Azula tossed the garbage bag into the trash can, sighing as she pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead. She never imagined that working in a store could be so tough.
"Good morning, Zu."
"Hello. How's the tea master's favorite daughter?"
"Hello," the banished princess returned the greetings from the people on the street. She was quite popular and recognized by the people in the lower neighborhood—recognition and kindness Azula never thought she would receive.
With a sigh, she headed back to the store to organize the boxes behind it. As she passed through the back door, someone entered through the front, causing Zuko to nearly drop the tray.
"..." Naruto blinked twice as he came face to face with one of the Fire Nation princes. "Hello... uh... What was your name?"
"Zuko."
"Naruto."
"..."
"Nice haircut. It looks good on you."
"I haven't cut my hair."
"Oh... well." Possibly the most awkward and dull conversation he'd ever had, though there was still a lifeline. "Hey, it's you, boy!" Apparently, Iroh was the only one who didn't seem surprised by Naruto's arrival at the store. Instead, he welcomed him with a friendly smile. "Come, sit down, have a nice cup of tea."
"Sure." Naruto took a seat, immediately captivated by the aroma of the tea poured into his cup. "Wow, this is good."
"Are you going to turn us in?" Zuko untied his apron and let it fall to the floor. If he was going down, he would at least ensure to singe his face.
"Nephew, that's no way to treat a customer."
"True, you should treat your customers well, friend." Naruto mocked as he took another sip of the tea, surprisingly enjoying it despite not being a fan of such things.
"I'm not your friend." All the good humor and joy of the day vanished, everything would go to hell because of the orange brat.
"Still." Much to Zuko's greater fury, Naruto remained smiling and positive.
"We've only known each other for 5 minutes, and he already hates you more than the Avatar." Zuko had to control himself to prevent fire from erupting in his hands and burning Naruto's face, who simply shrugged.
"It's not the first time they've told me this." Taking a sip of tea, he let out a sigh of pleasure, but his expression quickly turned serious. "I'm not going to betray any of you."
"Why?" Zuko wouldn't take Naruto's word for it. He didn't get this far in life by trusting whoever he met.
"Because I like them. They seem like good people."
"What kind of answer is that?" Zuko thought, more than angry, resisting the urge to grab the silver tray and bang it against the blonde's head.
"I like him." However, Iroh couldn't help but sympathize with Naruto. He seemed like a good boy with simple thoughts and a good heart, something invaluable today.
"Me too, old man. Did you really make this tea? It's incredible."
"Actually, Azula did."
"..."
"..."
"Azula?" Naruto couldn't help but feel tense. His history with that girl wasn't one of friendship and happiness. She tried to kill him, several times, and he doubted her way of thinking had changed since then.
"Oh, come on, don't make that face. She's a good girl... intense, but good."
"She shot lightning at me."
"I said intense, not passive."
"Well..." Scratching his head, Naruto didn't see anything wrong with them being here, in a small tea shop. It seemed like they really wanted to take advantage of this second chance. And who was he to deny them?
"Excuse me."
The firebenders and the shinobi paused their conversation as a girl approached them. She was pretty, with dark hair and green eyes, her smile soft and tender.
"The check."
"Oh, yeah." Zuko had almost forgotten he still had to work. Taking the girl's money, he gave her the proper change. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, but I've come here many times and even though you know I'm looking at you, you haven't bothered to ask my name. That's rude."
"Uh... well."
"Don't worry, he was just joking." Smiling amusedly, the girl walked a little closer to Zuko, who remained rigid where he was. "I'm Jin. What's your name?"
"Li."
"Nice name. Not very original, but tough."
"Thank you?"
"You're welcome. By the way, Li, as you know there's a festival tonight, and I was wondering if you don't have anyone to go with. Only if you want, of course. Would you like to go with me?"
Naruto and Iroh snapped their necks at the speed with which they turned to look at the prince, who seemed to still be processing the conversation.
"My son would love to take you on a date!"
Iroh urgently intervened, fearing his nephew might miss an opportunity to date a pretty girl, not in the Western Dragon Guard.
"Really? Well... I'll pick you up at 8!" With a big smile on her lips, the girl bid them goodbye, very anxious as she left quickly.
"What was that, man?! I didn't say I was going!" Zuko growled, angry and embarrassed.
"No nephew of mine would turn down a date with a pretty girl, I can assure you of that," swore the old soldier, who had not stopped smiling throughout the conversation.
"You're such a fool! I've never been on a date before, and you better wipe that smile off your face!"
Naruto raised his hands in surrender, though he didn't stop smiling. Everything was very entertaining for him to watch.
"Hey, I'm just happy for you. You have a date with a pretty girl tonight. I wish I had your charisma with girls."
"Well, you will have it, young Uzumaki."
"Hey?" Naruto didn't like the smile the old man had one bit.
"My niece will be lonely tonight, and I was hoping there would be a nice guy who would invite her out to have fun."
Iroh couldn't have been more subtle and obvious, causing the boy to freeze and stare at the door as if it were the exit from hell.
"But look at the time, it's getting late, and well, my underwear doesn't wash itself." Before Naruto could get up, a knife stabbed into the chair, too close to an area that made him go blank.
"What are you doing here?" Azula had just come back from behind the store and didn't expect to see the orange brat, now in green, inside the store, sitting there drinking a cup of tea.
"Hello..." With his best forced smile, Naruto slowly turned and greeted the princess, who had a more than deadly look. "Eh... nice apron."
"They force me to use it."
"I see. Because they are brothers." Both brothers had an answer for everything, an answer that made the conversation go south. "Well, I was here walking around, and well, they told me that this place had the best tea in the city."
"Ha, they weren't wrong. In fact, they have made me an offer to open my own tea shop in the upper part of the city. I am considering accepting."
"I see..." Playing with the teacup, he felt the gaze of the old man and the older brother on him, and he couldn't help but think about what the old man said. In the end, he had to do what a man should do. "Hey, Azula, do you want to go on a date with me?"
Both uncle and nephew hit their foreheads because the ninja boy was so tactless.
"No."
"Well, I tried." Shrugging, the shinobi was already standing up to leave.
"Oh, come on, niece, are you seriously going to say no to this?" Iroh patted Naruto on the back and pushed him closer to the girl. "He's a good boy, and you're a good girl. What can go wrong?"
The look between Naruto and Azula made the tension in the store skyrocket, very uncomfortable for those present.
"Fine, I'll go." With a sigh of resignation, the girl shrugged indifferently.
"Oh, really?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion. Truthfully, he thought she would tell him to go to hell.
"Feel honored that I have a date with you, worldly loser."
"She meant that she would be happy to go with you."
Iroh had to put himself between both teenagers. It seemed that at any moment they were going to break out in a fight and destroy the store, something that he really didn't want to happen.
"Well... I'll come for you at 8:00." Saying that, the shinobi turned around and left the store.
But he didn't take two steps away from the store until his brain began to process everything that had just happened.
"I have a date with a cute girl?!"
Azula felt her cheeks burn for a second, and she cursed the shinobi's stupidity for shouting that in the middle of the street.
"You're sweet, sister," Zuko mocked at the small blush on his sister's cheeks, who gave him a dirty look.
"Rot you, Zuzu."
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PAT REON I'D:- Alzero ]