty Lee was performing better than her, so she pushed Ty Lee to the ground.

She never liked when anybody was doing better than her. Besides, it got her a good laugh to see Ty Lee helplessly fall over.

"They're not stupid," Ty Lee crossed her arms and pouted. "They're fun! Look!"

Ty Lee leapt from the ground and performed various acrobatic maneuvers with incredible ease. She then landed back on her feet and raised both arms in the air with a slight pose to signify the end of her performance.

"Wow, Ty Lee," Azula slowly clapped sarcastically. "Those were some really amazing circus tricks."

Mai couldn't help but giggle. She tried to hide it behind the sleeve of her noble garment.

"Perhaps, I can ask my father to write a letter of recommendation to the Fire Nation circus to let you join," Azula sneered. "I'm sure you'll feel right at home."

Mai burst out in laughter while Ty Lee's face quickly turned red from embarrassment. Azula smirked at her reddened face. Oh, how she loved to push people's buttons. It was practically her favorite pastime besides training.

Ty Lee stomped her foot on the ground, "Ugh, you guys are so mean!"

Azula simply waved her off, "Oh, don't be so mad, Ty Lee. It was only a joke."

"Hmph," Ty Lee turned her head away. "Well that joke WASN'T funny."

"Anyways," Azula got up from the ground and dusted herself off. "How about we play a little game?"

Ty Lee's eyes suddenly sparkled. Her anger quickly dissipating as if it wasn't there to begin with.

"Ooh, what kind of game?" Ty Lee asked with excitement in her voice.

Unlike Ty Lee, Mai narrowed her obsidian eyes in suspicion, "What are you planning this time, Azula?"

Azula grew a mischievous smile on her face as she sauntered around the apple tree with her hands clasped behind her back.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mai," Azula suddenly stopped in front of her.

"Don't give me that, Azula. You had Zuko shove me into the pond just last week."

"Oh, come on, Mai. That incident with Zuzu was only a one time thing."

"Like I would believe that."

"You're being paranoid," Azula brushed her bangs behind her ear. "l only want to play a simple game of tag."

Ty Lee clasped her hands together, "Tag? I love tag!"

"See Mai?" Azula pointed her thumb at Ty Lee. "Ty Lee wants to play, too."

"I am not playing," Mai crossed her arms.

"Oh, please, Mai?" Ty Lee looked at her with large puppy dog eyes. "It'll be fun!"

Suddenly, a voice hidden above the tree spoke out, "Can I join you guys?"

The three girls screamed in fright at the voice of the sudden intruder. Zuko had to stop practicing his firebending stances to see what's all the commotion about.

A young boy with hair that seemed blessed by the sun itself popped his head out from the thick foliage of the apple tree. His piercing, cerulean eyes glanced down at the trio of girls as he showered them with a wide grin.

Azula stared up at the boy in awe; she had never seen anyone with such unique features in her life. His sun-kissed hair and deep blue eyes were all so strange to her.

'Are those whiskers?' Azula thought to herself. What was he? Some weird half breed human that escaped from his cage?

The boy's whiskers made him look untamed, and Azula felt slightly drawn to his wild appearance. He reminded her of a fox for some odd reason.

'Why am I thinking of such pathetic thoughts about him?' Azula reprimanded herself. Never in her life would she think about such useless things.

If her two friends noticed anything weird about her, she would surely be at the center of their ridicule. The boy flipped down from the tree and landed perfectly on his toes.

"Sorry for scarin' you guys," The blonde boy laughed. "What's up?"

Ty Lee smiled at the full appearance of the intruder who stood slightly taller than all of them. She had a huge thing for cute boys, and the one before her struck a full ten on her Cute-O-Meter.

However, Mai felt apprehensive at the young intruder. How he got into the Royal Garden was beyond her. Either way, she wasn't a big fan of random strangers suddenly popping up like that.

Zuko saw the blonde intruder and immediately rushed towards the girls to stand protectively in front of them.

"Who are you?" The young prince glared at the boy apprehensively. "How did you get inside The Royal Garden?

The boy slammed his thumb over his heart, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, most awesome badass in the world. Remember it!"

Ty Lee couldn't help but giggle at his silly, yet cute introduction. On the other hand, Azula simply smirked to herself. As unusual and crude the Uzumaki is, he was rather interesting. Perhaps, learning more about this strange fellow is in order.

"Well, If you don't get out of here, I'm going to call the guards," The young prince threatened Naruto.

"Actually," Azula tapped her older brother on the shoulder. "I don't think that would be necessary, Zuzu."

Azula walked towards Naruto and looked him up-and-down like she was judging him, "Azula, princess of the Fire Nation. It's a pleasure to meet a quaint stranger like yourself."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Hey, I'm not that weird, dattebayo."

"And this is Mai and Ty Lee" Azula pointed at the the two girls respectively. Ty Lee winked at Naruto while Mai nodded her head at him in acknowledgment.

"That dum-dum over there is my brother, Zuko," Azula impassively said.

"Hey, I told you to quit calling me that!" Zuko exclaimed with clenched fists.

Azula ignored Zuko, "I'm also curious as to how you got into our garden."

"Oh, I uh... just kinda walked in here," Naruto replied honestly.

"You...walked in here?" Azula raised an eyebrow. "You expect me to believe that?"

"Well, it's true, though." Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"And how did the guards not arrest you?" Azula asked.

"Maybe he was just so cute!" Ty Lee squeezed Naruto into a big hug. She rubbed her face against Naruto's whiskered cheek with glee.

Azula suddenly felt irritated at Ty Lee's overly affectionate gesture towards the whiskered boy, "Ty Lee, that's enough." Azula demanded.

"Oh, is someone getting a little jealous?" Ty Lee squeezed Naruto into a tighter hug. Her cedar brown eyes showed a mischievous glint in them as she faced Azula.

Azula snorted, "Hardly. I'm only worried about your lack of personal space with our new friend."

"Actually, I don't really mind, to be honest," Naruto scratched his cheek.

Ty Lee stuck her tongue out at Azula in clear signs of victory.

Azula's eye twitched slightly, "Hmph, as if I care."

Zuko butted into the conversation, "Why are you here in the first place, Naruto?"

To Zuko's knowledge, only the royal family and government officials are allowed be in the palace. To simply walk in here would be nigh impossible since their home was heavily guarded day and night.

"Pervy sage and I were invited here by the fire lord," Naruto answered.

"Is that your relative or something?" Mai asked in slight confusion.

"Uh, sort of," Naruto thought for a moment. "He's kinda like my godfather."

"Why would my grandfather invite you guys?" Zuko asked.

"Beats me."

Azula hummed in thought. She may not care for the political climate of the Fire Nation, but she knew the names of most of the major political heads here. However, she never recalled a man with such a strange title. Perhaps, it was a nickname given by Naruto. But, for her grandfather to personally invite the man known as 'Pervy Sage' to their palace, he must be important.

Upon closer inspection, Naruto doesn't appear to be noble at all. He was garbed in a black attire with orange stripes fitted for commoners outside of the capital city.

His clothes weren't that of typical Fire Nation colors besides the black. Naruto wore a black headband with a fire nation insignia around his forehead.

Well, that proved his affiliation to the fire nation to some degree. Azula could never be too careful with outsiders, lest she would be caught off guard in a sudden assassination attempt.

But he was here, so he has to be noble, right? Yet, Azula never seen a boy like him in all of the gathering of nobles for events and festivities that she'd went to over the years. Maybe he lived in one of the colonies under the rule of the Fire Nation.

There was something about him that Azula couldn't quite put her finger on. She could feel it in him, yet she couldn't quite grasp what it was.

Naruto was an enigma.

'I could test out his combat prowess,' Azula thought to herself with a hint of excitement. What better way to get to know someone other than a test of their abilities?

Azula smiled maliciously at Naruto, "Since you decided to join us, let's play a fun game of tag."

"Sounds awesome, Azula!" Naruto grinned.

"Perfect."