Chapter 4

Sokka stared at the two fish huddled around each other. The Ocean Spirit returned to the Oasis and disappeared into the pond, leaving Aang on the grass. Zuko soon arrived to find the Avatar unconscious, with Katara and Sokka at his side, as well as his uncle. Soon after, Aang woke up. Zuko and Iroh decided to leave, but were interrupted when Zhao ran into the oasis with a scared look on his face.

- Someone please hide me! - he almost shouted, surprising everyone. It seemed that he was literally afraid for his life.

At this moment, everyone saw only a blur, and suddenly the man in the cloak was behind Zhao with his jian.

"Admiral Zhao, for your incompetence and blatant stupidity you will die," he said in an official voice. Before anyone could stop him, he plunged his jian into Zhao's neck. When he tried to pull it out, it got stuck. He tried to free it, but instead the sword broke in half. "Damn it, not this," he muttered, looking at the destroyed half in his hand. When Zhao's body fell, he threw it too.

Aang watched this entire scene in horror.

- Why did you do that? He was defenseless and scared. You didn't have to kill him! - he exclaimed angrily, a furious expression appeared on his face. He might not love Zhao, but he would never kill him, especially when he was in such a state.

The man said nothing in response. He simply walked forward as if he was going to grab Aang. But his path was blocked by Sokka with a boomerang at the ready.

"Move, boy," he told him. Sokka just shook his head. "Move," he repeated, adding harshness to his voice.

- Listen, buddy, I had a bad day. The Northern Water Tribe was invaded, the moon spirit was killed, and the girl I liked gave her life to become the new moon spirit. So excuse me if I'm not going to just go ahead and let you take one of my friends, okay? - Sokka asked in a half-sarcastic, half-serious tone.

The man was silent for a second, and then laughed.

"I can respect that," he finally said. He raised his eyes slightly into the air. - What do you think? - he asked no one in particular. Although there was no answer, he bowed his head slightly as if he had heard it.

He turned to leave when Iroh said:

- Wait a minute.

He looked back at him.

- What do you need, old man?

Iroh, completely unfazed by his rudeness, chuckled.

"It's good to see you again, Naruto."

For a moment nothing happened. The man then sighed in resignation.

"Iroh," he greeted, lowering his hood.

Zuko's eyes widened as he stared at the blonde. Iroh became serious.

- Naruto, why are you here? - he asked. He knew who the blond served, and also knew that he would not have come to the North Pole alone unless he had a good reason.

- Why do you think I'm here? - Naruto asked in response. He would have thought it was an obvious thing.

His eyes widened in surprise.

- She sent you here? - He would never have thought that she could do such a thing. But then again, he hadn't seen her for a while.

The blonde nodded.

"She understands the need for balance." "He may have had a hand in it, but the end result was still the same."

Iroh laughed.

"Two years ago, she wouldn't have cared if they killed the moon spirit, as long as they conquered the Northern Water Tribe." "It was truly amazing how much she had changed."

- You can say that I influenced her.

Zuko finally understood.

"Wait, you don't mean..." he started to say, but stopped when Naruto just nodded once. He just looked at him in bewilderment.

- Hey, baby, what's your name? Naruto asked Sokka, turning his attention back to the tribe member.

"My name is not kid," Sokka told him indignantly. - This is Sokka from the Southern Water Tribe.

"Well, Sokka, it will be interesting to have you on board," Naruto told him. - Just try to keep him on a short leash from now on, huh? - he asked, pointing his eyes at Aang. What he said confused the tribesman.

But before he could ask what he meant, the blonde turned to leave again. He walked away, leaving Zhao's corpse behind, and was already halfway out the door when the Avatar landed in front of him.

-You didn't answer my question, why did you kill him?! - Aang demanded, pointing to Zhao's body. -You don't care about human life?

Naruto looked at the Avatar, who was shaking in righteous anger.

- Is this coming from you? - he asked with icy eyes. "You, a coward who has shirked his duty and a murderer, can you really say something like that?"

Aang tensed.

- I'm not a coward or a murderer!

"But you are, boy," he almost spat out the last word. - When you were told that you were the Avatar, instead of taking a step forward, you ran away and hid for a hundred years while this war was going on. With these actions you betrayed your own people.

Aang hesitated a bit. These words were very close to him. What the blond said was true, he actually ran away. But he didn't know what it was like then, what it was like to be betrayed by monks.

- I'm not a killer.

Naruto grinned as if he had trapped the Avatar.

- So you're the last airbender just by chance? - Aang took a step back, as if he had been slapped. and the blond took a step forward. But he didn't say anything else or even try to attack. He simply walked past the Avatar as if he was unimportant.

Aang fell to the ground as the question was repeated over and over again. Memories of what he had done kept resurfacing in his mind. Suddenly he saw how the Fire Nation had destroyed his people and why he couldn't do anything about it. He felt Katara and Sokka next to him. They were talking, but he couldn't hear the words.

While the Avatar's friends tried to make sure he was okay, Zuko and Iroh took the chance to leave the Oasis, as well as the Northwater Tribe.

(Location: Capital of the Fire Country)

Azula walked purposefully into her room. Her father gave her a task that she had to complete. She began to get ready, making sure she took everything she needed.

"So what did the Royal Flame Asshole want you to do?" - asked a voice from the shadows near the wall. It would have surprised and/or horrified anyone else, but Azula had been living with him for two years now, so she was used to him.

"That's Fire Lord Ozai for you, Naruto," she said to her bodyguard, who came out of the shadows. Naruto has grown over the past three years. He lost the remainder of his baby fat, giving him a more mature appearance. His hair had grown out a bit, giving him a wild look, and he had a lot of muscle on his body. All in all, Naruto turned into the kind of person that girls noticed whenever he passed by. Add in his politeness and manners, and he had groupies everywhere he went (which he didn't appreciate).

But these were only girls. Azula's father and her bodyguard didn't make eye contact often and didn't see eye to eye on many things. Due to Naruto's unique position, he was given a seat on the war council despite being an ordinary soldier, which also irritated Ozai beyond words. What irritated the Fire Lord even more was that during the war council, Naruto often contradicted him when the action plan for the front was decided. He would offer his solution or come up with his own plan. His plan made it possible to save people's lives and at the same time conquer territory in the Earthly Kingdom. Because of his plans, the soldiers loved and respected him, while the officers took Ozai's example and treated him with contempt. He simply told them that he didn't want to lose anyone else (having lost many people during the war).

"You say fire, I say flambé," Naruto replied with a grin.

She chuckled irritably.

- Why are you still doing this? she asked, meaning that he was speaking from the shadows. He did this to her the first couple of months they were together.

"An old habit," Naruto replied with a shrug. He did this to: A: heighten her senses and develop her sense of danger (he would throw things at her if she didn't find him quickly enough) and B: scare her into becoming lighter.

She looked at his jian.

- This is new? She asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

He frowned in irritation.

- Yes, new. Took it at some point during the week I spent coming back here. - There was something strange about him. Every time he had a jian, sooner or later it would break in some way (he was also sure that there was a fact about how long a particular jian would last and how it would be destroyed). But he didn't let his irritation linger, becoming serious as he turned his attention to her.

-What did he want you to do?

- The Fire Lord wants me to track down and capture my uncle and Zuzu.

He nodded.

"I'll go get the rest of my equipment," Naruto said turning to the door.

Azula stopped him.

- Naruto, why did you agree to go to the North Pole? I only told you what I thought Zhao would do, and I could have been wrong, but you went anyway. Why? "She knew that what Zhao almost managed to do would be a disaster. But somehow that wasn't the only reason her bodyguard was willing to go to the North Pole.

Naruto looked back at her.

"I went to stop Zhao from doing something stupid, but I had a different reason for this than you," he said mysteriously.

- Naruto? - she called. - You won't leave me alone, will you? - she asked with slight fear in her voice. She hated how weak she sounded at that moment. She knew something was happening to her, but she didn't know what exactly. She was still cunning and cruel, but there were times when she thought that everyone would leave her and she would be left alone, unwanted and unloved. This thought scared Azula beyond belief. So she asked Naruto. He had been with her for two years, was her friend and a bit of a teacher. So she was afraid that he would actually leave her.

He approached her again. Before she could protest, he hugged her.

"I told you this before," he told her, his voice soothing. "I will always be there for you, even when you don't need or want me." I vowed to protect you, no matter the cost. I am your servant, your protector and your friend. Remember this, Azula, and you will never be alone.

Azula smiled weakly. When she pulled away from the hug, she became normal again.

"Weren't you going to go get your gear?" - she asked.

Naruto laughed.

- Ok, I will go.

- One more thing, Naruto. Have you seen my uncle and Zuzu in the Northern Water Tribe?

He stopped at the door.

"Yes, I did, although I suspect they have already left, I also met someone interesting," he replied, looking at her again.

Azula looked at him.

- Who was that?

- The one who managed to occupy the same position as me without even knowing about it. - Although he used the word "position", he did not mean guarding Azula (he considered it a job).

- I assume you're not talking about the Avatar?

At the mention of him, his expression darkened.

- No, not about him. About someone else, much more interesting.

- And what is so special about this boy? - asked Azula.

He smiled mysteriously.

- He's not a Mage. - He left the room, leaving Azula to think about his task and how to complete it. A plan was already forming in her head.