This is my attempt at a crossover between Naruto and Avatar: The last Air Bender. How would things be different if Azula ended up in Konoha and lived alongside Naruto and gave him Training. Would Azula's cold and calculating personality change Naruto, or would he change her? As always, I do not own Naruto or Avatar: The last Air Bender, nor do I own any of the characters. I also make no money or profit what so ever from this work of Fan Fiction.

SPIRALING FLAMES CHAPTER ONE

The sound of lightning thundered through the underground cavern of old Ba Sing Se, drawing everyone's attention. It took only a few seconds for the occupants of the large cavern to realize what had happened. Princess Azula had struck Aang with lighting, while he entering the Avatar state, causing Aang to cry out in pain along with the voices of all the previous Avatars.

Azula watched the scene with a feeling of triumph, as the Avatars' pained cries rang out, like music to her ears. If what she had learned from Admiral Zhao's journals was true, then killing the Avatar while he was in the Avatar State would permanently end the cycle of rebirth. She could only imagine how much easier it would be to conquer the other nations when they learned that no Avatar would be coming to save them, now, or ever. She watched on as she expected the Avatar's tattoos and eyes to stop glowing and to seeing him fall to the ground, but this is not what happened.

Aang was in terrible pain. So much pain that he wasn't capable of thinking rationally, for that matter, neither were the spirits of the previous Avatars who were attached to his mind and body at the moment. The only two things that the incarnations of the Avatar were aware of, were that they were in excruciating pain and that someone had tried to end the cycle of rebirth. Because they were unable to work with rational thought, they relied on instinct, and instinct told them to get away from the source of the pain, and punish the one who had caused it.

Now it was a commonly know fact that the Avatar could send his mind and spirit into the spirit realm to commune with the beings who lived there. It is less commonly known that in the Avatar State the Avatar could open a way into the spirit world and physically enter it, much like the more powerful spirits could physically enter the mortal world. This is what the combined minds of all the Avatars, running on instinct as they were, decided to do. They were intent on either escaping to the spirit world and thereby escaping the pain, or throwing the one who caused the pain into the swirling mass of energy that made the portal, trapping them there as punishment. The second option seemed far more appealing than the first did.

"You would try to end the Avatar cycle? You would throw away the worlds chance at balance? For this you shall be locked in the Spirit world forever!" the voices of the Avatars all but screamed at Azula.

With that statement, the combined spirits of all the Avatars used their remaining strength the incarnations of the Avatar sent a blast of air that carried Azula into the swirling portal, before giving up the last of their strength and falling to the ground.

Aang woke up sometime later, vaguely aware that he was on Appa's back, flying through the sky.

"Aang" Katara's voice called out. He turned to see her holding him closely. "I was so worried" she cried. "We thought Azula had killed you!"

"That's right, she tried to end the Avatar cycle" he thought. "But she wont be able to hurt anyone now. She's trapped in the spirit world." This was Aang's last thought before he drifted back into unconsciousness, feeling glad that at least Azula couldn't cause anymore harm to the world.

What Aang didn't realize was that in the pain induced panic that had caused him and the spirits of the previous Avatars to open the portal to the spirit world, they had opened it incorrectly. Even in the Avatar State opening a portal to the spirit world, so that one could enter it physically took a lot of concentration, something that both Aang and all his previous incarnations, had been lacking at the time. Running on their instincts, they had indeed opened a portal to another world, but it wasn't the spirit world.

Shinji sat alone at the campfire he and his companions had made and he was bored, so very bored. He had been left to guard the camp site while his companions went and scouted out the surrounding area. Shinji didn't even really understand why they had made their camp here, he knew he wasn't very smart, but it seemed to him that it was really stupid for a group of bandits to camped only a mile outside of Konohagakure. He knew the boss had said that that ninja would never think to find bandits so close to their village, and that as long as they kept a low profile they could steal from the people who were traveling to Konoha. After all anyone who could afford to hire shinobi, had to be loaded with money. Shinji still hadn't been convinced, but when the boss said to do something, it was a good idea to do it.

While Shinji was thinking on this, a swirling mass of blue energy appeared a little ways away from him, drawing his attention. Out of this mass of energy appeared a girl, dressed in an odd from of armor. She seemed young, maybe thirteen to fifteen years old. As a bandit, Shinji had learned how to spot tell tale signs of someone that came from money. Expensive clothing, or armor, well kept hair, clean faces or make up. All these things marked people who had wealth, and this girl had all the signs.

He smirked to himself, maybe camping so close Konoha was a good idea after all. He stood up, drew his sword and stared to walk towards the girl that had fallen on the ground.

Azula discreetly opened her eyes. She had heard the Avatars last statement. So she was trapped in the spirit world then? Looking around, but careful not move enough to alert anything in the area that she was awake, she took in her surroundings. She had read books on the spirit world, and all the descriptions of the place she had read, mentioned nothing like where she was. The spirit world she had read of, was covered in forested swamps, and surrounded by mist at all times, the area she was currently in was forested, but not with swamp trees but tall leafy trees, the like of which she had never seen before. The ground beneath her was not the kind that would be found in a swamp, but covered in soft green grass, nor was the area covered in mist, but instead was graced by clear air and blue skies.

Was she not in the spirit world? Had she been sent someplace else? Or was this simply a part of the spirit world that had not been mentioned in the books and scrolls she had read? She would have to find an answer to these questions soon if she was to survive. It was then that she noticed the sound of footsteps coming towards her. She tensed her muscles, ready to jump up and defend herself or flee if necessary. If this was indeed the spirit world she would have no access to her bending. If it wasn't the spirit world she would have access, but she would still have to find out where she was.

A sword came into her line of sight, pointed right at her. Holding the sword was a bald man with gruff appearance. He was wearing an odd looking robe, not unlike those that commoners wore in the Fire Nation, but still distinctly different. She waited for the man to make the first move, but she prepared to knock the sword away and jump up at a moments notice.

"Hey there, little hime-chan" the bald man spoke, smirking at Azula. "I don't know how you got here, but if you want to leave in one piece you'll do what I say. Now how about you hand over any valuables you got on you and well talk about how your going to leave after that."

When she heard the mans demand, Azula had to resist the urge to smirk. Spirits had no need of valuables or worldly objects, which meant she was almost certainly not in the spirit world but someplace else. The man had said "Hime-chan." before, a term Azula didn't recognize, but the other words were easy enough for her to understand. Now to see if her bending worked.

Azula turned over and used her arms to push off the ground, spinning so that one of her legs kicked the sword out of the mans grip. As she landed she was pleased to see that a stream of fire had indeed shot out from her foot. She had her bending. Now to find out where she was. Rushing the surprised man, she grabbed him and moving a leg behind one of his, threw him the ground. Summoning some of her blue flames into her right hand she held it close to the man's face.

"Now then. It's a good thing we apparently speak the same language because I have some questions, and your going to answer them. If you don't answer, or I think your lying Ill burn you to ashes as slowly as I can."

The man audibly gulped "look I'll answer what ever you want just please don't burn me!"

Azula smirked, she was happy that shed found a coward. They were always so easy to get information out of.

"whether I burn you or not, all depends on whether your truthful, and I'll know if your lying. Trust me." Azula said. "Now then, first question, where am I? Did that portal land me in the spirit world or someplace else?"

"I don't know anything about spirit worlds or portals, lady, that's Shinobi stuff. But I can tell you that your in the Hi no Kuni, about a mile or so outside of Konohagakure." her frightened captive stammered out.

Azula felt relief now that she was truly able to confirm that she wasn't in the spirit world. But these places he mentioned, Hi no Kuni, Konohagakure, these were places she had never heard of. But he had said something else that caught her attention.

"explain what you mean by 'Shinobi stuff'" she commanded.

"well I don't know anything about spirits or their worlds, but that portal thing you came out of looked like ninjutsu, and the only people who can use ninjutsu are Shinobi."

Storing that information away for later she continued her interrogation. " Now then lets move on to the other things I want to know."

Azula spent the next hour and a half learning everything from the man. She learned that the village she was near, Konoha, was a village of shinobi. She also learned that she could hire shinobi for any number of jobs, including perhaps sending her home. She also came to learn that she was on a continent called the elemental nations, something she found rather ironic considering where she came from. She learned that that she was in one of the five great nations. She had also leaned that Hi no Kuni meant Land of Fire, another thing she found ironic.

Now that she had learned all she could from the man she figured that she could just kill him and be on her way. Hopefully his camp had a map, if not she would head to the ninja village he had mentioned was nearby. As she was about to put this plan into action she felt someone put a metal blade to her throat. Cursing herself for allowing herself to be so distracted that someone had been able to sneak up on her.

"Now how about you let our friend her go little girl, and maybe we'll let you live." said a voice in her ear.

Shinji breathed a sigh of relief when the girl let him go. He was happy that his friends had come back to the campsite when they did, or he would be dead, he just knew it.

Uzumaki Naruto was having the time of his life. He was currently exploring the forests outside of Konoha, and he had to admit the forests were pretty awesome. Here he could play among the trees and under brush and get away from the glares and whispers that followed him throughout Konoha. Normally the ten year old boy wouldn't have been allowed out of the village, but he had come up with a way to distract the two chunin guards at the gate. He had set up a smoke bomb trap and set it off where the two guards sat. The guards caught off guard by the attack had been momentarily incapacitated, and Naruto took the chance to run past them. Once the two chunin had recovered they had incorrectly assumed that someone had used the distraction was set off so someone could sneak into the village rather than out of it, one of the chunin had immediately gone to inform the Hokage of the incident. This in turn allowed Naruto to explore the forest for quite a while before he would be found and returned to the village.

The blond boy wasn't aware of just how far he had gotten from the village, but it seemed like he had been running and jumping around forever, and despite his endless energy he was a little tired. He decided it was almost time to head back to the village. Maybe he could play some pranks on the residents who were meaner to him than others. Also if he went back now, Hokage-Jiji might not notice that he was gone and he wouldn't get scolded by the old man.

Turning around Naruto was about to start walking towards the village when he heard a bunch of men laughing. Curious he headed in the direction of the noise and came upon a clearing in the woods. There he saw a peculiar sight, Ten or so men surrounded a young dark haired girl in strange looking red and gold armor. The men were all holding swords and and had the girl trapped on the ground and were talking amongst themselves and laughing at her situation. The girl herself looked furious, and if looks if looks could kill all the men would be rotting corpses by now.

Now as Naruto saw all this, his mind processed the information in a way that made sense the the ten year old. These men were all armed and the girl was not. And although he couldn't hear what they were saying, they were acting like the bullies that picked on him at the academy. He also noticed that the girl was really pretty, and the men seemed to be rather on the ugly side. Adding all this together, Naruto's mind came to the conclusion that this situation was rather like the ones Hokage-Jiji read to him occasionally. These stories always had a beautiful girl, usually a princess, trapped by ugly bad guys, and they would bully her until the hero came to save her, then she and the hero would get a married and live happily together from then on. Naruto noticed that no hero was there to save her, which must mean that he was supposed to the hero. And if Naruto was the hero he would have to save the girl. He didn't really know if he could beat ten adult men, but he had to try. Even if he wasn't supposed to be a hero, he hated bullies. He drew upon his training he had received from the ninja academy, and thought back on his taijustu lessons. He could surprise these men and get the advantage in the fight. So taking a deep breath he rushed into the clearing with a cry of "Ill save you princess!"

Azula was desperately trying to figure out a way to get out of the situation she was in. She was trapped on the ground by these men and unable to move, unless she wanted to be skewered by several swords. She didn't have the element of surprise like she did last time, which meant she couldn't easily get into a fighting position, and even if she could she wouldn't be able to disarm all the men before they were able to attack her. She was forced to listen as they discussed among themselves what they should do with her. She was under no delusions that simply because she was fourteen years old and they were adults that she would be spared the indignity that many women endured when captured. She knew she had to get out of this situation somehow lest she forced by these common brutes to do something would eternally shame her.

Just as she was beginning to think it was hopeless, and that there was no way out, she heard some one cry out "Ill save you princess!"

As she heard that exclamation, she saw all the men look towards the source of the yell, right as a yellow and black blur flew into one of the men holding her down. The man who had been hit was knocked to ground as a young boy in a black T-shirt and white shorts threw his foot into the man's stomach. As the boy landed on top of the downed man he finished up with a stomp on the mans face, effectively knocking the man out.

Every one in the clearing stared at the boy, wondering what had just happened. Because they had no way of knowing that the boy was a shinobi in training, they were astounded that a child had been able knock out a fully grown man.

The boy turned to face the rest of the bandits and with a determined look that most would find cute, rather than intimidating, said "Leave her alone or I'll beat you all up!"

This declaration broke the trance that bandits had been in, making them all laugh loudly at the boy. The leader of the group spoke up.

"Oh that's funny brat. You may have knocked out that idiot Shinji, but you only managed to do that because you had the element of surprise. You don't have that anymore, and were all armed, and you're not. Besides it's nine against one. Tell you what, because I like your attitude, I'll let you go. So run home to your parents and we won't cut you into pieces. "

Once the leader had said this, he and the rest of the bandits broke out into another bout of laughter. Azula, however, noticed that they were all too distracted by the boys presence and little declaration to hold her down with the threat of their weapons now. Never being one to miss an opportunity, Azula sprang up and blasted the closest man with her blue flames, burning him from his upper body to his face. The mans cry of pain brought the attention of the other bandits to her, but by the time they began to react, she was already sending another fireball into the faces of two more bandits, via her fists.

Forgetting about the boy, the six bandits that were left standing advanced on Azula. She noticed they were being extremely cautious in their advance, that showed that had learned to fear her abilities already. Good. Enemies that were fearful often were easy to manipulate into making mistakes. Sending a fire imbued kick to a man on her left, making him yelp in fear and jump back to avoid the attack, Azula dropped to the ground and swept leg around to send flames at the feet of three more attackers on her right. As the sweeping flames hit their feet and legs they screamed and fell the ground, as Azula rose back up to a standing position and threw a fireball at the man on her right, that had dodged her previous attack. This time the man was unable to avoid the blue fire as it hit him square in the chest setting his clothes ablaze. The man screamed out in fear and pain and fell to the ground and started to roll around trying to extinguish the blue fire that had covered his body. Azula jumped backwards in order to dodge a sword strike by one of the men who had yet to be burned. The man, surprised that his strike had missed, leaned to far into his attack throwing him off balance. Azula took advantage of this and sent kick into his back sending the man to the ground. Turning to the men whose legs had been burned, she saw them struggling to get up, she sent another sweeping flame attack with foot at them, this time aimed at their faces. The attack hit and the men, and killed them almost immediately. Azula looked back at the man she had sent to the ground with a kick, to seem him also trying to get up. The bandit had enough time to look upwards right as Azula sent a ball of blue fire into his face, killing him as well. Turning to the last bandit, the leader, she idly wondered why he hadn't attacked her yet. She got her answer as she saw him trying to pry off the blond child, who had apparently jumped onto the man's back. She watched half way amused as the boy rained punches down on the mans face from behind. The bandit finally succeeded in dislodging the boy from this back and was about to slash the child with his sword, when a knife suddenly lodged self in the back of his neck, killing him.

As the bandit dropped to the ground four figures appeared in the clearing. Each of them were wearing the same outfit, which consisted of gray armor, black pants and animal theme masks. There was something about this group of people that sent Azula on edge. She could tell they were dangerous, very much so. She got the distinct impression that if she made a wrong move they could kill her easily.

One of the masked individuals stepped forward, a woman if the body figure and long purple hair were anything to go by.

The woman spoke in a voice that was only slightly muted by the mask "By order of the Hokage, of Konohagakure, lay down any arms you have and surrender yourself to us. We will take you into custody and you will be questioned as to what happened here,"

Azula tensed, ready to flee or engage in another fight if necessary, when the child spoke up.

"Ah! ANBU-san, please don't treat her like that. She helped me! She was being attacked by these bullies and I wanted to help her so I attacked the bad men. But they were to strong for me, but she saved me!"

The masked woman looked at the boy. "I see. Never the less Uzumaki-san we shall have to take her with us. Even if we don't take her into custody, Hokage-sama will want to speak to her.

Azula narrowed her eyes in thought. She had learned from her little interrogation session with the bandit earlier, that the Hokage was the man who ruled Konoha, the shinobi village. She also had learned that if anyone was able to get her back to her home, it would be a shinobi. Perhaps she could turn this to her advantage and negotiate a way to get home with this Hokage.

Speaking up she said. "I will offer no resistance, and will go with you willingly to meet this the Hokage, as long as I am not harmed. I am not your enemy."

The masked woman nodded and said "Very well. We will escort you and Uzumaki-san back to the Hokage." Turning to one of the other masked individuals she said "Check the others for survivors. If there are any, bring them to Ibiki. We need to know what they were doing so close to the village." The masked man nodded and began looking over the bodies, before picking up the one that the golden haired child had knocked unconscious.

The woman turned back to Azula "I will warn you now, try anything funny, and it will be the last thing you ever do." The tone of voice the woman spoke in left no room for doubt in Azula's mind that they would make good on that threat.

"Don't worry." She replied. "I'll be on my best behavior, I promise."

"Good. Now if you and Uzumaki-san will follow us please." she waited for the boy and Azula to get closer to her, before she signaled her two team mates who had their hands free of captives to surround Azula and the boy. Once they had done so they headed off into the forest.

The group had led them to a high walled settlement, Konohagakure, Azula assumed. They were led through a rather large wooden gate and down a street full of foot traffic and shops. Azula didn't have much time to observer what the shops were selling or take in any of the sights, as their escort ushered them towards a tower in the center of the village. Once they had reached the tower, they were led inside and up a flight of stairs, to a large set of doors. The masked woman opened up the doors and let their charges inside.

Inside the office was a large desk and behind it sat an aged man, wearing red and white robes. He also wore a odd shaped hat, that was completely red, save for the white cloth that hung down in the back and a small white triangle in the front. In the white space was a form of writing that Azula was unfamiliar with. She also noticed that he had a pipe in his mouth.

"Hokage-sama, I have brought Uzumaki-san as requested, also this woman was with him." spoke the masked woman.

"I see. Thank you Neko-san." the old man said.

Before anything else could be said, however, the young boy rushed up to the old man and began excitedly jumping around.

"Hokage-jiji, guess what, guess what? I was exploring in the woods and I came across this girl in the woods. She being bullied by some bad men, and she was really pretty, so I knew she had to be a princess like in the stories you tell me, so I rushed in to save her!" At this point the boy looked a little sheepish "I was only able to knock one of them out though. The others were going to gang up on me, but then the princess saved me, like I save her! She started doing all these cool Taijutsu moves and she shot blue fire out of her fists and feet!" the boy exclaimed. "She was like fwoosh and boom and wham!" He had started trying to imitate her bending moves, making liberal use of childish sound effects when there was supposed to be fire involved.

The Hokage chuckled. "I see Naruto, I see. Why don't you go wait out side my office with Neko-san here while I talk to the 'Princess'."

The boy, now named Naruto Azula knew, nodded and happily trotted out the office doors with the masked woman before the doors were shut.

Once the doors were shut and the two were alone, the old mans face lost its happy expression and was replaced by a serious, calculating look.

Azula had to resist the urge to gasp. Here was a man who was dangerous, here was someone who had experience in battle, and politics and gave off an air of power unlike anyone she had ever met her father and the Avatar included. This was someone who could and would kill her without a second thought if he deemed it necessary.

"Now then, girl, your going to tell me what your name is, where you come from and why you were so close to our village."

Azula gulped. She would have to be careful, she got the impression that it would be a very bad idea to lie to this man, however, perhaps telling him the truth would also be a bad idea as it seemed rather unbelievable. So if the truth and lying were both out, a half truth might work.

"Azula, and I was traveling in the area, to visit this village actually. On my way here I was ambushed by a group of bandits, when the boy jumped in and saved me by distracting them. As for where I came from, lets just say it's a far away land."

Barely had Azula finished her sentence when she felt an enormous pressure hit her. It felt like she was being threatened by a god or a demon. The pressure itself made her want to throw up and kill herself just to rid of the horrible feeling. But just as suddenly as the feeling appeared it was gone, still leaving her gasping for air, as she had momentarily forgotten how to breathe.

The Hokage spoke in tone that was filled with danger. "You must not have much experience with shinobi, girl. There is an old saying 'The only people who can keep secrets in shinobi village, are the shinobi that live there.' This saying has a surprising amount of truth. You gave me, at best, a half truth just now. Do so again and I will have you tortured for the answers I want. What you just felt was my killing intent. It easily incapacitated you, so don't think that I would be incapable of capturing you and taking you to the torture and interrogation department. Now lets try this again. What is your name, where do you come from and why were you so close to our village?"

Faced the prospect of torture, and the overwhelming power of the man before her she had no choice but to tell the truth.

"I suspect you won't believe me but, I'll tell you. It all began when I was fighting an enemy of my country. A man called the Avatar."

So she began the tale of the events that had happened recently. By the end of her story she expected the old shinobi leader to have sent off to be tortured for telling such an unbelievable tale. But the old man stood up and walked over to the window in the room. Looking out a the village he said "Your right, normally I would never believe such preposterous story, were it not for two things. First is that you already saw I'm more than capable of capturing you and telling if you are lying or not. The second reason why I believe you is that, fortunately for you, this is not the first time this has happened."

Azula's eyes widened. This had happened before? How? When? As if sensing her thoughts the Hokage spoke again.

"About three hundred years ago, before this village was formed, one of our founding clans encountered a young man who appeared in our world much like you did. I don't know the details of how he got here, but I know that his name was Ling, I believe the records say he was from someplace called the Fire Nation."

Azula couldn't believe her ears. Ling? Fire Nation? That was too much to be a coincidence. One of the greatest mysteries of the Fire Nation was the disappearance of Crown Prince Ling some centuries back. He had vanished, seemingly into thin air, one day and had never been found. It was common for young archeologists, or budding historians to go in search the Lost Prince's body or tomb. It was also just as common for con men to say that they had found evidence of his whereabouts. If Ling had indeed landed in this world like she had, it would explain why no one was able to find him, despite all the efforts of the royal family at the time. It also meant that either he had not looked for, or never found a way to get back to their world.

Once again the old man seemed to sense her thoughts and spoke.

"You said that you were hoping to come to us to find a way back to your world. Well I'm sorry to say that, currently at least, we have no Jutsu that could send you back to your world. Now, that doesn't mean we wont be able to create one in the near future, especially if I make it a priority to do so. However, their would be the matter of payment to contend with, seeing as you have no money in our currency, let alone enough to pay for such high ranking job."

"I'm the princess of the Fire Nation. Once I get home I could pay you then, and establish a trade rout between our two worlds and thereby making and exchange rate then." Azula suggested. The idea sounded far fetched even to her, but she was desperate to get home, she had a war to win and a throne to gain.

"That would not be possible. Even if we sent you home, we have no guarantee that you would keep your word. For all I know you could simply cut the connection between our worlds somehow and we would be left without compensation for all of our work."

"This is a warrior village right? That's what you shinobi normally do right, fight wars for people and your countries lord? I'm a skilled fighter, I could fight for you and go on missions as compensation." She suggested

The Hokage inhaled from his pipe before blowing out a puff of smoke. "That won't work either I'm afraid. As a rule we do not allow outside forces to fight for us as mercenaries, no matter the situation. We have allied ninja villages to help us in battle, but mercenaries have no guarantee of loyalty to our village, and they take missions away form our own shinobi that need the pay and experience."

Azula felt her frustration growing. "Then what if I seek help from another of the villages?"

At this question the Hokage smirked around his pipe, making Azula frown. "I'm sorry, but without any money, and no way of gaining enough quickly or effectively, the other villages wouldn't even give you a second thought. Moreover they wouldn't believe your story like I do, as they do not have access to the clan records of the events of three hundred years ago. For that matter they're far less trusting than Konohagakure, and wouldn't hesitate to kill or lock you away for telling what they would believe to be a lie. So I'm afraid that we are your only option."

Azula felt her frown deepen. This man wanted something, she was sure of it. He had purposely let her expend all her options for payment, before making it clear that only he and his village could or would help her.

"Very well, Lord Hokage, what do you want from me then. What can I offer you in return for your help?" She all but spat out.

The Hokage chuckled. "Direct eh? Very well I'll be direct then as well. I mentioned before that a man came from your world. The clan that found him was the Senju clan, one of our founding clans. Normally clans are allowed to keep records and histories and techniques too themselves, save for those that would prove dangerous to the village as a whole. In this case, however, our First leader the Shodaime Hokage Hashirama Senju, felt it important that all the Hokage that came after him would have access to this particular record in case it ever happened again. He also felt it important, because it also pertained to one of our closest allies at the time." He stated.

He paused to look at Azula, seeing her take in the information and wait to see what it had to do with her situation. Seeing her remain silent he continued on.

"You see when Ling was discovered by the Senju, he was taken in by them and lived among them. He eventually married a member of the clan, and he and his family formed their own clan, known as the Uzumaki. That was over tree centuries ago, long before the founding of our village. The Uzumaki clan became famous for their power over fuuinjutsu, the art of sealing. With it they could do anything, paralyze their enemies, set powerful and complicated traps, even able to seal away being of great and unimaginable power. How ever this fame, brought with it great fear. The enemies of the Uzumaki clan banded together and destroyed them several decades ago, despite our alliance with the clan, our village was unable to do anything to help. We were able to protect the granddaughter of the clan head, who was living here in Konoha though. She died almost eleven years ago, after giving birth to a son. The boy you met earlier today."

Azula's eyes narrowed. She could already see where this was going. " let me guess." she said. "you want me to look after the boy?"

"That is correct. You see due to certain circumstances of his birth, he is often hated and mistreated by the people of this village, and eve though he is an orphan he had to removed from the orphanage and placed in his own apartment. Because the same circumstances no one has been willing, or able to adopt him."

"I see." Azula replied. "Since you want me to look after the boy I feel I should know what these 'circumstances' are then." It was only fair she felt that she know what she was getting into if she agreed to this deal.

The Hokage's face took on a look of absolute severity and authority. "Know this, girl, what I'm about to tell you is a secret of the highest order. If you speak of it to anyone who is younger than twenty, or tell the boy, or tell anyone from outside the village this information, I will know. And I will have you imprisoned, and tortured to death over quite a long period of time. Do you understand?"

Azula nodded to show that she did. She didn't trust her voice as she was struck a the same fear that had gripped her earlier.

"Very well." said the Hokage. "On the night he was born, a great demon, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, or Nine tailed fox, attacked our village. The man who was my successor, the Yondaime Hokage, battled the beast but was unable to kill it. So instead he sealed it away within Naruto. His last wish, was for the boy to be seen as a hero, however, the fear of the beast and the sorrow of the losses we suffered that night have led most of the population to see Naruto as a monster. So the vast majority of the population shun him, and often ignore his very existence, I have no doubt they would try to hurt him, had I not made the penalty for harming him, death. Make no mistake though. The boy is no demon, he is a human as you or I. He is not the first person to have a demon held in them, nor will he be the last."

Azula, was utterly stunned. This was quite a lot to take in. That hyperactive, foolish, and overly happy boy she had met in the woods held a demon inside of him. Had she been told this in any other situation, by anyone else other than this terrifying man she would have laughed at such a ridiculous story.

Still half in shock she looked at the aged shinobi leader and and asked him the first question she thought of.

"Can he use the demons power?"

The Hokage considered his next words carefully "He may have access to the Kyuubi's power later on in life. Most Jinchuuriki, like him are used as super soldiers, army killers and the such. They are trained to use the power of the demons within themselves, to increase their strength, speed, and healing to god like proportions. I do not plan to have Naruto trained to use his demons power for some time though. I want him to have as normal a childhood as he can, or at least whats left of it." he said.

"I understand." Azula said, filing away the information for later. "So if I agree to look after him and live with him, you will help me get home?"

If you agree, I will have my best fuuinjutsu, and ninjutsu masters search for a way to get you home. They wont be able to work on it at all times, but I will see to it that they do devote quite a bit of time to the task."

Azula thought about it, she had no idea what this new world was like, other than what she had already seen. She did know, however, that she was woefully unequipped to survive in it at the moment.

This deal was not, what she had in mind for a type of payment, nor was it particularly appealing, but it was a way to get her home. It wasn't like she had many options at this point either.

"very well I accept. I will look after the boy for as long as I am here and your men look for a way to get me home."

The Hokage smiled. "Oh good. I was afraid your were going to refuse. I would have had to have had you either killed, or a memory eraser seal placed on you had you refused. We cant have someone wander our world if they know our greatest secrets and hold no loyalty to us."

this statement made Azula glad that she had indeed accepted, but it also made her rather angry.

"Now then," the Hokage said. "I'll list you as a citizen of Konohagakure, under the name of Uzumaki Azula. I'll move you and Naruto into a larger house than the one he's currently living in. I will also see to it that all your living expenses are taken care of until he becomes a ninja or you are able to find a paying job. Your a bit young, but I recommend that you join the police force. It's made up of shinobi and civilians, and as of recent years they are in desperate need of man power. That combined with a recommendation from me, and I have no doubt that they would accept you." Turning to look at one of the corners of the room the Hokage said "Kuma-san, would you be so kind as to have Neko-san and Naruto-kun come in?

The previously empty corner shimmered for a moment before revealing a man in a hooded black cloak and wearing a bear mask. The man walked over to the door and called the two people in. He then returned to the corner he had been standing in and made a few signs with his hands, and vanished once more.

As Naruto, and the masked woman called Neko entered the room Naruto called out. "Well Hokage-jiji, what do you think of Hime-oneesan? She's pretty cool right?"

Azula raised an eyebrow. This was the second time someone had called her 'hime'. First it was the bandit she had met after being thrown into this world and now this boy.

The Hokage chuckled at the boys enthusiasm. "Your right Naruto, she is quite the interesting person. Your also right to call her a princess. She is the daughter of a king from a distant land."

The boy went wide eyed " Really? I knew it! Someone as awesome and pretty as her had to be a princess! It's just like the stories you used to tell me!"

Azula smirked at the boys praise. She thought it odd that their were some people in her own land that didn't recognize her as the heir to the throne, unless she told them or she was surrounded by her attendants, yet this boy from another world thought it obvious that she was royalty. Perhaps it was the royal ancestry, however distant, that flowed through his own veins that called to him and alerted him to her station. It also explained the boys talent for fighting, that he had momentarily displayed in the forest when he knocked out one of the bandits. It was only fitting that a descendent of the Lost Prince, inherit the innate skill that all the royal family seemed to possess, even her older brother Zuko for all his failings possessed some natural fighting talent.

Azula was brought away from her thoughts as the Hokage spoke again.

"You're right Naruto, but not only is she a princess, she is also a very distant cousin of yours."

If it was possible the boy's look of awe and wonderment only increased. "You mean she is my family?" Naruto all but shouted.

"That's right, Naruto. But she isn't closely related to you but she does share a common ancestor with you. Now why don't you be polite and show her some manners and properly introduce yourself." the Hokage said.

Naruto nodded eagerly before running up to Azula. He gave a small bow, before saying "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. It's very nice to meet you."

Azula gave the Hokage a side ways glance, to see him nod at her. Turning her attention back to the golden blond boy, she gave her own small bow. "My name is Azula Uzumaki" she said, remembering the name that the Hokage had given her. "It's very nice to meet you as well Naruto."

Naruto's smile widened when she said this. He was incredibly happy that not only had he saved a princess, but she was also his distant family.

"Now Naruto, I have one more surprise for you." Said the Hokage, calling their attention back to him. "I'm moving you into a larger apartment now, and Young Azula is going to look after you, and live with you for the foreseeable future.

Naruto's eyes widened once again, and he looked like he had just found paradise. "No way!" He exclaimed. "This is going to awesome!"

"I'm glad you think so Naruto" the Hokage said. Looking towards Neko he said "Neko would you be so kind as lead young Naruto and Azula here back to his apartment, and help them pack his possessions. Afterward I would like you to take them to this address" he ordered handing the masked woman a piece of paper with the proper address written on it. He also handed her a note. " Give this note to the landlord, it explains all he needs to know about the situation and will let him know this is being done by my orders."

Taking the pieces of paper, Neko nodded. "Of course Hokage-sama" turning to Azula and Naruto who was bouncing around Azula excitedly she said "please follow me, Naruto-san, Uzumaki-sama." with that she walked out of the office with both Azula and Naruto in tow.

As the Hokage watched them go he wondered if he had made the right decision by telling Azula about Naruto's secret and making her agree to live with the boy. One thing was certain though, with a proud girl like Azula, and a hyperactive boy like Naruto living together things in the village were going to get a bit more interesting.

So there you go, the first chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please review, and let me know what you think, and what improvements I can make.