"Will you tell me the truth?"
Naruto felt pierced by the girl's gaze, who could easily see through her facade.
Doubtful, the teenager looked back at the princess, who was waiting for an answer and would not leave him until he gave it to her.
"There were people in my village who hated me, a lot," Naruto slowly opened his jacket and lifted his shirt, under the attentive gaze of the firebender, "Something that made me be seen as a monster..."
"Monster?" Azula seemed to shudder just from that word.
"I remember their looks, their hatred, their coldness, their fury, their whispers... they called me a monster... a demon... they wanted me dead."
"Why?" Azula asked him again and again.
Why would a town ask for the death of a child they called a monster?
He was…everything she ever hated in a person.
Happy.
Carefree.
Cheerful.
Optimistic.
And more than anything loved.
Team Avatar, and who knows how many others had formed such a close bond with him.
Ty Lee and Mai did it too, with the little time they were with him.
Uzumaki Naruto... was a person, who had an aura of confidence, passion, optimism and joy, that simply made it impossible to hate him, it made you want to follow him on his path.
"Why did they call you a monster?" she murmured softly, locking eyes with him.
His response was to start opening his jacket and showing his stomach.
"What's that?" Azula saw it, a strange drawing on the shinobi's stomach, which looked very detailed and complex, with what appeared to be a spiral in the middle and several grooves that she couldn't read, even if she tried.
He remembered seeing it, that time they were trapped in that cave, but now.
The curiosity was great, whatever it was I felt, which was something very dangerous, very powerful.
Naruto did not stop the girl from running her fingers through the seal, it was not as if she felt ticklish, when she focused chakra on her stomach, for some reason the sensitivity in that area was almost zero.
"I have a load," for the first time that night, Naruto's voice became almost a whisper, it lacked all that joy and carefreeness that characterized him.
"..." Azula watched silently as he ran his hand over the seal.
"It is a burden... that made my life difficult, complicated... and the target of many people's resentment and hatred."
"What is it?" She wanted to know what it was, what this drawing meant.
What could make an entire village hate and fear a child.
It had to be something dangerous… and very powerful.
"I hope you never have to know."
Naruto lowered his shirt and buttoned his jacket, hiding the seal from the firebender's disappointed look.
"..." with a sigh of resignation, she stopped thinking about it, if he didn't want to tell her what that drawing meant, so be it, she wasn't going to fight with him, just to know the truth.
But… monster.
Did he know what it was like to be looked at out of fear?
Maybe…
"What do you remember about home Azula?" Naruto's question made a 180° change, in that they now focused on her.
She pursed her lips at that question, any other day she would have refused to say a word, but now, she could afford to open up to him.
"I grew up in the largest and most fortified mansion in the country, with hundreds of hallways and rooms that were never used, but for the fact that our mother always accompanied Zuzu and me as children, we would have gotten lost many times."
His words were empty and emotionless like the expression on his face, with his eyes focused only on the endless stars in the dark sky.
"It sounds like a headache, it's lucky they always had their mother."
"Yes... mother always took care of us," that mask of coldness broke, as soon as her mother was talked about, leaving her with a darkened expression.
"Did he care?" Naruto couldn't help but emphasize that word.
Azula looked at the boy for a few moments, then slowly raised her right hand and a small flare of blue fire was born from it, which illuminated both of their faces.
"Before I woke up my flames, Mother always spent time with us, she always played and laughed, it was… fun," she said with a sad smile on her lips.
"..." Naruto watched curiously as the flame stopped being harmony, but grew and waved with fury.
"When I turned 4, my flames lit up and my father, whom we saw only a few times a week, wanted me to spend all my time with him, with the excuse that he would teach me to master my gift," the girl's expression It was just melancholy, as he continued looking at the small flame in his hands, "I hadn't realized how much I distanced myself from my mother until it was too late."
"It must have been hard for you."
"No, I wanted it to be like that, my father said that the emotional shutdown was just a burden that prevented us from exploiting our full potential, I wanted to be like a father, I wanted... to make him feel proud of me," with a bitter smile, I could see that girl in the heart of the blue flames.
A cold girl.
Mocking and malicious.
But above all... selfish and with an eternal dark smile on his lips.
"Time went by, I became further away from my mother and brother, I only had eyes for my father, my reason for living was just to follow in his footsteps to fulfill those expectations that he had for me."
"..." Naruto gave the girl a sad look, thinking how children were born good, but in the end they end up crooked, because of their parents and the world that made them change.
"It was ten years ago... when I committed a sin that I will never forget."
"..."
"My cousin had died, I remember him, he was my uncle Iroh's son, he always smiled and made jokes, strangely... you remind me of him, at least a little."
"..." Naruto remained silent, listening as she continued gazing at the sky, unearthing memories from her past that she had long wanted to forget.
"His death was significant for the Fire Nation royal family, not so much because of the love we had for each other, but because of the gap he left in the line to the throne."
"Throne line?"
"He had died, the only son of the legendary dragon of the west, and eldest son of the lord of fire, and it was more than obvious that our Uncle would not have another son, the one he had was what he loved most in the world, that left him destroyed."
"What does this have to do with the throne line?"
"Iroh lost the will and strength to be a worthy successor to the throne, at least that was what our father said... who said that losing his son made him weak and soft."
"..." The Uzumaki couldn't help but clench his teeth in fury at hearing that.
Was it weakness to cry for the loss of a child?
He never wants so much to have the fire lord before him, only to break his face and every bone in his body.
"Even our grandfather frowned upon such words from my father, saying that he did not have the right to say something like that, without knowing what it felt like to know the deep pain of losing a child."
"..."
"I remember that night... we were at one of the many practices with my father, I saw him upset by what his grandfather told him, I..." the girl's lips seemed to tremble, hesitating to continue speaking, swallowing the lump in her throat. , she was able to continue, "I... told my father myself, what he taught me..."
Naruto was afraid to ask, but he had to, "What do I teach you?"
"Don't be afraid to take a chance if no one else does, no matter what."
She repeated verbatim some of her father's first teachings.
Azula felt sick.
How many lives had those words ruined?
She didn't know.
"I... I just wanted to see my father happy and I gave him an idea, why not take power? I wanted my father to be up there, conquering the world and me to be his right hand, to one day be the one to take over."
She gave him the idea to kill Zuko.
She gave her father that push, to make a decision that destroyed his family.
Which brought the death of his grandfather, the coronation of his father and the death of his mother.
Everything…was her fault.
"I was a monster."
Even with everything she did, and had done over the years, even with her journey of atonement, no matter how hard she tried to escape her past and live a new life, where she now helps people.
She was still that monster that destroyed so many lives.
The girl's heart almost stopped when she felt a hand take hers, and another on her face.
Her cheek was grabbed by the Uzumaki, who made her tilt her head and look into his eyes. She couldn't move, she couldn't escape him, not even a few clear words.
"You're not a monster."
They were the strong and clear words of Naruto, who held the girl's hand tightly, while he rested his hand on her cheek, not letting her look away.
"You..." The girl's eyes were fighting back her tears, strange emotions swirled in her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe, and her heart seemed like it would burst in her chest, "No... you haven't seen the worst of me..."
She wanted to get away from him, she didn't deserve his concern.
She didn't deserve his kindness.
He didn't deserve her sweet words.
He didn't deserve someone like her.
[ If you want to read advance Chapters then go to Pat reon and support me there.
PAT REON I'D:- Alzero ]