Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: I apologize for how long it took me to update but I've been busy for the past couple of months with exams and relatives visiting me. I want to thank everyone who reviewed and added this to their favorites and follows.

Naruko whistled at the sight of the Fire Nation naval yard. She had never seen so many tents in one place before and the ships that were lined up had to be one of the most advanced ships that she had ever seen before. Those ships made Zuko's ship looked so ancient and so tiny, which she knew it really wasn't.

She glanced at Zuko and Iroh, shaking her head at the angry scowl on Zuko's face and the relaxed look on Iroh's face. For some strange reason, it always surprised her to know that those two were related and that might be because of how different those two were but in a way, they complimented each other in that way.

"I want the repairs made as quickly as possible," Zuko snarled, staring at the pair of them with fury. "I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail."

"You won't lose his trail, the maximum you might stay might be a day or two. Not enough time for you to lose his trail, so keep a smile on your face and relax," Naruko said, smiling good-naturedly at him. "And if you don't smile and keep scowling, you'll get wrinkles. I doubt you want that."

"She's right," Iroh said, nodding his head. "Scowling won't do you any good and you won't lose the Avatar's…"

"Don't mention his name!" Zuko said, turning to his uncle and Naruko with anger. "Once word gets out that he's alive then every firebender will be out looking for him and I don't want anyone getting in the way."

"But no one will believe that he's alive," Naruko rubbed her chin as she said this. "Who would believe that someone like him would be alive? They might have hope but I don't think that they will accept the fact that he's truly alive- if anything they'll hate him."

Iroh and Zuko blinked their eyes at her and Naruko shrugged her shoulder at the pair of them, looking up at the sky. The cool wind breeze playing with her hair made her feel freedom and the salty breeze tickling her nose, reminded her of the South Pole Tribe, which reminded her of all the times that she helped Katara with her chores and joked with Sokka.

She missed the pair of them but she'll meet them one day.

Hopefully soon and not as enemies.

"They will hate what, Miss?"

Naruko turned to face the man that spoke to her. The man in front of her had a weird sideburns that reminded her of a monkey and had a curious look in his eyes but there was something about him that made her shiver in disgust. The way he was staring at her must be the reason why she felt like that. He stared at her with curiosity, well he stared at her hair more like it but there was also a little bit of wonder and another emotion that she wasn't familiar with but it was one that made her feel disgusted.

"It's nothing," Naruko said as she glanced at Zuko and Iroh for assistance. "I'm sorry if my words got your attention…"

"Captain Zhao," Zuko said, looking at the older man with distaste while glaring at her, which got the response of her sticking out her tongue. Iroh chuckled at this, looking amused at her actions but she could see from his shoulders that he was tensed at the sight of the man in front of her.

"It's Commander now, Prince Zuko," Zhao said, bowing to Iroh. "And General Iroh," he looked at her with interest. "And who is this? I didn't know that you have added one more member in your crew?"

"My name is Naruko, Commander," Naruko replied, grinning at the older man who looked at her with raised eyebrow. "As to answer your question, I was just an unexpected addition to their crew but who cares about that? In fact, why the hell do you care about this? This isn't any of your god damn business."

"Are you a member of the Fire Nation?" The man asked, staring at her outfit with curiosity. "I don't think a member of the Fire Nation will have hair like yours or wear clothes like yours?"

"Maybe I don't like wearing the outfit that the Fire Nation girl's wear and perhaps, my hair is somewhat of a gift from Kami!" Naruko snapped. "Which by the way, shouldn't be any of your business since it is my hair colour and not yours! And for your information, bastard, I'm proud of having blond hair!"

Iroh and Zuko stared at her with shock while the man in front of her spluttered at her words. She crossed her arms, clenched her hands into a fist and looked hard at the older man. The older man pursed his lips, looking as if he wanted to say something to her but thought against it.

"The Fire Lord's brother and son along with his subordinate are welcome guest anytime," Zhao stared at the two of them as he said this, ignoring the furious blond. "What brings you to my harbor."

"Isn't it obvious?" Naruko said, looking at their ship that was behind them.

The older man glared at her while Zuko and Iroh gave her a look that said that she should just keep her mouth shut. This caused Naruko to simply shrugged her shoulder before clasping her hands over her head as she stared at him.

"What Naruko is trying to say is that we're here because our ship is being repaired," Iroh said, smiling at the man as he nudged her on the ribs. Naruko winced and kept a tight smile plastered as the man stared at her.

"That's quite a bit of damage," Zhao said, staring at the three of them with a meaningful look.

"It's a bit tragic if you think about it," Naruko said, wiping the imaginary tears off her eyes while the three men stared at her with curiosity. She shot a subtle smile at Iroh and Zuko, both of whom got the message that she was trying to convey. "You see, we crashed into a ship, a huge ship in fact, which I believe was a Earth Nation ship, right Prince Zuko? General Iroh?"

"Oh yes!" Iroh and Zuko said in unison, looking at her as if she was some kind of weirdo.

"Really?" Zhao smiled at the three of them. "You must regale me with all the thrilling details. Join me for a drink?"

"It isn't up for me to decide is it?" Naruko said, smiling nervously. "I'm just a subordinate, you should ask Prince Zuko, he's the leader of the boat. I think he's the best person to ask about what happened to the boat, right Prince Zuko?"

"Sorry but we have to go," Zuko said, narrowing his eyes at the older man.

Zuko turned to leave and Naruko was about to follow suit but stood still when she saw that Iroh had put his hand on Zuko's shoulder, stopping the older teen from leaving this place. Naruko raised her eyebrow and looked at the older man with curiosity, only for him to smile at her as he waved for her to stay where she was. She nodded her head stiffly, knowing that she couldn't say anything. She was technically working underneath them and not beside them, so whatever Iroh had to say, she had to do.

"Prince Zuko, Naruko, show your respect to Commander Zhao," Iroh said and Naruko scowled at his words. "Do you have any ginseng tea? It's my favorite."

Zuko growled in frustration at his words while Naruko slapped her head at this. She fanned herself as Iroh and Zhao left, watching Zuko carefully and shaking her head when the older teen released fire from his fist. Glancing around to see that no one was staring at them, she walked beside Zuko, who arched his visible eyebrow at her.

"You need to calm down, Zuko!" Naruko whispered, smiling as the people around them stopped to stare at her blond-hair. "Getting angry won't help you in your mission, being calm and patient will. Getting furious makes you an easy target."

"And how can I be calm when we're wasting time!" Zuko hissed.

"Look finding him won't be so difficult for you," Naruko whispered, giving a charming smile to the young men that stared at her. "And you know why? Because I'll tell you a little secret about trying to find where your target is, a secret that I heard one of my teacher told me when I was just a little girl after I asked him how he kept finding me when others couldn't find me."

"What? Your hair?" Zuko asked sarcastically.

She blinked her eyes before scowling at his words, causing him to glare at her with anger and fury. Naruko rolled her eyes at his glare, giving him a look that told him that if he wanted her to help him then he would better keep his mouth shut. He grimaced and nodded his head, gesturing for her to continue what she was saying.

"To find your target, you need to think like them," Naruko whispered. She flickered her eyes to make sure that no one was looking at them before continuing. "Your advantage compared to every other firebender is that you know your target, not well mind you but you know what the target is, the age and all that boring detail. This means that you can make appropriate guesses on where the target is."

"You speak as if you have experienced on these type of things," Zuko muttered.

"Not really but I'm a prankster and like many prankster, we always have a target, we watch the target before finally pranking them," Naruko answered sagely. "If we don't do that then our pranks wouldn't be that good."

"I wouldn't know where the target would go!"

"Then you my dear friend haven't been a kid before and you definitely don't know anything about your target," she shook her head at him. "I want you to think very carefully without letting your anger cloud you, if you were your target. Where would you go?"

Zuko pursed his lips at her, mulling over her words thoughtfully before sighing and finally answered, "If I were him, I would go home."

"Exactly," Naruko smiled. "Alright, that's done, tell me where would you go after that. Now think about his age and not his occupation, where do you think he'll go next."

"How the hell am I suppose to know? I'm not him!" Zuko snarled, looking ready to burn her for asking such questions. Naruko sighed and rubbed her forehead at his response before pinching her nose at him. She really didn't get how this guy was supposed to catch Aang and not know how to think like his target. Even Sakura would have guessed where Aang would have gone if she was in his position.

It seemed like teaching him how to fight wasn't the only thing that she would have to teach him.

"You know if you keep this attitude up, any chances of you getting the target is going to be lowered," Naruko glowered at the look that Zuko was giving her. "Don't give me that look! I know what the hell I'm saying! You aren't trying to see it through target point of view but your own point of view! That is going to fail you! Because how are you suppose to catch him if you don't even try to be in his shoes huh?"

Zuko opened his mouth to say something but one look from the furious blond made the older teen kept his mouth shut. She pursed her lips, glared at the older teen. "The target is a kid, what do all kids have in common?" he opened his mouth to answer but Naruko ignored him. "They like having fun, that's what! He'll look for places that are fun."

"And you know that because of his age?" Zuko asked dubiously.

The blonde shook her head at this. "No, I know because Aang reminds me of some little kid I know back home. Their personality isn't all that similar but they have similar traits. If he's anything like my friend then he'll definitely try to have some fun until someone has to knock some sense to him."

"How certain are you that he'll do what you think?" Zuko pressed his lips into a thin line. "It's stupid to base your assumptions on that."

"Well, it's better than any assumption that you would have made," Naruko snapped. He glared at her and she did the same thing for him. Why didn't she break her promise? Why didn't just agree to go with Aang when she had the chance? He was nicer then this idiot right here. Hell, he would probably listen to her along with Sokka and Katara. They wouldn't question her logic since she had the most experience in fighting then the three of them.

She shook her head at this thought and frowned at Zuko, taking a deep breath. "Look, it's your choice on whether to take my word on the locations that he might go but don't come running to me when it turns out that I'm right and you're wrong."

Naruko would have continued if it weren't for the fact that they all stopped at the sight of a large tent with a prominent Fire Nation symbol on it. She pursed her lips, knowing whatever she had to say to him had to be put on hold. She didn't know these people, didn't know if they were as horrible as Sokka had described. So to be on the safe side, she would need to stop talking about Aang and how Zuko should think about his actions.

She didn't even know why she was helping him.

Naruko bit her lips at these thoughts, shaking her head and turned her head to look at the two guards, who now stood up straight and didn't bother hiding their stares at her blond hair. She hesitantly touched her braid, wondering if the stares would ever stop. If people would ever get use to seeing a person with her hair colour. The people in the South Tribe got used to it, even admire it and joked about how if they ever got lost, they just needed to find her hair to know that they were home.

Shaking her head, she looked at the soldiers who all smiled at her as they gestured for her to enter the tent. Naruko smiled in return and walked into the tent, immediately taking a seat furthest away from Zhao and the others. She scanned the room and nearly whistled at the sight of the large map that was on the wall before frowning. There were different colours for the different continent, the South and North Pole was blue. There was one huge continent that was green and a small island that was coloured red.

Weren't those colours of elements?

"Tell me, how did you crash into a Earth Nation Ship, Ms. Naruko?"

The blonde blinked her eyes and turned her attention to the older man that crossed his arms, waiting for her to answer. She glanced at Zuko, who fumed at her while Iroh gestured for her to continue on the impulsive lie that she had made. The problem was, was that she didn't know how to tell them the lie since she really didn't know anything about this world except for the Southern Water Tribe but that was it. She didn't know anything about the Earth Kingdom. Not even what they were supposed to look like.

She really should think things through.

"As I said before it was a huge wooden ship from the Earth Kingdom. It didn't give us any hints y'know? Just came out of nowhere," Naruko shook her head. "Or maybe there was a warning but the person steering the ship didn't hear it. Was there any warning, General Iroh? Prince Zuko? Because I didn't hear any."

Iroh shook his head while Zuko nodded his head in agreement with his Uncle, through avoiding her eyes whenever she stared at him. She frowned. She couldn't do all of this by herself; she didn't know anything about the world.

"But how can a wooden ship from the Earth Kingdom destroy your ship?"

"Maybe the wood was too hard," Naruko said immediately. "How the hell am I suppose to know? I'm not a ship engineer! I'm a fighter not a thinker. Maybe the ship had been made of something else…it just looked like wood to me."

The man narrowed his eyes, looking really pissed that she had talked back to him but who gave a damn about that? He had no right to question her words. Did she look like some punk who lied about everything? She wasn't a liar…usually and the only reason she was lying, was to help Zuko and Iroh out. Those two didn't seem to know how to lie properly.

Shaking her head at this thought, she decided to change their topic about how their ship had been destroyed by the Earth Kingdom ship. "Tell me, Commander Zhao how long do you think before the Fire Nation will capture the Earth Kingdom? No one tells me anything about it!"

The only reason why she would even know this was because of Sokka and Katara. Their father was out there helping the Earth Kingdom and she knew those two were worried about him. Apparently they heard rumors that the Fire Nation was trying to capture the Earth Kingdom and wanted to help or something like that. She was really fuzzy with the details. If she hadn't known this then she wouldn't know how to change their topic. From the glint in his eyes, she knew that he was going to love discussing this topic with them.

Oh great. He seemed like the kind of guy that would boast about his plans and achievements. If that was the case then they were going to hear a long talk about how he planned to take over the kingdom.

Naruko shook her head and took a seat beside Zuko, who stared at her while Zhao spoke to them about the Fire Nation's plans of capturing the Earth Kingdom. She shifted under her seat, uncomfortable at how long the older teen stared at her. She hadn't dome anything bad right? Besides lying, she hadn't really done anything bad. She was just trying to help him in the only way she knew how but she didn't know why this way. She only agreed to teach him how to fight not help him figure out where Aang was.

But then again, she didn't like the idea of someone else capturing Aang because they wouldn't be so softhearted. They would be a killer, a killer like Itachi or worse. She knew if a solider was tasked to capture Aang then they wouldn't hesitate to kill a young boy. They wouldn't care that he was just a child, they would only care that he was the enemy and that was it.

Wars brought the worse out of people as the Hokage told her when she questioned the Fourth Hokage's decision on Iwa.

"…And by the year's end, the Earth Kingdom's capital will be in our rule."

Naruko blinked her eyes at this, her eyes widening at this. They planned to conquer a whole kingdom by this year? Were they serious? How many people were there going to die? And what about the people? They wouldn't surrender easily. If they were anything like the Iwa's Nins that she heard about, then they would be as stubborn as a rock. She grimaced and stared at the older man.

"How many people?"

"What?" Zhao said, looking at her in confusion.

"How many people are you planning to sacrifice, huh?" Naruko stood up. "If you planned to conquer the Earth Kingdom's capital by the end of the year then that means you're planning to sacrifice soldiers aren't you? Soldiers that have families waiting for them!"

"So? They know what they were signing up for when they joined the army," Zhao glared at her as he said this. Zuko and Iroh stared at her, looking unsure at what she was doing or what they thought she was planning to do.

Naruko could feel waves of anger washing over her and bile rising to her mouth at his words. They know what they signed up for. Yes, they did but it was the duty of the commander and of the king to sacrifice as little soldiers as they can. If Tsunade or the old Hokage were here then they would feel disgusted at hearing this. In fact, none of them would have wanted to conquer any kingdom so why this nation? Why was this nation so different from the Land of Fire that she knew?

She hated this nation already, especially this man.

"A commander should think about the soldiers under his command! They aren't some kind of tools that you could use and dispose of!" Naruko snapped. "Those are real people! With families! I think they are hoping that you would bring them back home to their families safe and sound! Not send all of them to their deaths!"

"Naruko!"

"I'm not keeping quiet about this! What you planned to do is horrible!" Naruko stomped her feet and everyone's eyes widened when they felt the earth trembled. "And who are you to decide whether to conquer the Kingdom huh? What the hell have they done to you?"

"Their mere existence."

The blonde narrowed her eyes at these words, clenched her hands and finally glared at the man. "Their existence? That's what they did! Bullshit! Those people over there are benders, not Fire benders mind you but still benders! They are the same as you! They are still human! And you want to end them because they exist!"

"This is what the Fire Lord wish," The commander snarled.

Naruko clenched her hands into a fist, took a deep breath and said, "Well then I hope he'll know that he will cause a rebellion. After all, if they are like the element of Earth then they won't go down without a fight. A bloody good fight that is!"

"The Fire Nation will crush them."

"Really? Because if you think about it, they have a more chance of winning against the Fire Nation," Naruko sneered. "They have millions of people and will have the support of the Water Tribes when this happens. They'll plot for the demise of your people, maybe pull a couple of pranks and traps."

"And what would a girl who knows nothing about warfare think like that!"

"Because I use my brain and I know people, I know how they think, how they act," Naruko looked at him coldly. "I know what it's like for a person to lose their home and I know if a person has a chance of getting their home back then they'll take it. You beat them and they'll fight back."

"I've to agree with Naruko," Zuko said, looking as if he had a bad taste in his mouth when he said this. "If my father thinks that the rest of the world will follow him, willingly, then he's a fool!"

"A fucking idiot," Naruko agreed.

"Very vulgar language coming from a female," Zhao said, looking at her distaste and Naruko stuck her tongue out at him. He ignored her and looked at Zuko. "Two years at sea have done little to temper your tongue," he paused. "So how is your search for the Avatar going?"

Naruko blinked her eyes at this changed of topic; she gazed at Zuko and frowned. She could see that he was debating on whether to lie or not about this. She knew that if she opened her mouth then the prince wouldn't be happy with her. He was never happy with her. Never liked it when she tried to save his own ass from his own mess. She really didn't know how to help him without getting yelled at.

When she saw that Zuko wasn't going to answer, she decided that enough was enough. She stood up to say something and would have said something if it weren't for the fact that Iroh had tripped over the stand of weapons. She blinked her eyes and looked at Iroh, frowning but the old man waved off her concerns, smiling at her. She nodded her head stiffly at this, deciding that she would believe the old man about being fine.

"My fault entirely."

"Not completely, the weapons are interesting to see!" Naruko said cheerfully as she walked over to the old man and started to put the weapons back in place. Iroh grinned at her words. He really did look like a lovable grandfather when he did that, in fact the way he apologized reminded her of the Hokage. She winced. The old man had been her family to her, not biologically but he had been a constant presence in her life.

If he were here, he would have adored looking at these weapons and books.

"We haven't found him yet."

Zhao smirked. "Did you really expect to? The Avatar died a hundred years ago along with the rest of the air benders."

"If I was in Prince Zuko's shoes, I would believe it," Naruko commented, drawing everyone's attention to her. They all looked somewhat surprised at her words, causing her to roll her eyes at them. "What? I'm just saying if the Avatar is somewhere out there and I've been ordered by somebody to go and capture him, I would like to think he'll be alive. I mean seriously, what's the point of sending a person to capture a dead person? Completely stupid."

"Naruko…"

"I know I shouldn't say things like that but still…I don't like wasting my life away searching for somebody who's dead," Zuko and Zhao stared at her as if she was some weirdo while Iroh looked slightly pleased at her words. "I'm not being weird! I'm just saying that I would like to enjoy my life while I'm still young! See the world, do wild things, do stupid things and all that."

"But you can't return home if you don't find the Avatar," Zhao told her, narrowing his eyes at her.

"So? I don't have a home, not anymore," Naruko walked towards the table and grabbed the steaming tea. She stared at the tea for a couple of minutes as she tried to keep her emotions in check before taking a sip of her tea. "The Avatar can't bring me back the home I lost or the homes that many people had lost. No one can. The Avatar is frankly in my opinion a lot of bullshit."

"Bullshit!" Zhao gawked while Zuko and Iroh stared at her like she was crazy.

Naruko snorted. "Of course! You're afraid of one person, which is my opinion fucking stupid! You're afraid of one person because of the power the person has! Well that's something I think makes you guys idiots! The Avatar might be strong but the Avatar isn't perfect. I think what you're forgetting is how the avatar is still a human being. A person who would make mistakes."

The blonde ignored their looks and started to pace around the room, taking deep breaths as she did so. She could feel her anger trying to control her, engulf her with just how deep it ran. But she wouldn't allow her anger to control her. Not again. It was her anger and emotions, which got her sent to this weird world. It was her anger and desperation to save Sasuke, which led her to fight him.

If she hadn't fought Sasuke and if she had learnt to let him go then maybe she would still be in Konoha, surrounded by people whom she loved and knew well. Be in her crappy apartment, eating ramen instead of food, which tasted so different from her own. She could even be having arguments with Sakura about the smallest things or have tea with Hinata again.

She missed her friends.

"So do you believe the Avatar is alive then?" Zhao said, peering closely at her. He had an eager smile on his face, looking as if he was waiting for her to slip up. Naruko glanced at Iroh who gave her the look that she shouldn't tell him what they found. Not that she was planning too. This guy just screamed trouble. The trouble that told her Aang would get seriously hurt if she told him anything.

"I think the Avatar has been dead for the past hundred years," Naruko tightened her grip on her teacup. "If the Avatar was alive then wouldn't he or she tried to save the world? The Avatar died with the rest of the airbenders. Besides how can the Avatar live for a hundred years? Sounds crazy."

"But have you found evidence that the Avatar is alive?" Zhao insisted, gazing at Zuko for the first time since she started talking.

Naruko glanced at Zuko. The prince was looking away from the man's gaze and the blonde wanted to throttle him for doing that. The first rule of lying was to look at a person's eyes. Everybody knew that. Looking away showed you're hiding something or you were afraid of them because you thought they could crush you with one hand. This was why one of the best liars could never look away from a person's eyes.

She was going to teach him how to lie after this.

"I've found nothing."

Zhao raised his eyebrows at this before standing up from his chair. He looked very carefully at the young prince, like how a snake would do to his prey, before saying, "Prince Zuko, if you've an ounce of loyalty," he leaned into Zuko's face till their nose were touching, "You'll tell me what you've found."

Zuko stared hard at the older man. "I haven't found anything. It's like you said. The Avatar probably died a long time ago. Come on, Uncle, Naruko, we're going."

Naruko jumped off from her seat, placing the empty teacup onto the table before going to the exit but only to found the exit being blocked by a couple of guards. She scowled at the sharp spears in their arms, looking at the older man in irritation. She would have opened her mouth to say something if she didn't see the smirk on Zhao's face. She gulped.

They were in huge trouble.

Naruko tried her hardest not to quiver when the guard came up to Zhao. Beside her, she could feel the increasing heat radiating from Zuko and the lack of anger or fear from Iroh. It was like the older man didn't care they were in huge trouble. No he did care. The last few weeks, she had learnt Iroh cared about everyone in the ship. Including her despite how she had been forced to come with them.

"Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as you instructed. They confirmed Prince Zuko had the Avatar in custody, but let him escape and the ship had been destroyed by the blond-haired girl and the Avatar."

Zhao smirked. "Now, remind me…how exactly was your ship damaged."

Naruko knew without a doubt they were screwed.

After a lengthy explanation of what really happened, the trio found themselves sitting in chairs with a smiling Zhao standing right in front of them. Naruko gritted her teeth, glaring at the man before glancing at Iroh. It wouldn't hurt if she used a jutsu right? She sighed when Iroh shook his head at her, knowing what she planned to do.

Damn him, she wanted to punch this asshole with all of her strength.

"Once I'm out to sea, my guards will escort the three of you back to the ship and you'll be free to go," Zhao said, giving at her and Zuko a sneer.

"Why? Are you worried I'm going to try to stop you?" Zuko asked, glaring at the older man.

Zhao laughed. "You? Stop me? Impossible but the young lady, yes. She was able to cause destruction to your ship without any problem…she has more chance of stopping me then you."

"No one can argue about that," Zuko glowered at the blonde. Naruko shrugged her shoulder. "Come on Zuko, you've to admit that I'm a lot more stronger then you. I destroyed your ship."

"Your clones destroyed them!"

"My clones are apart of me which means I'm the one who destroyed it, not them."

Zuko crossed his arms, scowling at her words while Iroh laughed and Zhao squinted his eyes at this news, seeming confused at the idea of clones. She shrugged her shoulders at them, flickering her eyes towards the map and then back to Zhao.

"You know I've more chance of stopping you then Zuko…so why didn't you tie my hands up?"

"You don't have the strength to defeat me," the older man smirked. "You can't bend."

The blonde frowned, standing up from her seat. "So because I can't bend an element you think I can't defeat you?" her voice was so deathly quiet that everyone in the room gulped, except Iroh, and before anyone realized it Naruko slammed her fist against Zhao's face. The man fell down to the ground. Naruko looked down at the man in disgust.

"For a general, you're such an idiot," Naruko glared at him. "The first rule you should know about me is that you don't underestimate me. If I want to, I can kill you with just one move and I won't have a complete problem with it."

Zhao groaned at this, glaring at her while the other guards gulped. All of them could feel the temperature of the room dropping when the young girl turned to give them her glare. Some of the men even took a few steps back while others simply whimpered at her. The blonde smiled widely at them before fixing her eyes back at the groaning man.

"I may not have been the strongest person in my village but I'm stronger then an ordinary civilian," Naruko grinned at them. "In fact I got the nickname of being the most unpredictable ninja because no one knew what I can do next…also Zhao you shouldn't underestimate Zuko, he may be an idiot but he has more chance of getting the Avatar."

"Naruko that's enough," Iroh said, shooting the girl a warning look.

"I'm not standing still and listen to this bastard talk bad about him," Naruko snapped. "What makes him so god damn confident Zuko can't capture him huh? I bet all of my saving that Zuko will get to the Avatar before this bastard."

"What makes a brat like you so confident?" Zhao said, clutching his stomach as he sneered at her. Naruko crossed her arms. "Prince Zuko can't compete with me. He doesn't have hundreds of warship under his command."

"Numbers mean shit when it comes to finding someone."

"It makes finding the Avatar easier," Zhao pointed out. "Prince Zuko is a banished prince. He has no home. No allies. His own father doesn't even want him."

Naruko blinked her eyes and turned her head to look at Zuko. The older boy was gritting his teeth. She bit her lips, running her hand through her hair as she processed this news. A father who doesn't want his son…that sounded so messed up. Didn't fathers want all of their kids? Weren't they always happy whenever they mention their sons? Of course they did.

This man must be lying about it. Zuko's father must want him because no father would want to see their own son suffer right? No that wasn't true. Gaara's father made him suffer. It was his father's fault he didn't trust anyone, it was his father's fault he turned out the way he did. So maybe it wouldn't be wrong for this to happen but…maybe his father wanted to see him get stronger. Didn't suffering mean you become stronger?

God all of this thinking made her head hurt.

"You're wrong," Zuko's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Once I deliver the Avatar to my father he will welcome me home with honor and restore my rightful place on the throne."

Zhao sneered. "If your father really wanted you home, he'd have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar, but in his eyes you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation."

"That's not true."

"You've the scar to prove it," Zhao said. Naruko gazed at Zuko's face, frowning what the man hinted at. His father wouldn't…what kind of father was this man? She twisted a strand of her hair. Not a kind one. Not the father she would dream of having. Maybe it was good thing she never had a parent.

"What do you know of family?"

Sasuke's words rang in her mind and Naruko decided it was a good thing she didn't know anything about parents because it seemed like they let people down.

"An Agni Kai. At sunset," Zuko snapped.

"Very well. It's a shame your father won't watch me humiliate you. I guess your Uncle will do."

The blue-eyed girl shook her head and scratched her head, looking at Zhao and then at Zuko, not understanding what happened. She glanced at Iroh. He frowned, looking completely displeased at what just happened. The blonde groaned. What the hell was happening? Why did Iroh look so unhappy? And what the hell was an Agni Kai?

She knew it was not some kind of desert like it name suggested.

Naruko waited till Zhao left the tent before asking, "What the hell just happened?"

"Prince Zuko challenged Zhao to a fight, Naruko," Iroh said, shaking his head at the teen. "A reckless move for Zuko to make."

"Okay…so what's the problem?" Naruko asked, shrugging her shoulder. "It's a fight…how can it be that reckless?"

"Zhao is a master in firebending," Iroh explained.

"And I'm guessing from your tone, Zuko isn't a master," Naruko glanced at Zuko and the older teen didn't bother looking at her. The blonde smiled. "Guess it'll be fun to see Zuko beating up that arrogant jerk…or see him get beaten up."

"I won't get beaten up."

"I'm sure you won't Zuko," Naruko said, smiling at him and the boy scowled at her. "What? I'm being sincere. I'm sure you will be able to defeat the bastard…if you don't then I call dibs of hitting him!"

"You can't just call dibs!"

"Why not?" Naruko asked. "It's a fight right? I can fight him after you have a round with him. I just want to teach him a real lesson on why he shouldn't call me weak! I'm not weak! I've more strength in my pinkie then he has in his hand!"

"You want to fight him because he insulted your strength?" Zuko asked in disbelief.

"Of course!"

Zuko sighed and Iroh laughed at her words. Shaking his head, the older man looked at the prince and then to the blonde, who muttered a couple of words about what she planned to do to Zhao. Iroh winced when she vividly described how she would destroy any chance Zhao would have of having kids. Who knew one so young, she was very creative in torturing someone?

"Prince Zuko, you haven't forgotten what happened the last time you duel a master?"

"I will never forget."

The blonde had the strangest feeling that it had to do with the scar. Shaking her head, the blonde looked at the teen then to the old man before flickering her eyes at the map. The duel aside, everything seemed to have taken a turn for a worse. Aang and the others were going to be in huge trouble now that they've a new enemy searching for them.

She needed to tell them this but she didn't know where Aang was or if they would trust her. For all she knew, Sokka might believe she had joined the Fire Nation and would help them capture the younger boy. She wouldn't allow that to happen but, she rather Zuko captured Aang then Zhao.

The man made her think he would kill her friend without any hesitance and hand him in. The same could be said for Zuko but at least with the prince, she knew he would hesitate. That alone gave her hope he wouldn't actually hand Aang over to the Fire Nation.

She just hoped he didn't prove her wrong

"How long have you been banished?"

Naruko smiled widely as Zuko jumped up from his training spot. He glowered at her, taking in angrily breath as if he was trying not to yell at her for surprising him. She smiled apologetically at him before taking a seat on the training mat, glazing at him with curiosity. In three hours, the boy was going to fight Zhao but this didn't interest her. She didn't know his plans and didn't really care about them. All she cared about was knowing about the banishment.

"Three years."

The blonde nodded her head. "Three years huh? That got to hurt. I haven't seen my home in nearly a year and that hurts…but three years, you must be longing for it."

"It's barely been a week since you left the South Pole."

"The South Pole isn't my home, I thought I already made that obvious," Naruko said, crossing her arms and the older teen paused in his stance. He turned his head at her. "I told you that I didn't come from the South Pole…I don't come from this world even. I live in a completely different world from here."

"What's the difference?"

Naruko smiled at him, sweeping her hair over her shoulder as she allowed the cold wind to gaze her neck. "No bending for one. No one can bend…we can only imitate it. We've chakra too and there is no country trying to overtake another country. Not yet anyway, it wouldn't surprise anyone if it happens. We had more countries too."

"Which one are you from."

"Hi no Kuni," Zuko frowned and Naruko sighed. "It means the Land of Fire. I was born there, I would die to protect it especially for my village."

"You mentioned it, it's filled with strong people right?"

"Yup," Naruko smiled at him. "Konohagakure is filled with the strongest people you can meet. My sensei made a technique that could destroy any boulder…and Tsunade-baachan can destroy a building with her bare fist."

"Baa-chan?"

"Old lady," Naruko explained. "She's an old lady but if you ever meet her, you wouldn't think so. If Ero-sennin didn't tell me she was his teammate I wouldn't know she was old," she then added hastily. "Ero-sennin is my teacher."

"She couldn't look that young."

"She looks like she's in her twenties," Naruko crossed her arms. "But in actual fact she's fifty something years old."

Zuko raised his eyebrow at this. "How does she make herself look so young?"

"Don't know and I don't really care," Naruko answered. "I don't remember if ero-sennin told me or not…if he did then I mustn't been paying attention."

"You sound like a wonderful student."

"Be sarcastic and I won't help you train," Zuko opened his mouth and Naruko crossed her arms. "And if you use the prince card, I'll still won't do it. I hate people who always use their status against other people and you're not my prince. I'm not from here so your orders don't apply to me."

"But you're my prisoner."

"Am I really?" Naruko asked sarcastically. "From what Kakashi-sensei told me, prisoners are treated like shit and you haven't exactly treated me like shit. You gave me pretty decent food, let me have a bed…"

"My Uncle promised you a bed," Zuko pointed out.

The blond-haired girl shrugged his comment. "Doesn't mean you have to follow it. That tells me you aren't all that bad, it just tells me you've got a temper and from what that bastard told me, your tou-san banished you and is making you search for the Avatar if you wanted to go home. If the Hokage banished me and told me the only way to go back home is doing that then I would do the same thing."

"Hokage?"

"The Hokage is the leader of my village," Naruko smiled wistfully. "The Hokage is the strongest person in the village, knowing many jutsus and all that shit. The Hokage has the respect of the villagers. It's my dream to become Hokage."

For as long as she remembered, Naruko always wanted to become Hokage. There had not been a time where she hadn't doubted her dreams and she would accomplish it…as soon as she figured out a way back home. Unfortunately for her, there had been no books in the South Pole and there wasn't any time for her to go find a way back home.

Maybe after this war was done, she would find a way back home. She still had a part to play in this war, she could feel it in her bones but Naruko wasn't sure what her part was. Till then, she would do what she thought was right.

"Well?"

"Huh?"

"Are you going to train me or not?" Zuko asked impatiently.

"With that kind of attitude no but considering the fact I don't like that bastard Zhao, I have no choice but to train you," Naruko stood up from the floor. "While I hate your attitude, I hate Zhao more. The way he acts just makes me want to punch his face so hard."

Zuko reluctantly nodded his head in agreement and the blond-haired girl took this as her opportunity to attack. She swung her leg, aiming to Zuko's side but only for him to block it. She grinned, making the hand-signs for the shadow clone jutsu. Immediately, thirty clones appear and each one of them charged towards Zuko, causing him to let go of her leg.

"Why the hell did you immediately attack me? You should have warn me!"

"Sure I'll do that but then your enemies won't ever give you that opportunity," Naruko ran towards him and punched him in the face. The boy slammed against the wall of the control room. "Sometimes you need to fight dirty, in real life there is no such thing as a fair fight. If there was then why is there war? Hokage-ojisan didn't become Hokage because he fought fair, he become Hokage because he exploited his enemies weaknesses. That's something you need to start doing."

"There's no honor in doing that."

Her clone punched him in the stomach while the other slammed their leg against his head, leading to Zuko falling down to the ground. "Honor?" her clones sneered. "When you're fighting against thieves or shinobi, the idea of honor is gone. We're ninjas, when we fight we don't have honor. Your opponent Zhao might not have any honor."

Naruko kept her face blank when the older boy punched her clones but a small smile appeared in her lips when she heard his gasp at her clones disappearing. He kept punching and kicking them, not once did he use his fire against her. Interesting. Why didn't he use them? Her clones kept attacking him nonstop, never lessening their blows.

What the hell was her clones going to do to make him so angry that he would surprise them? It seemed like the older boy only want to punch and kick them, not something he could just do against Zhao. The man was a firebender like Zuko, there was no chance in hell that the two of them were not going to exchange fire.

"You're weak!" Her clone taunted. "Maybe that's why your daddy didn't let…"

Flames spluttered out of his fist while Zuko glared at the clones, continuing to attack them with a new fighting force. He was burning her clones to crisp. Naruko kept her face blank when the memory hit her head. Flames were engulfing her, burning her to the core and the blond-haired girl knew if she had been actually there then she would have scars. She grimaced. The only way to get Zuko to use fire against her was to mention his father and for him to be completely furious.

This wasn't good.

Fury was not an emotion she wanted Zuko to have while fighting. He needed a cool head because now his fighting was erratic. Naruko narrowed her eyes, watching as her clones made use of all the openings that Zuko made. This was pathetic. There needed to be some way for Zuko to control his emotions.

Naruko paused at this train of thought.

She was hypocrite for thinking like that since she let her emotions cloud her judgment. Naruko shook her head. Zuko had to be different from her because he was the prince. A prince had to think of the other people, never letting his emotions cloud his judement on what was right or wrong.

"Do you think he'll do well against Commander Zhao?" Iroh said. Naruko jumped in surprise at the sight of the old man who had two cups of tea in his hand. He smiled at her, handing her the other cup of tea. Naruko grinned and took the cup of tea, sipping it as she watched Zuko fight her clones.

"I don't know if he'll do well," Naruko admitted. "I'm a genin in my village so I don't have much training but I think so but as long as he keeps a cool head in his shoulder. However as Shikamaru once told me there are other factors you must consider and these factors would affect whether or not he'll win."

"Your friend sound wise."

"Shikamaru may not have been strong physically but he was smart in strategies," she smiled. "If he was here, I bet my ass he would know what to do to make Zuko win the match."

"You're doing the same."

Naruko smiled. "I think I prefer it if Zuko wins over that bastard, that man is willing to sacrifice so many men to get one city and think the other nation is trash. That's sick and wrong."

"Many in the fire nation believe this."

"They're people," Naruko muttered. "The only difference between them and the Fire Nation is the fact that they bend another element entirely, other then that there's no difference. It isn't their fault they can't decide what element to bend."

"If only a lot of people thought like you Naruko," Iroh said, sipping on his tea. He winced when he saw Naruko's clone punched Zuko on the stomach. "The world would be a better place if people thought like that."

"It would be and maybe one day the world will think like that. Now let's continue to watch my clone kick your nephew ass to the next century."

Iroh shook his head and laughed at her words.

She grinned.

Naruko had no doubt there would be a day where the world would come together but it wouldn't be for a long time.

Naruko rubbed the back of her neck as she watched Zhao and Zuko kneel. She and Iroh was standing in front of Zuko, ready to give him advice on what to do to win. She doubt she could be of any help, she knew nothing about firebending. Iroh might have great advice on what to do. Well Naruko hoped so. She hoped he knew what to tell Zuko. There was something about Zhao she didn't like; something about him just rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe it was the fact; he spoke so badly about the other nations. She had never seen someone act like that.

Except maybe the villagers back home but they were getting better in their attitude towards her…she think.

"Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest enemies." Iroh glanced at her, giving her a silent message that told her she also needed to say something to Zuko. But what could she say? There wasn't anything for her to tell him except to kick his ass, no, there was something she could say.

"Don't give him any openings and make sure you show him no weakness," Naruko said, causing Zuko to roll her eyes. "You're not powerful and your biggest weakness is the fact you let your god-damn emotions control your fighting. An opponent like Zhao will take advantage of that, so whatever he says to you, you ignore it! Because if you don't, I'll hit you again and again till you learn your lesson."

"I won't let it control me! I refuse to let him win!"

"Now that's the sprit of a champion!" Naruko grinned. "Now go kick his ugly ass to the next century."

Zuko snorted and stood up from his spot, the shoulder wrap fell down to the ground, revealing his chest. Naruko flushed red, turning her body around while Iroh laughed at her expression. This made the blond scowled. How the hell was that funny? She had never been around a half-naked man in her life. It was only natural she would flush red.

Maybe when she was older, she would get used to it but for now, she felt embarrassed at the sight of his naked chest.

"You can't watch the match if your head is not facing them."

Naruko sighed and turned her body around. Damn Iroh, he had to be right about that. Taking a deep breath, she watched with narrowed eyes the match between Zuko and Zhao. Zuko fired the first shot towards Zhao's left and immediately to the right without waiting for Zhao to duck. Seemed like her teaching him not to hold back did stick through his head.

Zhao hissed when the right flame touched his elbow. Naruko frowned. The aim was off and while she was no expert in anything to do with a weapon, she knew if that was a kunai then it wouldn't do any harm. Maybe he needed to be trained on how to aim. Wait, why was she thinking about this? She shouldn't help him in this regard. This would be a betrayal to her friends.

No, she wasn't going to help him with this but she might tell Iroh about trying to teach his nephew to aim properly.

Zuko fired several more blast but Zhao seemed to either dodge them effortlessly or blocked them with no problem. Naruko frowned, noticing the frustrated look on Zuko's face. "Prince Zuko if you give up or do something stupid, I'll make my clones do damage to the ship! So beat this bastard up or else the ship will get it! And for goodness sake keep a good head on your shoulder! You don't want what happened earlier to be repeated, right?"

This got the prince to glare at her before facing Zhao. He stood up straight, a determined look plastered on his face, and entered his firebending stance. Naruko tilted her head, noticing the faltered look on Zhao's expression. It seemed like the older man had expected Zuko to do something reckless or to give up, ready to use it to his advantage.

There was no way, Naruko would let Zuko have that weakness used against him.

Glancing at Iroh, Naruko noticed that the older man seemed anxious. "Calm down Iroh-ojisan! Zuko will be fine. He's been trained by you, do you think he'll do something stupid."

"Yes!"

She would have said something if it weren't for the fact that Zhao surprised her. Zhao fired volleys of flames towards Zuko, each time alternating between his fist. Luckily, Zuko blocked them but Naruko noticed with concern that the prince was being forced back. That was bad. On the last volley, Zhao used both of his hands, knocking Zuko over and sending him skidding backwards in the dirt.

What the hell was Zuko going to do now? She thought to herself and to her complete utter surprise, the older boy ran towards the older man and slammed his fist against Zhao's face. Everyone gaped at the scene but Naruko was the first one to break the silence. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

"Zuko just punched Zhao on the face." Iroh muttered, looking unsure on whether to smile or to scold the boy for his action.

"Yup."

Iroh opened his mouth to say something but stopped when Zuko produced a small wave of fire towards Zhao. The older man started to move away, limping as he did so. Naruko grinned, knowing this match was over. A good solid punch was always the best way to go about winning a match through she wished it was a good old match.

Zhao stayed down on the ground. It seemed like to Naruko that the pain was too great for him, leaving him no choice but to stay where he was. She frowned when Zuko stopped walking. The older boy was only a few centimeters away from his opponent, why wasn't he fighting. What was Zuko going to do now? This boy confused her.

"Do it!" Zhao screamed.

She held her breath, not knowing what the older boy was going to do. For several minutes, Zuko stared at his opponent, conflict clearly shown in his eyes. Her eyes widened when the older boy released a flame, hitting the ground beside Zhao. She smiled. It seemed like Zuko wasn't all that bad.

"That's it?" Zhao asked. "Your father raised a coward."

"Zuko is a lot of things but a coward!" Naruko snapped. "You don't know anything about him! You think just because he doesn't hurt you, he's a coward! I think what he did is something called mercy!"

"That's not mercy!"

Naruko narrowed her eyes. "You're an idiot then. That's mercy because a man like you won't like being scarred by the banish prince. If it was me, I would punch you in the face till you're knock out. Let's go Iroh-ojisan, Prince Zuko! I think the crew is making noodles!"

"With tea?"

She grinned. "Of course! Now I'm starving for some noodles!"

Zuko shook his head, staring at the blond teen with irritation. Shrugging her shoulder, Naruko grinned at the older boy. The banished prince grunted and started to head towards the direction of the ship. Zhao stared at the banished prince and the blonde with narrowed eyes. This was the perfect time to attack those impudent teenagers but there was something about the blonde that told him she was a bad news.

The look in her eyes spoke danger. He shuddered as he remembered how for a brief moment her eyes had stilted, looking at him as if she was just waiting for him to slipup so she could murder him. He had no doubt she could do it. There was no doubt in his mind, the girl would have no problems of murdering him.

Still, where had the girl come from?

A girl with hair the colour of the sun and have the eyes the colour of the sky. He had never seen anyone with that hair colour before or eyes with that shade of blue. Perhaps, he should inform the Fire Lord of this interesting development.

The girl may be of use to the Fire Nation.

I would like to thank you for reading.

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