"Naruto, Suki!" Tenten shouted with surprise. "We were just looking for you guys!"
"It sure didn't look like it," Suki glanced at the stage behind Tenten. The crowd behind them left the area when the play ended.
"Well, we were until a certain someone decided to do something else."
Naruto left Suki and Tenten, leaving the two girls to talk alone and walked over to Azula. Azula felt a tinge of nervousness as he came over, rubbing her forearm in an attempt to ease the anxiety. The both of them simply looked at each other as they were to anxious to say anything. Azula took a quick peek at Tenten. They made eye contact for a brief second, and Tenten simply nodded at her.
"Hey, Suki," Tenten wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I think there's a stall here that sells fried dumplings."
"But, I just ate."
"There's always room for more!"Tenten pushed her away from Naruto and Azula. "Now, let's go."
Azula bit down on her lip as she watched them leave before focusing her attention on Naruto. She felt the butterflies in her stomach; Azula wanted to say something. Maybe she should wait for him. No, she needed to.
"Naruto. Azula," They both said at the same time.
"You first," They quickly blurted out, surprising each other once more. They blinked a few times, processing the weird situation they were in.
"Do you want to sit down somewhere, Azula?" Naruto suddenly asked.
Azula simply nodded her head. They sat down on a bench away from the bustling crowd, soaking in the rays of the sunset. Despite the calm scenery, there were bits of tension swirling between them. Azula fiddled with her thumbs, looking away from Naruto and focused on the orange sky above.
"So, uh, how ya feeling?" Naruto asked.
"Fine," Azula mindlessly said.
"Just that?"
"Yes."
So, it's going to be one of those times. Naruto could feel a major headache coming his way if Azula kept coming up with these one word responses.
Azula looked away from the sky and focused her attention on Naruto, "I assume you and Suki had fun together?"
"Well... ya could say that, more or less," Naruto tried to laugh it off but seeing Azula's blank and unamused stare made him stop. He threw in a little fake cough. However, Naruto just made it more awkward between them.
"How was the play?" He hoped a simple conversation would ease the awkwardness between them. Naruto knew Azula adore plays, so perhaps that would open her up more.
"Mmm, not too shabby," Azula answered. "But, I didn't like the ending. It was a bit too sad for my tastes."
Naruto chuckled, "I bet it was just another cheesy romance."
Azula gave him a little playful shove.
"You think all plays are like that, numbnuts," Azula crossed her arms.
"Heh, ya got me there."
They looked at each other again in brief silence before bursting out in laughs and giggles. Azula felt her mind at ease, and she felt confident enough to let out what she had to say. She took a deep breath and let out all her past anxiety escape.
"Naruto?" Azula called for his attention.
"What's up?"
She gripped the loose slack of her pants, "I... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." Azula said. "I let my anger and jealousy hurt you. I never meant to say it that way. I don't want you to hate me, Naruto."
Naruto suddenly hugged her. Azula felt the blanket of warmth that wrapped around her. It felt much warmer than the sunset rays. She always longed for this intoxicating feeling.
"I would never hate you, princess. Ever," Naruto rested his forehead onto hers. He slowly moved his hands down to her waist.
Azula felt his hot breath, and she felt visibly shook. She glanced down at his lips with desire; she wanted to have a taste of it so badly. Out of her expectations, Naruto slowly leaned in closer to her; his lips steadily inched closer to hers. Azula felt her heart hammering out of her chest; she could feel his warm lips brushed against hers. The kiss ended quick as it came.
As Naruto pulled away from her, a blush formed on his cheeks. It was his first time initiating the kiss, and he felt really awkward about it. However, Naruto hoped that one kiss was alright.
"That was rather quick," Azula touched her lips. She was still quite in shock that Naruto had initiated the kiss this time. It felt... nice.
"Y-you don't like it?" Naruto asked nervously.
"No, I like it, quite honestly," Azula smiled. "But, I was hoping that it would be longer, though."
Granting her wish, Naruto moved in closer again. This time he had a bit more confidence than before. They shared their love for each other with a longer kiss. Azula and Naruto finally stopped to catch a moment of breath.
"Well?" Naruto pulled away from her again.
"Hmm," She hummed thoughtfully. "Tastes weirdly like ramen."
"I-it does?!"
Azula giggled at the look of his shocked face. She playfully slapped his shoulders, "No, Foxy, I was just teasing."
"Oh, thank Agni."
"But, seriously, brush your teeth."
"Hah?!" Out of panic, Naruto tried to smell his own breath. "I don't smell anything!"
Azula had to be lying. Naruto tried it a few more times to make sure he wasn't going crazy. Ignoring his dumb antics, Azula leaned her head against his shoulders and felt the warm sunset rays across her face. She closed her eyes to indulge in this calm and warm feeling. Azula wished this would last forever.
*****
Morning came, and everyone gathered around the floor table. Yulah handed Temujin a scroll and momentarily left the room. Temujin unrolled the scroll across the table. The scroll revealed itself to be a map of the Earth Kingdom with various land marks and rivers.
Everyone was wide awake except for Naruto. He dozed in and out of his dream state since he wasn't used to waking up around this time. Naruto plopped his head into the table to get some good rest. He hated waking up on early mornings. Temujin suddenly slammed his hands against the table, startling Naruto awake.
"Naruto, wake the hell up!" Temujin shouted at him. Naruto grumbled to himself; he didn't even want to be here, and as a growing man, he needed his precious sleep.
"Anyways, this is where we are," Temujin pointed at the far edge of the Earth Kingdom. He slowly dragged his fingers to the right side that showed a drawn depiction of Ba Sing Se. "And this is Ba Sing Se; big, ain't it?"
"I guess?" Tenten plainly responded.
"So, how are we gettin' there, old man?" Naruto glanced at the map with curious eyes. There were a few ways that he could think of, but logistically, he wasn't all too sure about it. Naruto had to admit that he was kinda dumb in that regard.
He usually leave all of that mumbo-jumbo stuff to Yulah since she seem to have a knack for it. However, as long as it gets them to Ba Sing Se, he would be perfectly fine with whichever methods they choose.
"Thanks for askin', kid, I was gettin' to that," Temujin said. "Tha only way we're reachin' Ba Sing Se is through this here river. It'll take us all the way to Serpent's pass."
Temujin trailed his finger along the river, eventually ending up on the location of the Serpent's Pass. Meanwhile, Yulah came back into the room with a wooden tray. She gently laid the tea cups for everyone and poured Jasmine Tea.
"Why don't we just continue on land? It'll take us to Ba Sing Se anyways." Tenten said. They had everything they needed in the caravan. Therefore, it would be pointless to travel by boat now.
"Would ya rather cross The Great Divide, the largest god damn canyon in the world?" Temujin retorted.
"Oh... good point."
"Sounds wonderful and all, but we don't even have a boat," Azula blew onto the hot tea before taking a small sip.
"Well, that's where our great merchant Yulah comes in," Temujin confidently said.
"Yeah, leave it to me as always, huh. It's all thanks to my great logistic skills that no one seems to care about," Yulah placed the tea pot down. "But, anyways, there should be a ferry on its way here tomorrow that will head towards a town near the Serpent's pass. A good acquaintance of mine happens to run it."
"You sure do know a lot of people," Suki said.
"A great merchant builds connections, and I just so happen to be the best at it," Yulah answered with a hint of pride.
"Well, I guessthat settles it," Naruto stretched his arms out, letting out a loud yawn. "I'm gonna head back to sleep. Wake me up when food is ready or something." Naruto stood up and went back into his room.